Haircut 100 Announce 2026 Dates with Squeeze and Adam Ant
Haircut 100 announce North American live dates, joining Squeeze and Adam Ant in August and September of this year. The band will also release the follow up to their smash debut album released in 1982, Pelican West. Boxing The Compass will be out on June 19 with a vinyl release to follow on June 26 via October is Orange Ltd, distributed in North America by BFD/ The Orchard. An unexpected second chapter in the Haircut 100 story gathered pace last year when their single “The Unloving Plum,” became Radio 2’s Record of the Week, and the band played sold out shows across North America and The UK. Pre-Order Boxing The Compass here.
The band, all these years later, still deliver the same groove-driven, horn-laced tracks that will comfortably sit alongside their classic ’80s hits “Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl),” “Love Plus One,” “Fantastic Day,” and “Nobody’s Fool.”
Continuing the groove is the band’s new single, “Come Back To Me,” out now. Nick Heyward says: “‘Come Back to Me’ is the first song on our new album, Boxing the Compass, and it picks up from where we left off with ‘Nobody’s Fool.’ It’s a continuation of the dream, and a kind of atonement. Like in the film of the same name, where Keira Knightly’s character Cecelia is calling “Come back to me” to James McAvoy’s Robbie to recall what they had together. It’s also a trip through the years after the Second World War to the present day through the ’70s and ’80s via bombed out shelters and derelict land, Vauxhall Vivas, ska and Trojan records. It’s the ever-changing cultural landscape and being a pop-funk-soul band with the added influence of life experience.”
Boxing The Compass will be just the second album from the classic line-up since 1982’s hit-packed, Platinum-certified #2 record, Pelican West, (another album minus Nick Heyward, Paint and Paint, followed in 1984). Nick Heyward (vocals/guitar), Graham Jones (guitar), and Les Nemes (bass)had reconvened to discuss issues around the band, but that business meeting felt more like a reunion of old friends. Things soon snowballed from an unforgettable comeback gig at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire to a full UK headline tour, with drummer Blair Cunningham also subsequently jumping back onboard.
Subsequent writing and recording sessions with Sean Read (Dexys) at Famous Times studio in East London showed that they still shared that special something. Their flair for a classic, melody-rich pop song was firmly intact alongside with a host of fresh influences that they had never had the chance to explore together. And despite the passing of four decades, their boyish charm is still luminous – surely because each member is grateful for having a second chance with their old friends.
Boxing The Compass Tracklist:
1. Come Back To Me
2. Vanishing Point
3. Soul Bird
4. Raincloud
5. Sunshine
6. The Unloving Plum
7. Someone
8. That’s a Start
9. Dynamite
10. A Wonderful Life
Boxing The Compass will be released on digital, CD and vinyl formats.
Haircut 100 will hit the road in support of Boxing The Compass this summer and fall alongside Squeeze and Adam Ant. Nick Heyward on the line-up: “We are all massive Squeeze fans, so this is going to be fantastic! On our first Top of the Pops in 1981, they asked us to support them. Forty-five years later it’s a finally happening. YES!”
Graham Jones says: “Squeeze was always a big influence on us, and from our neck of the woods in South London. We shared the Top of the Pops TV stage with Squeeze in ’81, so we are really excited to share a stage again in the USA.” “Our own album, Boxing the Compass, captures some of that English quirkiness, similar to Squeeze’s style”.
“I remember miming ‘Cool For Cats’ in Jason’s lock up in Beckenham where we used to rehearse, and bumping in to them on TOTP as young whipper snappers. We then supported them on a UK tour when I played bass with Nick as middle aged men and now, it is great that we are all still here and about to do it all again as mature gentlemen.” Les Nemes.
Haircut 100 2026 North American Tour Dates w/ Squeeze, and Adam Ant:
8/18/26: St. Augustine, FL – The St. Augustine Amphitheatre
8/19/26: Clearwater, FL – BayCare Sounds
8/20/26: Hollywood (Miami), FL – Hard Rock Hollywood
8/22/26: Atlanta, GA – The Fox Atlanta
8/23/26: Cary, NC – Koka Booth Amp
8/24/26: Richmond, VA – The National
8/26/26: Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall
8/29/26: New York, NY – Radio City Music Hall
8/31/26: Toronto, ON – RBC Amp (formerly Budweiser)
9/1/26: Detroit, MI – The Masonic Temple
9/3/26: Vienna, VA – Wolf Trap
9/4/26: Huber Heights, OH – The Rose Music Hall
9/5/26: St. Louis, MO – Saint Louis Music Park
9/6/26: Highland Park, IL – Ravinia
9/8/26: Denver, CO – Fiddlers Green
9/11/26: Redmond, WA – Marymoor Live
9/12/26: Portland, OR – Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
9/13/26: Vancouver, BC – Queen Elizabeth Theatre
9/15/26: Saratoga, CA – Saratoga Winery
9/16/26: Napa, CA – Meritage Resort
9/17/26: Las Vegas, NV – The Pearl
9/20/26: Phoenix, AZ – The Mesa Amp
9/22/26: Grand Prairie, TX – Texas Trust
9/24/26: Indianapolis, IN – Murat Theatre
9/25/26: Cleveland, OH – Jacobs Pavilion
9/26/26: Louisville, KY Bourbon & Beyond
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