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Anne-Marie to play Scarborough Open Air Theatre with Hrvy and Gracey on August 29

Anne-Marie: Scarborough Open Air Theatre debut this summer

ANNE-MARIE will head to the Yorkshire coast on August 29 for a headline concert at Scarborough Open Air Theatre.

The chart-topping Essex singer-songwriter will be joined at her Sunday show that August Bank Holiday weekend by Hrvy and Gracey. Tickets will go on general sale at 9am on Friday, April 2 via ticketmaster.co.uk.

Nine-time BRIT Award nominee Anne-Marie Rose Nicholson, from East Tilbury, near Thurrock, is a former West End child star who has notched four UK top ten singles and 4.5 billion global streams.

Her 2016 breakthrough, Alarm, has been followed by further lead-artist hits Ciao Adios and Friends, with Marshmello, in 2017; 2002, with Ed Sheeran, and Rewrite The Stars, with James Arthur, in 2018, Birthday in 2020 and Don’t Play, a number two success with KSI and Digital this year.

Hrvy: Singing Holiday in Scarborough over August Bank Holiday weekend

Anne-Marie, who will turn 30 on April 7, has been a featured artist, alongside Sean Paul, on Clean Bandit’s 2016 number one, Rockabye; Artists For Grenfell’s 2017 number one, Bridge Over Troubled Water; David Guetta’s Don’t Leave Me Alone in 2018, Live Lounge Allstars’ 2019 chart-topper Times Like These and Rudimental’s Come Over in 2020.

On March 20, millions tuned in to witness Anne-Marie’s debut Grand Final win on ITV’s The Voice UK as she mentored Scotsman Craig Eddie to victory.

Further buoyed last year by his cheeky-chappie performances with Janette Manrara on Strictly Come Dancing, Hrvy already had progressed from singing in his bedroom to signing his first record deal at 15 and achieving hits with Holiday, Phobia, Personal, Me Because Of You and Good Vibes.

After two sell-out British and European tours, Hrvy – real name Harvey Leigh Cantwell – has signed a new global record deal at 22 with BMG.

Gracey: Supporting Anne-Marie at Scarborough Open Air Theatre

Gracey, a platinum-selling songwriter since the age of 16, has written for Rita Ora, Olly Murs and Kylie Minogue and had a top ten smash with Don’t Need Love, her 2020 collaboration with 220 Kid.

Gracey – 23-year-old Grace Barker from Brighton – has since released Empty Love, a collaboration with Australian singer Ruel, and her second EP, The Art Of Closure.

Peter Taylor, of Scarborough Open Air Theatre (OAT) promoters, says: “We are absolutely delighted to announce a headline show this summer with Anne-Marie, supported by Hrvy and Gracey.

“Anne-Marie has had hits around the world, and we’ve had so many requests to bring her here to Scarborough OAT. This is not only going to be a very popular announcement but one of the must-see shows of the summer.”

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UB40’s Ali & Astro move Scarborough Open Air Theatre gig from June to August

UB40, featuring Ali Campbell & Astro: New date for Scarborough show

UB40, featuring Ali Campbell & Astro, is the first concert of the Scarborough Open Air Theatre summer season to be rearranged after the Government’s roadmap roll-out.

The Birmingham reggae-pop stalwarts will play on August 28, switched from June 19, with tickets remaining valid.

Promoters Cuffe & Taylor say: “We now have a roadmap for live shows to return and we cannot wait to welcome audiences back to Scarborough OAT this summer. However, due to new Government guidelines, a number of shows scheduled to take place before June 21 will need to be rescheduled.

“Rest assured we are working with artists to find alternative dates for these shows, so please bear with us and we will announce further details very soon. Take care and stay safe x.”

Should pandemic lockdown-easement measures be lifted fully on June 21, the other concerts now in need of a new date are Crowded House on June 8; Lionel Richie, June 12; The Beach Boys, June 13 and RuPaul’s Drag Race: Werq The World, June 20.

In the Scarborough OAT diary for this summer too are Bryan Adams on July 1; Snow Patrol, July 3; Duran Duran, July 7; Keane, July 9; Olly Murs, July 10; Kaiser Chiefs, July 11; Lewis Capaldi, July 25; Westlife, August 17, and Nile Rodgers & Chic August 20.

UB40 founding members Campbell and Astro, re-united seven years ago and will play with a seven-piece band on their second visit to the Yorkshire coast, following their 2017 debut.

They have been active during the pandemic-enforced hiatus, writing songs for their forthcoming album and reassembling their touring band remotely to record a lockdown single, a poignant cover of the late Bill Withers’ Lean On Me, in aid of NHS Charities Together.

Campbell and Astro will return to the road in 2021 with bassist Colin McNeish, guitarist Winston Delandro, keyboardist Michael Martin, drummer Paul Slowly, backing singer Matt Hoy and a brass section of trumpeter Colin Graham and saxophonist Winston Rose.

A handful of new songs will complement multiple UB40 classics, notably King, a hymn to the legacy of American Civil Rights leader Dr Martin Luther King and One In Ten, a paean to the rising tide of unemployment in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain, both as resonant today as they were when first sung in 1980 and 1981.

Campbell says: “We wrote King 40 years ago, but it’s still representative of what’s happening in America. It’s depressing that nothing has changed. It’s the same with One In Ten in the UK. With the impact the Coronavirus could have on jobs, we could soon be looking at unemployment figures on a par with the early Eighties.”

Campbell adds: “Those songs will feature in a show we’ve been honing for the past 12 years. We’ll always play the classics, like Red Red Wine and (I Can’t Help) Falling In Love With You, but we like to change the beginning and end of the show.

“We’ll play Lean On Me and maybe add three or four new songs. The band members are all fantastic musicians and we’ve climbed back up to the biggest venues.”

Tickets for the Scarborough OAT season are on sale at scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.

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Scarborough Spa Orchestra’s New Year’s Day concert to go ahead…at the SJT instead

Scarborough Spa Orchestra, assembled at their temporarily closed home in pre-Covid days, with musical director Paul Laidlaw, second from the right, back row. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

THE Legendary Scarborough Spa Orchestra In Concert or, rather, two concerts will mark the New Year’s arrival at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough.

The ever-popular New Year’s Day concert by Great Britain’s last remaining professional seaside orchestra will go ahead this winter despite its usual venue, the Scarborough Spa, being temporarily closed. 

Instead, the orchestra will strike up in the Round at the SJT at 2pm and 5.30pm on January 1 2021, when the two performances will feature a programme of Spa Orchestra favourites, taking in songs from the shows, light orchestral pieces and a few Viennese waltzes. 

Paul Robinson, the SJT’s artistic director, says: “We’re absolutely delighted to be able to team up with our friends at Scarborough Spa to make sure this year’s New Year’s Day concert goes ahead. 

“We think it’s the first time a full orchestra, albeit a small one, has played in our Round. They will be playing to a socially distanced audience, so tickets will be very limited. Early booking is advised.” 

Rachel Nicholson, of Scarborough Spa, says: “We are very grateful to the Stephen Joseph Theatre for hosting the Spa Orchestra New Year’s Day concert while we are temporarily closed.

“I am sure everyone will enjoy their performance and we look forward to welcoming the audience back to the Spa as soon as it’s possible to reopen.”

Tickets, priced from £10, are available on 01723 370541 and online at sjt.uk.com.