The excitement around live music post-pandemic doesn’t seem to be waning, with summer 2023 already shaping up to be one almighty festival season. The likes of Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds, Download, Latitude and BST Hyde Park have come up with stellar lineups while there’s massive tours from Harry Styles, Coldplay, Beyoncé, The Weeknd and more to also look forward to.
Before that though, there’s a string of spectacular must-see shows around the UK. Diaries at the ready, here are the best gigs to see this week (April 25 – May 1).
Yard Act
Yard Act. CREDIT: Burak Cingi/Redferns
Post-punkers Yard Act are heading out on a final victory lap for celebrated debut album ‘The Overload’ before whatever comes next. Following the run of headline gigs, the band are due to play a residency at Leeds’ Brudenell Social Club with support from a range of comedians.
Speaking to NME last year, vocalist James Smith teased “Monopoly money confetti cannons, and probably a couple of new songs,” for the tour. Well, there’s only one way to find out
Yard Act play:
APRIL
26 – Dublin, Vicar Street
28 – Glasgow, Barrowlands
29 – Manchester, Albert Hall
MAY
4 – London, Troxy
5 – London, Troxy
8 – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
9 – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
10 – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
11 – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
12 – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
Fans can buy and sell tickets for Yard Act at global marketplace, viagogo here.
Duran Duran
Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon (Picture: Press)
Duran Duran return to home soil this week to kick off a mammoth headline run in support of their 2021 album ‘Future Past’. Last year’s North American tour saw the legendary group play a vibrant greatest hits set that was driven by iconic moments.
Looking ahead to the tour, vocalist Simon Le Bon said “It’s remarkable to me that as a band, we are still hitting new milestones, still able to introduce the sound of Duran Duran to new generations of music lovers. We still love our job as much as we did when we started out some four decades ago.” Support comes from Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears and Lia Lia.
Duran Duran play:
APRIL
29 – The AO Arena, Manchester
MAY
01 – The O2, London
02 – The O2, London
04 – First Direct Arena, Leeds
05 – Utilita Arena, Birmingham
07 – 3Arena, Dublin
09 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow
Fans can buy and sell tickets for Duran Duran at global marketplace, viagogo here.
Maisie Peters
Maisie Peters. CREDIT: Alice Moitié
Following another stint supporting Ed Sheeran in stadiums, Maisie Peters returned to the UK earlier this month to kick off her own headline tour. The run concludes this week with a massive show at London’s Eventim Apollo before she heads to Europe..
Peters is also gearing up to release second album ‘The Good Witch’ (out June 16) and has already confirmed her return to the capital later this year, with a headline show at Wembley Arena.
Maisie Peters plays:
APRIL
27 – Eventim Apollo, London
NOVEMBER
03 – Wembley Arena, London
Fans can buy and sell tickets for Maisie Peters at global marketplace, viagogo here.
Razorlight
Razorlight Credit: Press
The original line-up of Razorlight ( Johnny Borrell, Andy Burrows, Björn Ågren and Carl Dalemo) reunited in 2021 before a Greatest Hits compilation was released at the end of last year alongside a documentary. Now the band are taking the party out on the road, with extra dates being added due to phenomenal demand.
Razorlight play:
APRIL
25 – O2 Academy, Oxford
26 – O2 Academy, Bristol
28 – O2 Academy, Bournemouth
MAY
10 – Empire, Middlesbrough, Empire
11 – HMV Empire, Coventry
12 – Eventim Apollo, London
JJ Lin
Singaporean Mando-pop star JJ Lin will be wrapping up his world tour with two headline gisg at Wembley Arena. Taking place after a three-year break from music, this tour is billed as a celebration of Lin’s 20-year career and has seen the star performing tracks from across his discography, from his 2003 debut album ‘Music Voyager’ to his most recent album, ‘Drifter / Like You Do’.
JJ Lin plays:
April
30 – OVO Wembley Arena, London
May
01 – OVO Wembley Arena, London
Fans can buy and sell tickets for JJ Lin at global marketplace, viagogo here.
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne. Credit: Jim Dyson/Getty Images
Celebrating 20 years of ‘Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots’, The Flaming Lips are set to play the iconic record in full at a trio of UK dates ahead of a North American run.
Originally released in 2002, The Flaming Lips’ tenth studio album features banging singles like ‘Do You Realize??’ and saw the group experiment further with electronics. Last year the band released a 20th anniversary reissue of ‘Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots’ featuring B-sides, demos, remixes, live versions of tracks, and hard-to-find covers of Pink Floyd, Radiohead and Kylie Minogue songs.
The Flaming Lips play:
APRIL
25 – Troxy, London
28 – Eventim Apollo, London
29 – O2 Apollo, Manchester
You can view the original article HERE.
