Transvision Vamp are back—and according to Wendy James, the reunion happened through instinct rather than strategy. After sold-out shows across Australia and New Zealand, the band will play their first UK dates since 1991 this autumn, launching a 17-date UK and Ireland tour on 6 October.
The current line-up reunites James with original bassist Dave Parsons, alongside James Sclavunos, Alex Ward, Pip Stakem, and Matt Millership. Together, they are bringing tracks including Baby I Don’t Care and I Want Your Love into a modern live setting without diluting the energy that first made them hits.
In this FM PRO Quickfire 5, Wendy James discusses the spontaneous decision behind the return, the audience’s adrenaline, and the chemistry driving the new line-up. She also considers how streaming has opened Transvision Vamp’s catalogue to instant discovery; while physical formats continue to offer artwork, detail and a deeper route into an artist’s world.
The mystery still remains in the power and purview of the artist to conceal or reveal whatever suits them.— Wendy James
Q1. Transvision Vamp are returning for their first UK shows since 1991. What made 2026 the right moment to bring the band back to these stages?
I had just completed and released my 10th album: THE SHAPE OF HISTORY and finished a successful THE WENDY JAMES BAND tour of the UK and I’d been thinking how amazing it would be to get back to Australia and New Zealand, which alongside the UK, had been one of the leading territories to discover and lift Transvision Vamp up to success.
So, I’d emailed some venues I knew of that are the current venues everyone plays in, and one of the owners of the Melbourne venue put me in touch with a top promoter in Australia and he simply said “Why don’t you come as Transvision Vamp” and because it was an unexpected question and such a simple one, I was not guarded in any way and I replied “Sure!” Simple as that.
I generally do not have long term plans, or strategies, I tend to operate on my opportunity radar…my antenna! And if something appeals to me, or feels right, then I’ll say yes, if not, then I’ll say no.
Q2. You describe the relationship between the band and the audience as an equal partnership. What have the crowds brought to these reunion shows that you could never recreate in rehearsals?
Oh my goodness! The tension, the adrenaline, the split second thinking and reaction to circumstance. The natural talent for performance and the natural empathy with the audience and their energy toward me and us.
In rehearsals, one is concentrating and drilling each point into one’s head, so theoretically by the time you go out on stage, one’s muscle memory is strong and you can immerse yourself into the performance rather than be hung up on getting it right.
By that point you should know how to get it right and also know how to adapt to anything that might happen on stage which is not expected. The audience add that frisson into the air, that tension, that expectation, and if you do a good show, then they reward you with their pleasure! It is all very natural and there’s no high like it!
Q3. Songs such as Baby I Don’t Care and I Want Your Love remain closely connected to a specific cultural era. What gives them fresh urgency when you perform them now?
Both of those songs are so well known, so whenever the riffs and intros begin, the audience goes nuts! We actually have I Want Your Love toward the front of the set and Baby, I Don’t Care toward the end….And so many other hits in between! It’s thrilling every single time we play them, for us and the audience.
Q4. The current line-up combines original members with musicians from different creative backgrounds. How has that chemistry changed the power or character of the live show?
This line up is spectacular. Dave Parsons, Transvision Vamp’s original bass player is with me and that feels wonderful. Whenever The Wendy James Band would play Bristol, Dave, who lives nearby, would come and say Hi…so when I found myself in need of a bass player to do a TWJB tour, I asked Dave!
So he was in my line-up before we re-embarked on TVV. James Sclavunos has been drumming with me for over 11 years, we first got together to record my album ‘The Price Of The Ticket’ with James Williamson from Iggy and The Stooges, Lenny Kaye, from The Patti Smith Group, Glen Matlock from The Sex Pistols, Steve Mackay from The Stooges and Ivan Julian from Richard Hell and The Voidoids!
So Jim and I are very connected by music and by friendship for many years now. Alex Ward on guitar has been with me since recording my double album ‘Queen High Straight’ and I absolutely adore everything about his musicality. We fit each other perfectly.
Pip Stakem, also on guitar, has been a live guitarist for me for 5 or 6 years now and he’s a powerhouse and incredibly versatile and Matt Millership is a relative newcomer to me, on keyboards: he’s amazing!
From virtuoso piano playing to programming, synths, samples! It’s quite a thing to behold! Watching him navigate between a stack of three keyboards effortlessly! The wonderful thing is, each of us has an element of each of the othersin ourselves, so we all connect and create one team, as musicians, as a band, as a travelling mob of really good friends… it’s a joy!
Q5. FM PRO TECH: Transvision Vamp’s catalogue began in an analogue industry, while audiences now discover and document live music through streaming and social platforms. Has technology strengthened the connection around these songs, or removed some of the mystery that once surrounded a band?
I think Spotify and other streaming platforms are really useful portals for searching and finding audio for instant gratification!
I use it, I refer to it. However the thrill of a hard copy, of a physical offering on vinyl, cassette, CD etc…these things are so nice to invest ones time and money into, I love the artwork, the liner notes, the technical notes, I find it fascinating and they help you enter the imagined world of the artist.
So, as always, I think there are great benefits to having choice! And different choices serve different purposes. The mystery still remains in the power and purview of the artist to conceal or reveal whatever suits them or not!
©fm
instagram.com/thetransvisionvamp
Transvision Vamp UK/Ireland Tour 2026
Tue 6th Oct – O2 City Hall Newcastle
Fri 9th Oct – O2 Academy Glasgow
Sat 10th Oct – O2 Academy Leeds
Wed 14th Oct – Junction, Cambridge – Tickets
Thu 15th Oct – O2 Academy Leicester
Fri 16th Oct – O2 Academy Liverpool
Sat 17th Oct – O2 Academy Oxford
Sun 18th Oct – Tramshed, Cardiff
Tue 20th Oct – O2 Ritz Manchester
Wed 21st Oct – O2 Academy Bournemouth
Thu 22nd Oct – O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
Sat 24th Oct – Epic, Norwich
Wed 28th Oct – Chalk, Brighton
Thu 29th Oct – O2 Institute Birmingham
Fri 30th Oct – O2 Academy Bristol
Sat 31st Oct – The Academy, Dublin
Sun 1st Nov – Limelight 1, Belfast
Tickets are available on ticketmaster.co.uk and thewendyjames.com/live
Transvision Vamp 2026 line-up includes original members Wendy James (vocals) and Dave Parsons (bass), Alex Ward (guitar & vocals), Pip Stakem (guitar & vocals), Matt Millership (keyboards & vocals) and James Sclavunos (drums).