Headz Tour 1994

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The Headz Tour of 1994 was split in two, the first known as Headz, while the second leg was named Headz The Jam Part II and included nine dates which took the tour across London, Cardiff, Bristol, Brighton, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, and Dublin^[1].

DJ Krush lists the tours on his site as including Germany^[2], and the first leg named "Mo'Wax : Groovin' To The Max" but it is possible that was a seperate tour, or are just unknown dates.

The tour featured various Mo' Wax artists including DJ Shadow, DJ Krush, James Lavelle, Simon Richmond (Palmskin Productions), Howie B, Fraser Cooke, DJ A1, Will Bankhead, and on the 10th of November in Leeds the gig featured "Live Grafix" from Swifty.^[3]

NME attended dates during the November leg of the tour and wrote about it in their 17 December 1994 issue, while Select Magazine attended the tour on November 4 at The Hippo Club, and featured photos alongside a short review in their January 1995 issue.

Dates

Headz Tour Part One

9 Jul 1994 - England - Birmingham - The Custard Factory
12 Jul 1994 - England - ? - Ormonds Yard
13 Jul 1994 - England - ? - The Underworld

Headz Tour The Jam Part II^[4]

3 Nov 1994 - England - London - Gardening Club (Shadow, Krush, Lavelle, Bankhead)
4 Nov 1994 - England - Cardiff - The Hippo Club (Shadow, Krush, Lavelle, Richmond)
5 Nov 1994 - England - Bristol - Blue Mountain (Shadow, Krush, Lavelle, Smith & Mighty, Daddy G)
7 Nov 1994 - England - Brighton - Zap Club (Shadow, Krush, Lavelle, Richmond, Howie B., Fraser Cooke, A1)^[5]
8 Nov 1994 - England - Newcastle - Riverside^[6]
9 Nov 1994 - England - Manchester - Sankeys Soap (Shadow, Krush, Lavelle, Richmond)
10 Nov 1994 - England - Leeds - Funky Mule, Cockpit (Shadow, Krush, Lavelle, Palmskin Productions, Swifty)
11 Nov 1994 - Scotland - Glasgow - Glasgow School of Art (Shadow, Krush, Lavelle, Howie B., Fraser Cooke, A1)^[7]
12 Nov 1994 - Ireland - Dublin - Tivoli Theatre (Shadow, Krush, Lavelle)

The Custard Factory

A flyer for the first night of part one of the tour was produced by Club Athletico. It states the night is in partnership with "Clock Popular Massive and Brothers & Sisters in association with Ticket Magazine".^[8] The night is billed as a "Jazz Allnighter" and tickets were available for £8 in advance. The line up was:

Gallery: DJ Shadow, James Lavelle, RPM, Stuart Kirkham (The Ticket)

Cafe Des Artistes: Alex Sparrow and Kirstie McAra (Clock), Simon Phathead (Brothers & Sisters)

Lake Area: RPM with further liver percussion from local musicians

Attractions: Firework display, lighting by Vegetable Vision, graffiti artists, dancers.

Mo' Wax Headz End Of Tour Party

Following a tour celebrating the release of Headz 2, several Mo' Wax artists had a Headz End Of Tour Party at Athletico on Novemeber 13 1994. The event included DJ Krush, DJ Shadow, James Lavelle, Howie B, Fraser Cooke, Simon Richmond, DJ A1.

German Tour

On his website DJ Krush lists a 1994 Mo'Wax tour which includes Germany,^[9] and he also mentions a Mo' Wax tour of Germany occurring during 1994 in a 1995 interview with Muzik Magazine,^[10] and later mentions a Mo' Wax Germany tour occurring in Autumn 1994 (Autumn would be Sep-Nov in Europe).^[11] It is possible he is referring to the 1993 tour of Germany, or this Headz Tour of 1994, but as no dates for the Headz Germany 1993 tour are known to have featured DJ Krush, and no German dates of the Headz 1994 tour are known, it is impossible to confirm.

In the Summer 1994 issue of Straight No Chaser James Lavelle mentions he has recently been on tour in Germany with DJ Krush, "Vegetable Vision (the lighting kru for the Sandals) and NYC Graffiti artist Stash 2."^[12]

Further to this Stash, the graffiti artist who toured with Mo'Wax sometimes, has posted photos on Instagram from a 1994 tour in Germany.^[13] To further confuse matters, he has also posted a similar image dated 1995.^[14]

Review

"I feel very embarrassed listening to the DJ set from back then…Mo’ Wax at that time was a label that tried to break boundaries and convention, creating new ways to build sound and art. The mentality was reflected in my music and I tried to find a new way as well. It was a time when a lot of new, inspiring music was born. Autumn of 1994, I went on the second Mo’ Wax tour and played with DJ Shadow for the first time in Bristol. The venue was packed and it had no ventilation system. The walls and records got wet from the heat of the audience and I couldn’t scratch at all. I thought for a minute that if I scratched while electrocuted, that would become a new move that no one had done before! One thing I want to say from those times: I want to thank Paul Bradshaw, the editor of London’s jazz magazine ‘Straight No Chaser’ for spreading my music in the UK for the first time." - DJ Krush^[15]

Images

DJ Shadow, DJ Krush, James Lavelle, and Fraser Cooke outside of the Brighton gig.
Cover of cassette release of DJ Krush's 9 July 1994 set
Flyer for 12-13 July
Poster for 3 Nov
Flyer
Flyer for 3 Nov
Nov 3 Flyer (Swifty's 2019 reprint)
James Lavelle at The Hippo Club 4 Nov
Flyer for 7 Nov
Flyer for 8 Nov
Poster for 9 Nov
Cropped poster for 9 Nov 94
DJ Shadow in studio - note poster for 9 Nov 1994 Sankeys Soap on wall
Ticket for 10 Nov
DJ Krush and DJ Shadow in November - likely Leeds or Glasgow
Details of Nov 11 gig from The List: 4 Nov 1994 (ISSUE 240)
Flyer for 12 Nov
Mention in The Irish Times 11 Nov 1994
Mention in The Irish Times 12 Nov 1994
Afterparty Flyer at Athletico