HELLO again, Lionel Richie will play Scarborough Open Air Theatre next summer.
The Alabama soul luminary’s June 9 show on the East Coast this summer was ruled out by the Covid-19 lockdown, but now he is booked in for June 12 2021.
This will be 71-year-old Richie’s second appearance at Scarborough OAT, having made his sold-out debut there in 2018.
“I was really excited to be playing at Scarborough Open Air Theatre this summer as I enjoyed a truly wonderful night there in 2018,” says Richie.
“I was very sad that, like so many things, the show had to be delayed but obviously, everyone’s health and safety comes first. I’m now looking forward to it even more and know we’ll all have such an incredible night of partying together.”
Richie’s set-list will span his early years in The Commodores to the present day, taking in such favourites as Three Times A Lady, Easy, Truly, Dancing On The Ceiling, Say You, Say Me, Running With The Night, Endless Love, Hello and All Night Long.
The American has sold more than 125 million albums worldwide and has received an Oscar, Golden Globe and four Grammy Awards, along with the Ivor Novello PRS for Music Special International Award. On June 28 2015, he drew a crowd of 200,000 at Glastonbury festival. Last year, he released the concert album Live From Las Vegas.
Programmer Peter Taylor, of Scarborough OAT promoters Cuffe and Taylor, says: “We are incredibly proud and excited that Lionel Richie – one of the most successful and celebrated music artists of all time – is returning to Scarborough Open Air Theatre.
“His 2018 sold-out show here was just a brilliant night and this is going to be another amazing show by an undoubted global superstar. Roll on June 12 next year. We cannot wait!”
Cuffe and Taylor also booked Richie for the closing concert of their inaugural York Festival at York Sports Club on June 21 this summer, only for Coronavirus to intervene.
Tickets for June 12 2021 will go on sale from 8am on Friday, October 30 at scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
IRISH grown-up boy band Westlife will play an exclusive north of England outdoor show at Scarborough Open Air Theatre next summer.
The top-selling album band of the 21st century should have played both the Yorkshire coast venue and the inaugural York Festival in 2020, but the Covid lockdown enforced their cancellation.
Instead, Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan and Nicky Byrne will perform in Scarborough four days before their headline show at Wembley Stadium.
Westlife’s official statement reads: “Some exciting news! We are delighted to announce that Scarborough Open Air Theatre have invited us to join next year’s line-up on Tuesday, August 17.
“Given the current circumstances, we really are hopeful to announce more shows in the new year and look forward to being back with you all as soon as we can.
Westlife will perform such hits as Swear It Again, You Raise Me Up, My Love, Flying Without Wings, Uptown Girl, Unbreakable, When You’re Looking Like That and World Of Our Own, as well as picks from their chart-topping tenth album, 2019‘s Spectrum, Hello My Love among them.
Venue programmer Peter Taylor, of Scarborough OAT promoters Cuffe and Taylor, says: “Westlife fans were heartbroken when this summer’s tour was postponed due to the global pandemic, so we are delighted the boys will be coming to Scarborough OAT next summer.
“This is a real exclusive: Westlife’s only outdoor show in the north of England and four days before their headline show at Wembley. It’s going to be a brilliant night here!”
Westlife were booked to play Scarborough OAT on June 17 and York Festival at York Sports Club, Clifton Park, on June 20 as part of their 2020 Summer In The Stadiums tour before summer was scrapped.
Tickets for August 17 will go on sale via scarboroughopenairtheatre.com at 9am on Friday, October 30.
Scarborough Open Air Theatre’s 2021 season so far comprises: June 19, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell and Astro; June 20, RuPaul’s Drag Race: Werq The World; July 9, Keane; July 10, Olly Murs; August 17, Westlife, and August 20, Nile Rodgers & Chic. More concerts will be added; watch this space.
Did you know?
ALL ten of Westlife’s studio albums have reached the top five in the Official UK Albums Chart, five of them peaking at number one. Fourteen of their singles have made the top spot too.
UB40 featuring Ali Campbell and Astro and Keane are the latest additions to Scarborough Open Air Theatre’s 2021 summer season.
Campbell and Astro, founding members of the Birmingham reggae and pop hit makers, re-united six years ago and will play with a seven-piece band on June 19 on their second visit to the Yorkshire coast.
East Sussex chart-toppers Keane, who returned from a six-year hiatus with last year’s album Cause And Effect, will head to Scarborough on July 9.
Tickets for both concerts will go on sale at 9am on Friday, October 23 at scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Campbell and Astro played Scarborough OAT previously in 2017 and last year’s The Real Labour Of Love tour visited Australia, New Zealand, Europe and America.
They have been active during this year’s 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.”
The similarly rejuvenated Keane had been booked for Scarborough OAT’s 2020 season until Covid-19 put paid to their July 17 show.
Now singer Tom Chaplin, sparring partner Tim Rice-Oxley, bassist Jesse Quin and drummer Richard Hughes will perform on July 9 next summer
The birth of their fifth studio album in September 2019 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.”
The comeback album, featuring the singles The Way I Feel, Love Too Much and Stupid Things, 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.
Venue programmer Peter Taylor, of promoters Cuffe and Taylor, says: “Keane were obviously going to be one of the major highlights of our 2020 season and so we are delighted to have arranged for them to play a headline show here in 2021.
“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.”
Confirmed for the Scarborough OAT 2021 diary so far are: June 19, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell and Astro; June 20, RuPaul’s Drag Race: Werq The World; July 9, Keane; July 10, Olly Murs, and August 20, Nile Rodgers & Chic. More shows will be added. Watch this space.
OLLY Murs will play Scarborough Open Air Theatre on July 10 2021, completing a hat-trick of appearances on the Yorkshire coast .
Venue programmer Peter Taylor, of promoters Cuffe and Taylor, says: “Olly played two brilliant sold-out shows here in 2013 and 2017 and fans are constantly requesting we bring him back, which we are delighted to be able to do.”
The Essex singer, show host and talent-show judge, 36, will perform his biggest hits at Britain’s biggest purpose-built outdoor concert arena on a 25-date tour from June 5 to August 29 that will take in a further Yorkshire show at Harewood House, near Leeds, on August 11.
“I’ve missed seeing my fans and having that connection with them when I’m on stage,” says Olly, who promises a fun, upbeat, cheeky live show on his return next summer. “There’s nothing better than being on the road and actually being able to see your fans singing and dancing to your music.
“I feed off people’s energy, so going back on the road all around the country, to places I don’t often get to go will be amazing. Also playing live with my band and having them all on stage with me bringing my music to life is the best feeling.”
Reflecting on the pandemic’s impact on the live music industry, Olly says: “It’s been a tough year for everyone, so it’s nice to have something to look forward to for next summer.
“I’m very aware that not only am I looking forward to it as playing live is the best part of my job, but also for all the people I employ to put on the shows – from my band, crew, sound, lighting, producers, riggers – so many people that rely on live music to make a living. To go around the UK playing at loads of amazing outdoor venues is going to be pretty special.”
In this year’s unwelcome hiatus from performing, Olly’s thoughts turn to choosing his favourite tour memory. “It’s so hard to pick as I’ve been lucky enough to have so many amazing memories on tour but playing at Wembley Stadium with Robbie Williams really stands out for me,” he says.
“I was supporting him on his European tour in 2013, and to have 60,000 people singing back to me and waving their hands in the air to my music was pretty special. I was overwhelmed with the reaction.”
This year, Olly will be looking to retain his crown as winning judge on his third series of The Voice, at present postponed at the semi-final stages.
This year too, Olly captained the England team for Soccer Aid. “It was an honour to do so as we raised a record amount of money – over £9m – in the midst of a global pandemic. I played shocking, to be fair, probably my worst personal performance, but it will still be one of my most memorable Soccer Aids because of the circumstances in which we still managed to put it on.”
During lockdown, Olly underwent a body transformation, working in tandem with personal trainer Rob Solly. “To see the results of your hard work is obviously the rewarding part, but for me it was more important in how it made me feel,” he says.
“At the start of lockdown, while still recovering from knee surgery, I was eating anything and everything out of boredom, but that made me feel less productive and more sluggish, so having Soccer Aid as a focus to get me fit again was a real drive.”
As for upcoming recordings, Olly is working on new material for 2021. “It’s been a while since I released my own music, so that’s the plan for next year,” he says. “I’m starting to work on writing now and figure out what the next sound is for me, so watch this space.”
Scarborough tickets for Olly Murs can be booked at scarboroughopenairtheatre.com; Harewood House tickets at AXS.com and ticketmaster.co.uk.
NILE Rodgers & Chic are the third act to sign up for next summer’s season at Scarborough Open Air Theatre after Olly Murs and RuPaul’s Drag Race: Werq The World.
Disco luminaries Rodgers & Chic will play Britain’s largest purpose-built outdoor concert arena on Friday, August 20 2021 after the Covid-19 pandemic ruled out their Scarborough show this summer.
Chic co-founder Rodgers and his band previously performed at a sold-out Scarborough OAT in 2018 and once more will roll out such favourites as Le Freak, Good Times and Everybody Dance next summer.
When booked in for August 21 2020, Rodgers had said: “As most people know, the UK is my home from home. Myself and Chic had a brilliant time when we played Scarborough OAT in 2018 and we cannot wait to come back again this summer. It’s going to be another amazing night, so bring your dancing shoes!” Those same sentiments now will apply in 2021.
New Yorker Rodgers, 68, is a Grammy Award-winning composer, producer, arranger and guitarist with more than 200 production credits to his name, for David Bowie, Diana Ross and Madonna et al, as well as inductions into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, an organisation he now chairs. He has been appointed the first chief creative advisor for the Abbey Road Studios, in London, too.
His innovative, trend-setting collaborations with Daft Punk, Avicii, Sigala, Disclosure and Sam Smith reflect his continuing influence on the vanguard of contemporary music.
Next August’s show will be presented by regular Scarborough OAT programmers Cuffe and Taylor. “We were absolutely devastated to cancel this year’s summer season, including Nile Rodgers & Chic’s eagerly awaited return here,” says promoter Peter Taylor.
“Their show in 2018 was just sensational – they never fail to get an entire arena on their feet dancing – and we’ve had so many fans asking us to bring them back. We are delighted to announce Nile and Chic will be returning in 2021. They are global superstars, Nile is behind some of the best known songs ever written and this is going to be a night not to be missed.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race: Werq The World, billed as the biggest drag show on the planet, will sashay into Scarborough OAT on Sunday, June 20 for its only outdoor British date in 2021.
Combining music, comedy, sassiness and lavish set-pieces to “create the biggest, brashest, most utterly glorious party night of the year”, the fourth UK and European RuPaul Drag Race tour show will see “an experiment gone wrong that sends Drag Race judge and 2019 Strictly Come Dancing contestant Michelle Visage spiralling through time with no way of returning home”.
Newly crowned Season 12 Drag Race winner Jaida Essence Hall, Asia O’Hara, Kameron Michaels, Plastique Tiara, Vanessa Vanjie and Yvie Oddly will be joined by stars from the latest latest USA, UK and Canadian seasons to “journey through iconic periods of history in the hope they will find their way back to the present day”.
Along with Cardiff Motorpoint Arena on June 18 and Brighton Centre on June 19, Scarborough is one of three British shows being added to the European leg of the world tour, presented on the East Coast by Cuffe and Taylor and Voss Events.
Programmer Peter Taylor says: “We are delighted to be able to bring RuPaul’s Drag Race’s world tour to Scarborough. The demand for tickets across the UK and Europe has been phenomenal.
“The show is always a huge hit and we are really looking forward to be working with the Voss Events team to present what will be an outrageously entertaining evening on the beautiful Yorkshire coast.
“This is going to be an unmissable party night and arguably the most lavish production we have staged at Scarborough OAT since we welcomed Britney Spears and Kylie [Minogue] to the venue.”
Tickets for Nile Rodgers & Chic, RuPaul’s Drag Race and pop singer Olly Murs’ July 10 show will go on general sale at 9am on Friday, October 9, via www.scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Plenty more shows will be added to the Scarborough OAT 2021 season.
OLLY Murs is the first booking for next summer’s Scarborough Open Air Theatre season after Covid-19 ruled out the entire 2020 programme.
Tickets go on sale at 9am on October 9 for Murs’ July 10 2021 concert, when he will complete a hat-trick of shows on the North Yorkshire coast after playing Scarborough OAT in 2013 and 2017.
The Essex singer, show host and talent-show judge, 36, will perform his biggest hits at Britain’s biggest outdoor concert arena.
Scarborough OAT venue programmer Peter Taylor says: “We are really excited to reveal Olly Murs as our first headline announcement for the 2021 season.
“Olly played two brilliant sold-out shows here in 2013 and 2017 and fans are constantly requesting we bring him back, which we are delighted to be able to do.
“It goes without saying we cannot wait for live music to return to Scarborough OAT in 2021, so it’s fantastic to be able to kick off the announcements for our new season by revealing Olly Murs is returning.
“We have a brilliant summer of live music to reveal, so watch this space for many more headliners being announced very soon!”
This year, Murs has captained England in this year’s Soccer Aid and he is looking to retain his crown as winning judge on his third series of The Voice, at present postponed at the semi-final stages.
In lockdown, Murs “managed an impressive body transformation” in tandem with personal trainer Rob Solly. As for music, he is working on new material for release in 2021.
Next summer, his 25-date tour from June 5 to August 29 will take in a further Yorkshire show at Harewood House, near Leeds, on August 11. Scarborough tickets can be booked at scarboroughopenairtheatre.com; Harewood House, AXS.com and ticketmaster.co.uk, again from 9am next Friday.
THE inaugural York Festival with Lionel
Richie, Madness and Westlife in June is off. The entire Scarborough Open Air Theatre summer
season has been cancelled too.
The “unavoidable” double blow for
promoters Cuffe and Taylor was confirmed in a brief statement at high noon, enforced
by the grip of the Coronavirus pandemic.
“We are sad to announce both York
Festival and the 2020 programme at Scarborough Open Air Theatre will not go
ahead,” they said. “We did not want to take this step, but it was unavoidable.
The health and safety of concertgoers, artists, staff and community will always
be our top priority.
“We are working with our ticketing
partners and they will contact customers very soon to process refunds. Peace, love, kindness and thanks.”
So, alas, this means goodbye to Hello and Lionel Richie at York Sports Club, Clifton Park, Shipton Road, on June 21, when the American soul legend, now 70, would have been supported by Grammy Award winner Macy Gray and Newcastle soul-pop duo Lighthouse Family.
Camden Town nutty boys Madness were to have headlined the
opening night, June 19, 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.
Irish matured boy band Westlife were booked to top the June 21
bill, backed up All Saints, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Scouting For
Girls and Take That’s Howard Donald for a DJ set.
Over on the East Coast, Cuffe and Taylor had lined up big
hitters galore for Scarborough Open Air Theatre’s 2020 season, opening with
Lionel Richie on June 9, followed by Westlife on June 17.
Further bookings were: Supergrass, June 20; Alfie Boe, June 27; Snow Patrol, July 4; Mixtape, with Marc Almond, Heaven 17 and Living In A Box featuring Kenny Thomas, July 10; Keane, July 17; Little Mix, July 21; McFly, August 14; Louis Tomlinson, August 15, and Nile Rodgers & Chic, August 21. What’s more, further shows were to have been added. Not any more.
Last year,Cuffe and Taylor promoted Rod Stewart’s first ever York concert, erecting a pop-up amphitheatre in the centre of York Racecourse and duly drawing 35,000 people to Knavesmire on June 1. Ah, those were the days.
Earlier this spring, Cuffe and Taylor were given the City of York Council thumbs-up for a licence for their first York Festival, albeit with the proviso that the volume must be turned down. Now, there will only be silence.
EVERYBODY dance,
Nile Rodgers & Chic are to return to Scarborough Open Air Theatre this
summer two years after their debut there.
Looking forward to
the August 21 show, Rodgers says: “As most people know, the UK is my home from
home. Myself and Chic had a brilliant time when we played Scarborough
OAT in 2018 and we cannot wait to come back again this summer. It’s going to be
another amazing night, so bring your dancing shoes!”
Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday (March 13) at scarboroughopenairtheatre.com, on 01723 818111 or 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.
Nile Rodgers is a
multiple Grammy Award-winning composer, producer, arranger and guitarist with
more than 200 production credits to his name. He is constantly traversing new
musical terrain and successfully expanding the boundaries of popular music.
As the co-founder
of Chic with Bernard Edwards, Rodgers pioneered a dancefloor language that
generated such hits as Le Freak, Good Times and Everybody Dance,
while also sparking the advent of hip-hop.
His Chic catalogue
and work with David Bowie, Diana Ross, Sister Sledge and Madonna have sold more
than 500 million albums and 75 million singles.
His subsequent
innovative, trendsetting collaborations with Daft Punk, Avicii, Sigala,
Disclosure and Sam Smith continue to place Rodgers, now 67, at the vanguard of
contemporary soul, disco mand pop music.
No wonder the American guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer,
arranger and composer has been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the
Songwriters Hall of Fame, whose chairmanship post he now holds.
What’s more, Rodgers
was appointed as the inaugural chief creative advisor for the Abbey Road
Studios, home to The Beatles’ iconic recording sessions, in London.
Peter Taylor, of Scarborough OAT concert promoters
Cuffe and Taylor, says: “Nile Rodgers & Chic are global
superstars and we’re delighted to be bringing them back to Scarborough OAT.
“The show in 2018 was brilliant, Nile and Chic never
fail to get an entire arena on their feet dancing. This is going to be one of
the highlights of the summer and I would strongly advise people to get their
tickets now because you will not want to miss this!”
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
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.
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.
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 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.