Tortoise + Tara Clerkin Trio + un.procedure, The Crossing, Birmingham // Saturday 31st October, 2026

Tortoise are widely considered one of the most influential music groups of the last 40 years, with a wide-reaching impact on the contemporary music scene. Pitchfork says: “Imagine a graphic showing all the bands the five members of Tortoise were in before they came together and then all the bands they went on to play with after. At the top of the funnel you have groups ranging from dreamy psych-rock to earthy post-punk crunch, including Eleventh Dream Day, Bastro, Slint, and the Poster Children; on the ‘post-Tortoise’ end are groups focusing on electro-jazz and twangy instrumental rock like Isotope 217, Chicago Underground, and Brokeback. In this graphic, Tortoise is the choke point, the one project that has elements of all these sounds but is never defined by nor committed to any of them. Instead, Tortoise floats free, a planchette moving over a Ouija board guided by 10 sets of fingers, where everyone watches the arrow float in one direction but no one is quite sure how it gets there or who is doing the pushing.”

The band, which originally formed in Chicago in 1990, comprises Dan Bitney, John Herndon, Douglas McCombs, John McEntire, and Jeff Parker. Initially hailed as pace-setters of an emergent, cinematic instrumental evolution of alternative rock, the Chicago Tribune called Tortoise’s sound “mood music that refuses to be shoved into the background, as inviting as it is challenging.” Releasing just eight albums since 1990 – including classics like 1996’s Millions Now Living Will Never Die, 1998’s TNT, and 2001’s Standards – Tortoise has steadily and intuitively evolved across its life, creating genreless music that is as timeless as it is ahead of the curve. Now they play Birmingham to support their first album in nine years, Touch, released in October 2025.

“While Tortoise’s albums have experimented with the editing and overdubbing possibilities of the studio, the band thrives performing in real time.” – New York Times

Tara Clerkin Trio blend droning harmonium, upright bass, winds and hushed keys into hypnotic, jazz-tinged soundscapes, while un.procedure craft dark, swelling compositions of sax, synths, drums and electronics, rich in experimentation and improvisation.

Description supplied by the event organiser.