Sax player Brian Travers reflected on the earlier trek which saw the band playing at smaller locations. “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?’
“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.”
He went on to talk about the upcoming tour. “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!”
The dates:
- 10/24 – York – The Barbican
- 10/26 – Middlesbrough – Town Hall
- 10/27 – Oxford – O2 Academy
- 10/28 – Kings Lynn – Corn Exchange
- 10/30 – Leicester – O2 Academy
- 10/31 – Liverpool – O2 Academy
- 11/01 – Sheffield – O2 Academy
- 11/06 – Croydon – Fairfield Halls
- 11/07 – Worthing – Assembly Hall
- 11/08 – Bristol – O2 Academy
- 11/09 – Bournemouth – O2 Academy
- 11/12 – Tunbridge Wells – Assembly Hall
- 11/14 – Scunthorpe – The Baths Hall
- 11/15 – Margate – Winter Gardens
- 11/17 – Dorking – Dorking Halls
- 11/23 – Salisbury – City Hall
- 11/26 – Leamington Spa – Assembly Hall
- 11/27 – Carlisle – The Sands Centre