Following their sell-out UK tour earlier this year, Birmingham’s reggae stars UB40 will embark on a second leg UK tour in October and November 2014.
The tour’s eighteen dates will begin at The York Barbican on Friday, 24th October, with the final night of the tour due to take place at The Sands Centre in Carlisle on 27th November.
Reflecting on the success of the spring leg of the tour, UB40 sax player Brian Travers says, “Playing numerous intimate venues is a much more enjoyable experience for both our audience and the band, compared to playing a handful of enormodomes with the audience stuck thirty feet away behind a safety barrier. Every night we were looking at each other and saying “Why didn’t we do this years ago?”
Travers added, “We have always had a close relationship with our audience, but this tour was very special. Every night sold-out, but playing venues in the centre of towns gave us the chance to have a beer in the local bars next door, just hanging out and talking with fans who have been our friends for the last 35 years, and then playing a gig.”
Looking ahead to the forthcoming tour, Travers said, “On behalf of UB40, we can't wait to get back on the road in the UK in October & November and catch up from where we left off, playing in towns and cities UB40 haven't had the opportunity to perform in before, and also get back to some of the places where we started our wonderful life in music. In the meantime, UB40 will be playing summer racecourse dates in Uttoxeter and Wolverhampton, appearing at the Rewind Festival, performing during the opening season at Europe's first Hard Rock Hotel in Ibiza, and performing further European dates in France, Belgium, Iceland, Norway and Germany, amongst other countries. See you all soon!”
Naming themselves after the unemployment benefit form, UB40 formed in 1978, before releasing their debut album ‘Signing Off’ in August 1980 – considered by many to be one of the greatest reggae albums ever released by a British band. It was the start of a career that has since seen the band have over forty UK Top 40 hit singles and achieve sales of over 100 million records, making UB40 one of the most successful British groups of all-time. The band’s latest Top 30 album ‘Getting Over The Storm’ was awarded BBC Radio 2’s ‘Album Of The Week’ accolade and received 5-star reviews from the UK’s music press on its release in September 2013.
UB40’s UK TOUR DATES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
October 2014
Friday 24th – The Barbican, York
Sunday 26th - Town Hall, Middlesbrough
Monday 27th - O2 Academy, Oxford
Tuesday 28th - Corn Exchange, Kings Lynn
Thursday 30th - O2 Academy, Leicester
Friday 31st - O2 Academy, Liverpool
November 2014
Saturday 1st - O2 Academy, Sheffield
Thursday 6th - Fairfield Halls, Croydon
Friday 7th - Assembly Hall, Worthing
Saturday 8th - O2 Academy, Bristol
Sunday 9th - O2 Academy, Bournemouth
Wednesday 12th - Assembly Hall, Tunbridge Wells
Friday 14th - The Baths Hall, Scunthorpe
Saturday 15th - Winter Gardens, Margate
Monday 17th - Dorking Halls, Dorking
Sunday 23rd - City Hall, Salisbury
Wednesday 26th - Assembly Hall, Leamington Spa
Thursday 27th - The Sands Centre, Carlisle
For all tickets please go to www.ub40.co.uk
SOCIAL MEDIA