Lionel Richie: headlining York Festival’s Sunday line-up
MACY Gray and Lighthouse Family are big-name new additions to the bill for Lionel Richie’s closing night at this summer’s inaugural York Festival.
Grammy Award winner Gray, from Canton, Ohio, and Newcastle pop-soul duo Tunde Baiyewu and Paul Tucker will perform at the three-day event at York Sports Club, Clifton Park, Shipton Road, on June 21.
This is more good
news for festival promoters Cuffe and Taylor after the City of York Council
thumbs-up for a licence, albeit with the proviso that the volume must be turned
down.
York Festival will run from June 19 to 21, with Camden Town nutty boys Madness headlining on the first night and Irish matured boy band Westlife on the Saturday, before American soul legend Lionel Richie says Hello on the Sunday.
Macy Gray: Sunday new addition
Macy Gray made her
breakthrough in 1999 with the single I Try and the seven million-selling debut
album On How Life Is, her American R&B and soul song-writing inspired
principally by Billie Holiday.
Over the next two
decades, Gray released ten studio albums, the latest being 2018’s Ruby, as well
as featuring on songs with Dolly Parton and Ariana Grande and appearing in films
and on TV shows.
Lighthouse Family singer
Baiyewu and keyboardist Tucker released their first single, Lifted, in
1995, en route to selling ten million albums and charting with the singles High
and Ocean Drive.
Six-times platinum debut album Ocean Drive was followed by Top Ten albums Postcards From Heaven and Whatever Gets You Through The Day. After an 18-year hiatus, the duo reunited last year to record Blue Sky In Your Head, their fourth studio set.
Lighthouse Family: reunited
York Festival director Peter Taylor says: “We’re delighted to add
both Macy Gray and Lighthouse Family to our debut line-up. Together with the
global icon that is Lionel Richie, this is going to be an amazing and
unforgettable night.”
Opening-night headliners Madness will be joined by Ian Broudie’s Lightning Seeds, Craig Charles, for a Funk and Soul Club DJ set, Leeds indie rockers Apollo Junction and York band Violet Contours.
Westlife’s Saturday line-up features All Saints, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Scouting For Girls and Take That’s Howard Donald for a DJ set.
For more information and tickets, go to york-festival.com.
Alfie Boe: performing at Scarborough Open Air Theatre for a fourth time
CHART-TOPPING tenor Alfie Boe will bring Armed Forces Day to a climax on June 27 with a 6pm concert at Scarborough Open Air Theatre.
The East Coast resort has the honour of hosting this year’s Armed Forces Day National Event that day.
Around 200,000 people, including members of the Royal Family and prominent
politicians, are expected to head to Scarborough for a series of events to
honour the dedication and sacrifice of the nation’s servicemen and women.
Boe says: “It is an amazing honour, as well as a huge thrill, for me to
be back at this wonderful venue to perform on Armed Forces Day.
“I’ve played there many times and I’ve always received such a warm
welcome from the good people of Yorkshire. The fact I will be performing as
part of Scarborough’s hosting of Armed Forces Day’s National Event will make it
even more special. I cannot wait for June 27; it will be an amazing evening.”
Mezzo-soprano Laura Wright, who has performed at major events
around the world, will be among those to join Boe on stage.
Boe, who has starred in stellar productions of Les Misérables and La Bohème, will be appearing at Scarborough OAT for the fourth time. He headlined Armed Forces Day concerts there in 2015 and 2018 and performed alongside his friend and collaborator in song, Michael Ball, in 2017.
He and Ball will next sing in Yorkshire at Leeds First Direct Arena on February
25. On his return in June, he will combine familiar favourites with selections
from last November’s celebration of songs of the 1930s and 1940s, As Time Goes
By, his first solo record since 2015.
Mezzo-soprano Laura Wright: joining Alfie Boe at the Armed Forces Day concert
Recorded with Grammy award winner Gordon Goodwin and his Big
Phat Band, the album journeyed through the defining songs of that golden
era, from the full force of Sing Sing Sing to the smooth The Way You Look
Tonight and title track.
Laura Wright, who topped the classical album chart with her debut, The
Last Rose, is writing and recording her seventh album. At 24, she composed the
Invictus Games anthem, Invincible, for Prince Harry and two years
later wrote Heroes, the first official anthem for England Women’s Cricket, and then
Brave for the Military Wives.
She became the first ever official singer of the England Rugby Union team
and has sung at the Rugby Union World Cup, the NFL series, the Grand National at
Aintree, Royal Ascot and the FA Cup Final.
Looking forward to presenting Boe on June 27, Peter Taylor, director of Scarborough OAT concert promoters Cuffe and Taylor, says: “Alfie is massively popular and is someone we are asked to bring back every year, so we are delighted to be welcoming him back to Scarborough OAT this summer.
“June 27 will be an extra-special night as the nation’s focus will be on Scarborough. It is such an honour to host the Armed Forces Day National Event and so we really could not think of anyone better to headline this concert than Alfie, who will be joined by the wonderful Laura Wright.
“It will
undoubtedly be an incredibly moving and special concert and, we feel, the
perfect climax to a day that celebrates the dedication and sacrifice of our
Armed Forces.”
Stuart
Clark, Scarborough OAT venue manager and event manager for the Armed Forces Day
National Event, says: “Alfie Boe is a firm favourite here and we are delighted
to welcome him back in 2020. His show will be a highlight of the prestigious
Armed Forces Day National Event in Scarborough and a wonderful musical
celebration dedicated to our Armed Forces.”
Tickets will go on general sale on Friday (February 21) at 9am at
scarboroughopenairtheatre.com; on 01723 818111 and 01723
383636, or in person from the Scarborough OAT box office, in Burniston Road, or
the Discover Yorkshire Coast Tourism Bureau, at Scarborough Town Hall, St Nicholas
Street.
For more information and a full list of Armed Forces Day 2020 events in Scarborough, go to scarborougharmedforcesday.co.uk.
Alfie Boe: lighting up Scarborough Open Air Theatre on June 27
SCARBOROUGH OPEN AIR THEATRE’s 2020 LINE-UP
Tuesday, June 9, Lionel Richie
Wednesday, June 17, Westlife
Saturday, June 20, Supergrass
Saturday, June 27, Alfie Boe
Saturday, July 4,Snow
Patrol
Friday, July 10,Mixtape,
starring Marc Almond, Heaven 17 and Living In A Box featuring Kenny Thomas
Louis Tomlinson: set fair for Scarborough this summer
LOUIS Tomlinson is
extending his debut solo world tour to take in Scarborough Open Air Theatre on
August 15.
Tickets for the
chart-topping Yorkshire singer-songwriter go on general sale at scarboroughopenairtheatre.com
on Friday at 9am.
One fifth of One
Direction, Doncaster-born Tomlinson, 28, released his debut album Walls on
January 31.
“I feel like this is
the start of my career, with so much to look forward to and all the plans in
place,” he says. “Honestly, I’ve been through every emotion possible in the
past few years and come out the other side stronger and more confident than
I’ve ever been.
“I know I’ve made an
album that my fans will like, one that sounds like me and has its own identity.
There were times I wasn’t sure if this was what I should be doing. Now I can’t
imagine doing anything else.”
Opening in Barcelona
on March 9, Tomlinson’s world tour will play Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Sydney,
Tokyo, Rio De Janeiro and five sold-out British dates nights before heading to
North America.
Peter Taylor,
director of Scarborough OAT promoters Cuffe & Taylor, is delighted to be
bringing Tomlinson to the East Coast. “Louis was an integral part of the
biggest global pop phenomenon of the past 20 years and is also a proud
Yorkshireman, so this is going to be a must-see date for his fans.
“His debut album is
brilliant and demand for tickets for his World Tour has been immense. We cannot
wait to welcome Louis and his fans to this special arena for what will be a
fantastic night.”
Post One
Direction, Tomlinson began his solo days with two collaborations, Just Hold On
with Steve Aoki
and the brooding duet Back To You with Bebe Rexha. Last year, the singles
flowed: the raucous Kill My Mind; the heartfelt Two
Of Us; the reflective We Made It and the soaring Don’t Let It Break Your Heart.
Now comes Walls, an
album with a nod to his love of indie-rock and lyrics “rooted in real life that
dig deep on subjects ranging from relationships and family to the folly of
youth and days of self-doubt”.
Tomlinson’s August 15 tickets
also will be available from Friday on 01723 818111 and 01723 383636 or in
person from the Scarborough Open Air Theatre box office, in Burniston Road, and
the Discover Yorkshire Coast Tourism Bureau, Scarborough Town Hall, St Nicholas
Street.
Keaner than ever: Keane are back after a six-year hiatus
KEANE, the rejuvenated East Sussex
chart toppers, are off to the East Coast for a Friday night out at Scarborough Open Air
Theatre this summer.
Tickets for their July 17 gig go on general
sale on Friday at 9am at scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Singer Tom Chaplin, sparring partner Tim
Rice-Oxley, bassist Jesse Quin and drummer Richard Hughes returned from a
six-year hiatus last September with the album Cause And Effect.
The birth of their fifth studio album
came as a surprise even to the band from Battle. Chaplin had released two solo
albums, 2016’s The Wave and 2017’s Twelve Tales Of Christmas, but nevertheless missed
working with Rice-Oxley.
So, when Chaplin, Quin and Hughes heard
the songs Rice-Oxley had been composing, they were immediately drawn to them,
both sonically and lyrically, and Keane were reborn. “We’re not some heritage
act,” says Rice-Oxley. “We’ve got a lot of great music in us.”
Ahead of Cause And Effect’s release,
Keane returned to the stage last summer with a string of live shows, not least two
nights at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
The comeback album peaked at number two
last autumn, adding to the success of a career that had chalked up 13 million
album sales, four number one albums, two BRIT awards and one Ivor Novello award
before coming to a halt in 2013 with The Best Of Keane compilation.
Their 2004 debut, Hopes And Fears, elicited
the hits Somewhere Only We Know, Everybody’s Changing, This Is The Last Time and
Bedshaped en route to being ranked among Britain’s 40 best-selling albums of
all time. Next came
Under The Iron Sea in 2006, Perfect Symmetry in 2008 and Strangeland in 2012.
Promoters
Cuffe and Taylor are delighted to have added Keane to this summer’s Scarborough
OAT programme. “As soon
as Keane announced last year they were back and ready to take to the stage
again, we knew we had to bring them to Scarborough,” says director Peter
Taylor.
“This special arena was created for
artists like Keane. Their songs are beautiful, anthemic, the soundtrack to many
people’s lives over the last 20 years, and I’m sure their army of fans cannot
wait to see these songs played live here. I know I certainly can’t.
“Keane are an incredible live band and
this is unquestionably going to be one of the gigs of the summer.”
Tickets for this summer’s shows can be
booked in person from the Scarborough Open Air Theatre box office, Burniston
Road, and the Discover Yorkshire Coast Tourism Bureau, Scarborough Town Hall,
St Nicholas Street; on 01723 818111 and 01723 383636, as well as at scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
SCARBOROUGH
OPEN AIR THEATRE: 2020 LINE-UP
Tuesday
June 9 – Lionel Richie
Wednesday
June 17 – Westlife
Saturday
June 20 – Supergrass
Saturday
July 4 – Snow Patrol
Friday
July 10 – Mixtape (starring Marc Almond, Heaven 17 and Living in a Box
featuring Kenny Thomas)
