Grunge band L7 are to reunite, with the bandmates revealing details of their first new live dates in 14 years – including an appearance at the Download festival at Castle Donington, their first UK date in more than 15 years. The news comes after the group teased the idea with a Facebook post in December 2014, suggesting that the original lineup was in talks about playing live again.
According to a new post on the band’s Facebook page, the group will play two festivals in June – Spain’s Azkena Rock festival and France’s Hellfest open air festival — with more dates to be announced. The band also posted details of a Kickstarter page, which aims to raise funds for an L7 documentary entitled L7: Pretend We’re Dead. Those that pledge can choose from a variety of rewards including handwritten lyrics and even the chance to take part in a seance with the band and spirit medium/magician Rob Zabrecky (who stars in the film as a mortician capable of bringing the band back to life).
The Los Angeles band were famed in their 90s heyday for their raucous live shows and political activism. They had a string of top 40 hits in the UK, including their most well-known track Pretend We’re Dead. With an all-female lineup consisting of Donita Sparks, Suzi Gardner, Jennifer Finch and Demetra Plakas, they were a formative influence on the Riot Grrrl movement, and their feminist campaigning was instrumental in setting up the pro-choice benefit gigs Rock For Choice. The band were notorious for more than just their music – a famous performance on The Word saw lead singer Sparks stripping off to play nude from the waist down, whereas at Reading festival 1992 she hurled a used tampon into the crowd. During one London show, the band offered up a one-night stand with drummer Plakas as a raffle prize.
