Awaking Tour Spring ’26 – (Gigs)

The Alarm2.0 announced a new tour for March 2026 after the debut shows at the Lexington, London in December 2025. The Awaking Tour Spring ’26 saw a revised lineup from those debut shows, with Eddie Macdonald taking over on lead vocals and guitar, with James Stevenson on guitar and Steve ‘Smiley’ Barnard on drums continuing their roles and keyboardist Dave Blackman officially being added to the lineup. Bass guitar saw the guest appearance of Craig Adams for this tour, returning after playing with The Alarm for the last time in 2017, after which he had concentrated on his role in The Mission and Spear of Destiny.


Awakening Spring Tour ’26
5th March 2026 The Flapper Birmingham England
6th March 2026 The Bungalow Paisley Scotland
7th March 2026 P J Molloys Dunfermline Scotland
8th March 2026 The New Adelphi Club Hull England
12th March 2026 The Jacaranda  Liverpool England
13th March 2026 Lowther Pavilion Lytham England
14th March 2026 The Adrian Flux Waterfront Studio, Norwich England
19th March 2026 Finns Weymouth England
20th March 2026 The Lexington London England

5th March 2026 : The Flapper, Birmingham, England
With support from Nayyah & the Fire Culture Band
Set list : Declaration, Marching On, Absolute Reality, Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke?, The Stand, Rain In The Summertime, Strength, We Are The Light, Tell Me, Knife Edge, Deeside, Sixty Eight Guns, Sold Me Down The River, Rescue Me, Spirit Of ’76, Blaze Of Glory
(Set list provided by Sue Sullivan)


(Photos provided by Sue Sullivan, Sean Atkin, Don Daley)

6th March 2026 :The Bungalow, Paisley, Scotland
With support from 2 Sevens
Set list : Declaration, Marching On, Absolute Reality, Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke?, The Stand/The Chant Has Just Begun, Rain In The Summertime, Strength, We Are The Light, Tell Me, Knife Edge, Deeside, Sixty Eight Guns, Sold Me Down The River, Rescue Me, Spirit Of ’76, Blaze Of Glory


(Photos Mark Gordon, Phil Kean, Graeme Black)

7th March 2026 : The Alarm2.0 – PJ Molloys, Dunfermline, Scotland
With support from 2 Sevens
Set list : Declaration, Marching On, Absolute Reality, Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke?, The Stand/The Chant Has Just Begun, Rain In The Summertime, Strength, We Are The Light, Tell Me, Knife Edge, Deeside, Sixty Eight Guns, Sold Me Down The River, Rescue Me, Spirit Of ’76, Blaze Of Glory
(Set list provided by Mark Gordon)


(Photos provided by Nigel Adams)

8th March 2026 : The New Adelphi Club, Hull, England
With support from Ted Key + ViPs
Set list : Declaration, Marching On, Absolute Reality, Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke?, The Stand/The Chant Has Just Begun, Rain In The Summertime, Strength, We Are The Light, Tell Me, Knife Edge, Deeside, Sixty Eight Guns, Sold Me Down The River, Rescue Me, Spirit Of ’76, Blaze Of Glory


12th March 2026 : The Jacaranda, Liverpool, England
With support from Billy Liberator
Set list : Declaration, Marching On, Absolute Reality, Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke?, The Stand/The Chant Has Just Begun, Rain In The Summertime, Strength, We Are The Light, Tell Me, Knife Edge, Deeside, Sixty Eight Guns, Sold Me Down The River, Rescue Me, Spirit Of ’76, Blaze Of Glory


13th March 2026 : Lowther Pavilion, Lytham St Annes, England
With support from Billy Liberator
Set list : Declaration, Marching On, Absolute Reality, Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke?, The Stand/The Chant Has Just Begun, Rain In The Summertime, Strength, We Are The Light, Tell Me, Knife Edge, Deeside, Sixty Eight Guns, Sold Me Down The River, Rescue Me, Spirit Of ’76, Blaze Of Glory


14th March 2026 : The Adrian Flux Waterfront Studio, Norwich England
With support from Billy Liberator
Set list : Declaration, Marching On, Absolute Reality, Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke?, The Stand/The Chant Has Just Begun, Rain In The Summertime, Strength, We Are The Light, Tell Me, Knife Edge, Deeside, Sixty Eight Guns, Sold Me Down The River, Rescue Me, Spirit Of ’76, Blaze Of Glory



19th March 2026 : Finns, Weymouth, England
Set list : Knife Edge, Absolute Reality, Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke?, The Stand/The Chant Has Just Begun, Rain in the Summertime, Strength, We Are The Light, Tell Me, Marching On, Deeside, Sixty Eight Guns, Sold Me Down The River, Rescue Me, Spirit Of ’76, Blaze of Glory
(Set list provided by David Chinery)


Photos by David Chinery

20th March 2026 : The Lexington, Islington, London N1, England
With support from Billy Liberator and Explode The TV
Set list : Knife Edge, Absolute Reality, Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke?, The Stand/The Chant Has Just Begun, Rain in the Summertime, Strength, We Are The Light, Tell Me, Marching On, Deeside, Sixty Eight Guns, Sold Me Down The River, Rescue Me, Spirit Of ’76, Blaze of Glory


Two years ago, the prospect of an Alarm performance stripped of Mike Peters’ signature clarion call would have seemed an impossibility. Yet, in the wake of Peters’ passing last year, original bassist Eddie McDonald has reconstituted the group as The Alarm 2.0—less a replacement, and more an act of preservation for the songs he co-wrote.
The evening opened with Billy Liberator, whose acoustic set provided a sturdy, melodic foundation. A veteran of the fan community, Liberator navigated the nostalgia with ease, delivering a rhythmic “Beat My Retreat” before a poignant cover of “Lie of the Land.” Closing with “Only the Thunder,” he provided the perfect primer for the heavy hitters to follow.
As the main event commenced, the compact King’s Cross stage was occupied by a formidable collective of post-punk aristocracy. Macdonald has stepped into the breach, trading his bass for a six-string and embracing the unenviable task of lead vocals. He was flanked by a lineup that reads like a “Who’s Who” of the 1980s underground: guitarist James Stevenson (Chelsea, Generation X), bassist Craig Adams (The Sisters of Mercy, The Mission), and drummer Steve “Smiley” Barnard (Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros). With keyboardist Dave Blackman rounding out the group, this was a gathering of long-term collaborators intimately familiar with the Peters songbook.
Opening with “Knife Edge” and “Absolute Reality,” the vocal shift is noticeable. Macdonald lacks Peters’ piercing upper register, occasionally leaning into an almost spoken-word delivery. While he cannot replicate the almost spiritual fervor Peters held over an audience, Macdonald’s sheer sincerity carried the set through its transition.
The energy peaked early with “Where Were You Hiding When the Storm Broke,” which retained the frantic, acoustic-punk urgency of the original Declaration recordings. Between songs, the set was punctuated with historical markers; Macdonald dedicated “Tell Me” to former guitarist Dave Sharp and “Strength” to the audience, noting the specific influence of Kirk Brandon (Theatre of Hate, Spear of Destiny), who watched on from the crowd. The hits were afforded a fresh coat of paint: “Deeside” was partially reimagined with a leaner edge, while “68 Guns” held its own before resolving into the anthemic “Rescue Me.”
The encore of “Spirit of ’76” and “Blaze of Glory” transformed the room into a communal sing-along. For the converted in attendance, any lack of vocal perfection was secondary to the survival of the songs themselves. With a full reunion of the three surviving original members—Macdonald, Sharp, and Nigel Twist—already slated for August at The Garage, this performance served as a gritty, successful audit of the band’s enduring catalog. There is an undeniable ache in the absence of Peters, but at The Lexington, his collaborators proved they still have plenty of heat left in the fire – Review by Marco Gandolfi of music-new.com