With an incredible 2013 under his belt, John Cooper Clarke has embarked on his hotly anticipated national 2014 tour with a phenomenal schedule (increased due to public demand) taking him right through to November. The tour includes a night at Camp and Furnace on the 14th November.

One of Britain’s best loved and most important performance poets, John Cooper Clarke is as vital now as he was in the 70s. His acerbic, satirical, political and very funny verse, delivered in a unique rapid-fire performance style, resonated with the punk movement. J.C.C. toured with all the seminal bands at that time; The Sex Pistols, The Clash & Buzzcocks, and in the U.S.A. with Elvis Costello. This led to him drawing large crowds in his own right. Joy Division frequently supported J.C.C., and New Order later opened for him on their first Australian tour.

Fast forward to 2014, and J.C.C. remains a key orator of British society, as relevant now as ever, with his mark indelibly made on today’s pop culture. Aside from his iconic fashion style spawning copy-cats all over the country, his effect on modern music has been huge. His influence can to be heard for example in the satirical and keen social observations of the Arctic Monkeys. Alex Turner cites him as a huge inspiration, as recently highlighted by the band’s cover of J.C.C.’s I Wanna Be Yours’on their critically acclaimed fifth studio album AM.

As his recent accolade from Q Magazine as their ‘Poet Laureate’ shows, John Cooper Clarke remains one of the most important voices of our time, and one of the greatest performers currently touring.