Stars of the rock and pop worlds descend on the Usher Hall this summer to bring Edinburgh audiences their favourite hits.
Birmingham’s world-famous reggae stars UB40 stop off at Usher Hall to celebrate their 40th anniversary on 2 May. The show features UB40’s five founding members Robin Campbell, Brian Travers, Jimmy Brown, Earl Falconer and Norman Hassan, and long-time members Duncan Campbell, Martin Meredith, Lawrence Parry and Tony Mullings. Fans can expect to hear UB40’s greatest hits, including ‘Food For Thought’, ‘One In Ten’, ‘Kingston Town’, ‘(I Can’t Help) Falling in Love With You’ and ‘Red, Red Wine’, amongst many, many others.
Skipinnish is without a doubt one of Scotland’s most exciting exports. Riding an ever-growing wave of popularity, the band has gone from strength to strength since the launch of their album, The Seventh Wave, in 2017. With hit after hit of self-penned songs and a strong mix of powerful bagpipe, fiddle and accordion led sets, they encompass the very best of traditional and contemporary Celtic music and their energetic live shows continue to captivate audiences all over the UK and Europe. 2019 marks the band’s 20th Anniversary, and brings with it a host of special celebration events. The party will kick off on Saturday 25th May at The Usher Hall – following last year’s phenomenal response there was no better place to start the celebrations!
Welsh rock superstars Manic Street Preachers released their 20th Year Collector’s Edition of their fifth album ‘This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours’ at the end of 2018. To celebrate, the band is out on tour in 2019 playing some of its favourite venues over the UK, including the Usher Hall on 26 May. Edinburgh audiences are in for a treat when they play the classic album in full alongside other hits and rarities.
Having sold out her 2018 dates, and following the release of her debut album Speak Your Mind, Anne-Marie will stop off to stun Edinburgh fans on 29 May with her unique brand of urban pop. Originally from East Tilbury, Essex, Anne-Marie shot to fame with her debut song ‘Alarm’ before hitting the charts once again with ‘Rockabye’, a collaboration with Clean Bandit and Sean Paul, which peaked at No.1. She then had further hits with ‘Ciao Adios’ in 2017, before dropping her UK Top 3 debut album. Since her breakthrough on the music scene in 2016, she has been nominated for five Brit awards, as well as a MOBO Award and Billboard Award.
Heralded as one of the finest voices of his generation, Kelly Jones gives audiences a rare opportunity to see a unique and intimate performance at the Usher Hall across an evening of storytelling and song craft on 1 June. Fans will be delighted to see and hear some of their favourite songs in a more stripped back environment, taken from the Stereophonics catalogue of 10 albums and their 22+ years’ worth of music including some of the band’s rarely performed songs. Songs from Kelly’s 2007 solo album Only The Names Have Been Changed will also be sure to feature as well as some brand new songs recently written, all delivered alongside Kelly’s storytelling and tales from along the way.
As one of British music’s most recognised and distinctive vocalists, the only question must be why the mix of Sophie Ellis-Bextor alongside a sumptuous live orchestra hasn’t happened sooner. Now, following on from performing live with orchestra and band for the first time at London’s Royal Festival Hall on 3rd October 2018, Sophie performs orchestral versions of her hits as well as songs from the great cannon of disco songs to Edinburgh audiences on 11 June.
The Drifters are back on tour in the UK with a brand-new show performing all their classic hits from the last six decades, stopping at the Usher Hall on 13 June. The legendary group has previously been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, listed among the greatest artists of all time by Rolling Stone magazine and has produced an incredible list of hits – including; ‘Saturday Night at the Movies’, ‘Come on Over to My Place’, ‘Stand By Me’, ‘Under the Boardwalk’ and many, many more!
Heralded as an artist’s artist, the three-time GRAMMY winner, Kris Kristofferson has recorded 30 albums, including three with pals Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings as part of the Highwaymen. Kristofferson has spent three decades performing concerts all over the world, in most recent years in a solo acoustic setting, which puts the focus on the songs. “There’s an honesty in the sparseness. It feels like direct communication to the listener,” he says. “I still have more fun when I’m with the band, but being alone is freer, somehow. It’s like being an old blues guy, just completely stripped away.” Join the music and film legend on 18 June at the hall.
Following a sold-out run-in Australia & New Zealand, rock icon Nick Cave brings his unique conversation event to the Usher Hall on 22 June. Appearing for an evening of music and open discussion, he will take questions from the audience on all manner of subjects and perform some of his most beloved songs on piano. Described by Cave as “an exercise in connectivity”, no subject is sacred and audiences are encouraged to be bold and challenging, confrontational and unafraid.
Ocean Colour Scene has notched up nine albums, three of which went Top 5 – 1996’s Moseley Shoals, 1997’s Marchin’ Already and 1999’s One From The Modern – and a run of nine successive Top 20 hit singles commencing with 1996’s ‘The Riverboat Song’. They supported Oasis at their massive Knebworth shows that same year, and two years later helmed the biggest arena tour of any UK band to date. Their achievements have been nothing short of phenomenal, and the 27 July is a rare chance to catch the band in Edinburgh, in a slightly more intimate venue than the band are used to!