Cult indie rock band Life Without Buildings are reuniting to perform their first live show in almost 25 years, thrilling longtime fans who thought they might never see the Scottish quartet play together again.
The announcement marks a major moment for a group that originally formed in Glasgow in the late 1990s and released only one studio album, Any Other City, in 2002 before disbanding shortly afterward. Despite their short tenure and limited discography, the band’s idiosyncratic sound, driven by Sue Tompkins’ distinctive vocals and poetic lyrical style, grew into a cult favourite and influenced many indie artists in the years that followed.
The reunion performance is scheduled for November 20 at KOKO in London, and it comes as part of the 50th-anniversary celebration of the influential label Rough Trade, which helped cultivate independent music scenes across the UK and beyond.
According to reports, the band members — including frontwoman Sue Tompkins, guitarist Kevin Lynn, bassist Robert Johnston and drummer Will Bradley — will reunite onstage to deliver a rare live outing that has been nearly two and a half decades in the making.
This event will be one of the first announcements in a broader slate of special concerts marking Rough Trade’s milestone year, which also includes other rare and unique performances curated around the label’s legacy.
Life Without Buildings never achieved mainstream commercial success during their original run, but Any Other City has grown in stature over the years, celebrated for its sharp, angular art-punk rhythms and Tompkins’ half-spoken, half-sung vocal delivery. Many fans and musicians cite the band’s singular approach as ahead of its time, and the group’s reunion has sparked excitement among listeners old and new who have kept their music alive through underground channels and online communities.
Tompkins herself has remained creatively active in music and performance art circles in the years since the band’s breakup, including recent collaborations such as her appearance on the Sleaford Mods track “No Touch.”
As soon as the reunion show was announced, fans — many of whom first discovered the band in the early 2000s — expressed excitement online, sharing memories of Any Other City and speculating about what the live performance might sound like after such a long hiatus. For many, the reunion represents a rare convergence of nostalgia and the opportunity to witness a formative band in person for the first time.
