After a decade of steadily expanding their reach across the UK and Europe, Manchester's self-proclaimed intergalactic travellers HENGE are preparing for their biggest Earth mission to date. The band have announced a 75-date world tour spanning 17 countries – with more still to come – marking not only their most ambitious run yet but also their long-awaited first shows across North America.

Of course, asking HENGE when they realised they were finally big enough for a tour of this scale doesn't quite get the answer you might expect.

"We have done much bigger tours on other planets," they explain. "We are actually accustomed to touring whole galaxies. We had a classic tour of Andromeda before we came to the Milky Way, although we had to send clones to reach the more rural areas."

Behind the extraterrestrial mythology, however, lies a decade of relentless touring that has seen HENGE grow organically from cult favourites in the north of England into one of the UK's most celebrated underground live acts.

"We have spent a long time fine-tuning our extraterrestrial frequencies for maximum efficacy on the human nervous system," they say. "We chose to conduct our initial experiments in the north of England and have been steadily expanding our sample base of sapiens. First into other parts of the UK, then Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, then Eastern Europe… reaching further to Spain, Greece and Türkiye. The time has come for us to extend our mission into North America."

The timing couldn't be better. Earlier this year, the band's live performance of "DNA" exploded online, surpassing six million views across platforms and introducing HENGE to a far wider audience than ever before. Yet the band see the viral success as simply another way of fulfilling their mission.

"Our mission is to help your species rediscover its playfulness whilst confronting the important challenges you face. We have harnessed the power of Earth's various communication networks in order to achieve the aim of reaching as many people as possible."

While DNA may have become their biggest online success to date, HENGE insist their audience has always been remarkably broad.

"Our audience has always been a varied cross-section of the human species. We believe it is healthy for humans to share euphoric musical experiences across ages, cultures and neurotypes. We give thanks to the cosmos for every individual who attends our gatherings, however they have discovered us."

That sense of togetherness has long been central to HENGE's appeal. Their theatrical performances have earned a reputation as something that has to be experienced in person, something the band jokingly attribute to carefully calibrated alien technology.

"We transmit psychoactive soundbeams laced with pure joy," they explain. "These waves are calibrated to penetrate a human's defensive emotional layer within an average of eleven minutes and twenty-three seconds. Once inside, the frequencies bypass the cortex entirely and address the older parts of the nervous system – the parts that predate embarrassment and are associated with dance."

They even claim to have the data to back it up.

"We have recorded a consistent net increase in joy when comparing pre-transmission and post-transmission readings across every venue size and climate tested. We regard this reliable, repeatable increase as our primary contribution to the species."

The upcoming tour will finally bring those transmissions to audiences across the United States, Canada and Mexico for the very first time.

"We have detected a strong yearning for live HENGE transmissions in this sector of the planet," they say. "In response to a volume of invitations that became impossible to ignore, we have arranged our first series of encounters with the humans of this continent."

New music is also on the horizon, and, unsurprisingly, humanity itself has become the inspiration.

"We have enjoyed many wonderful encounters with the inhabitants of Planet Earth. We have developed a deep interest in human beings, and this most mercurial species is the subject of our next album."

Despite their growing profile, HENGE remain fiercely committed to the grassroots venues and independent promoters that have helped build their reputation.

"What we have discovered is that there are myriad venues all over the world run by hardworking music lovers. There are festival promoters taking huge risks to selflessly create gatherings where frivolity and joy abound. We honour these cultural heroes. It brings us great satisfaction to fill their venues and make their crowds dance ecstatically."

That philosophy also shapes the band's outlook at a time when division increasingly dominates public discourse.

"Do not forget that you have more in common than that which divides you," they urge. "Detached from the real world through a small screen in your hand, you define yourself through judgement of others. The very act of leaving the house to attend a concert or festival, where you can dance in unity with other humans, is fast becoming a revolutionary choice."

For anyone wondering what to expect from HENGE's biggest tour yet, their advice is simple.

"Expect full-spectrum vibration of the body. Expect an experience that resists description in your current vocabulary. Expect strangers to embrace you as kin. Do not attempt to remain still; this has been proven impossible in extensive field trials across multiple locations."

And once this world tour is complete? Their sights are already set beyond Earth.

"Asia, Australia and South America… after that there are some nearby M-dwarf stars – Proxima Centauri, the TRAPPIST-1 system and LHS 1140 – that seem interesting."



UK + Ireland Live Dates - 2027

17th March - Crookes Social Club, Sheffield

24th March - Saint Luke’s, Glasgow

25th March - The Grove, Newcastle

26th March - New Century, Manchester

27th March - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

31st March - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham

1st April - The Invisible Wind Factory, Liverpool

For more information click here