Unsure what to buy your loved ones for Christmas this year? Look no further. We’ve got you covered on everything from the hottest names in pop to the most nostalgic film experiences…
Pop
Little Mix
Pop superstars Little Mix have announced extra dates to their huge UK and Ireland arena tour in 2019. ‘LM5 – The Tour’ will be kicking off in Dublin on 10th October 2019. The tour now includes two dates in Dublin and Belfast, three shows in Glasgow, Newcastle, Birmingham and Manchester plus a fourth date at The O2, London. The shows will see Little Mix perform songs from their brand new album LM5, alongside their greatest hits including ‘Touch’, ‘Shout Out to My Ex’, ‘Black Magic’ and ‘Wings’.
Take That
2019 marks Take That’s 30th Anniversary. To celebrate their milestone, the band have announced a massive UK arena and stadium tour performing all their much loved greatest hits live. The tour will see Take That play shows in many towns and cities that they have never played before plus they will be joined by special guest Rick Astley. Take That have also confirmed the release of Odyssey a re-imagined greatest hits album that takes the listener on a journey through the incredible musical history of one of the UK’s most successful bands of all time.
Spice Girls
Colours of the world…every boy and every girl…people of the world…AHHHH! The era defining, history making, best-selling female group of all time are bringing girl power back in full force as they reunite on stage for the first time since the London 2012 Olympics, hitting stadiums across the UK and proving you never give up on the good times. After tickets originally went on sale, five additional dates were added in quick succession with tickets running low for all 12 shows.
Bjorn Again
To celebrate the huge 30th Anniversary of BJÖRN AGAIN, Australian Director and Musician Rod Stephen will be taking the internationally acclaimed show on tour throughout the UK and Ireland in November/December 2018. The show was created and founded in 1988 in Melbourne by Rod Stephen. Designed as a rocked-up light-hearted satirical ABBA spoof, the show rapidly achieved worldwide Cult status and acknowledged for singlehandedly initiating the ABBA revival which brought about ABBA Gold, Muriel’s Wedding and MAMMA MIA!
Olly Murs
Currently ruling our airwaves with his swaggering new single ‘Moves’ featuring Snoop Dogg, and due to phenomenal demand Olly Murs has added extra shows to his extensive UK tour. Olly’s dazzling new album You Know I Know is released November 9th on RCA Records. You Know, I Know is the follow up to 24HRS which Olly toured last year selling over 600,000 tickets across 24 sold out UK dates. Olly embarks on a 18 date UK arena tour next May including two shows at London The O2.
Rita Ora
Having recently made chart history becoming the most successful UK female artist of all time on the UK Official Singles Chart, Rita Ora announces her 2019 global tour. Having performed on some of the world’s biggest shows, including ‘Jimmy Kimmel’ and ‘Ellen’ and most prestigious stages, from Glastonbury to The White House and even The Vatican, Rita will be performing at London’s iconic The O2 and travelling to Japan, Thailand, the Philippines and Europe as well as completing her first ever string of national Australian dates on the tour. The tour will be starting in Melbourne, Australia on the 1st March and finishes in Glasgow on the 29th May.
Indie
Neighbourhood Weekender
Award-nominated Neighbourhood Weekender brings together an incredible weekend of live music across three stages, from the biggest acts to the best breaking new bands along with a hub of local food and drinks. Following last year’s acclaimed inaugural festival, Neighbourhood Weekender is back for round two on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th May 2019 with headliners George Ezra and Richard Ashcroft taking the helm alongside a stellar line up. Celebrated live artists such as Primal Scream, The Vaccines, You Me At Six, The Charlatans, Nothing But Thieves, Slaves, The Amazons, Gerry Cinnamon Embrace, Maximo Park will take to the stage as well as some of the best new talent around including Pale Waves, The Hunna, Sea Girls, Fuzzy Sun, Jade Bird, Maisie Peters and Not Hot Ashes.
Muse
Muse have announced their ‘Simulation Theory World Tour’, named after their highly anticipated eighth studio album. Kicking off in February in Texas, this tour will see the multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning rock icons headlining dates at London Stadium and Manchester Etihad Stadium with more dates to be announced. The ‘Simulation Theory World Tour’ will feature an exciting new Enhanced Experience Package that allows access to an exclusive Mixed Reality Pre-Show Party, with three original virtual reality games, inspired by tracks from Simulation Theory. Muse has been heralded around the world for their incendiary and groundbreaking live shows and this tour will be no exception.
Madness
“THE HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF MADNESS!!” Britain’s favourite pop band Madness will be embarking on a major UK arena tour this December and will be joined by special guests The Fratellis. The Sound of Madness is a combination of people from North London that got together in the mid to late ‘70s and came up with a cacophony of music, noise, clothes, dressing up and having fun. Madness are one of the top 20 selling UK groups of all time, with seven top ten albums, 22 top 20 hits and over six million album sales to their name. It’s been an incredible few years for the nutty boys from their gold selling Can’t Touch Us Now album, sell out shows to their recent compilation Full House – The Very Best Of Madness.
James + The Charlatans
Following a hugely successful one off show at Liverpool Echo Arena in 2016, two heavyweights of British music James & The Charlatans have announced a joint UK arena tour for December. Twenty-eight years since they first bagged a Number One album with ‘Some Friendly’, The Charlatans are still achieving fresh career highs, dreaming up new music that redraws their own map, increasingly assured of who they are as a band.
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol confirm headlining dates in the UK and Ireland throughout December and January. The band will perform in cities including Dublin, London, and Belfast. Since their 1998 debut, Songs for Polarbears, Snow Patrol has racked up an impressive number of critical and commercial accolades, including 15 million global album sales, 1+ billion global track streams, five UK Platinum Albums, and are Grammy, BRIT Award and Mercury Music Prize nominated. Their new album Wildness – their first in seven years – is also out now.
Richard Ashcroft
Richard Ashcroft has returned with the release of his fifth solo studio album Natural Rebel. The album will be released on his own RPA label and will be his first released via BMG. Natural Rebel represents the latest chapter in a hugely successful solo career for the former Verve frontman and Ivor Novello winner. It follows Alone With Everybody (#1, 2000), Human Conditions (#3, 2002), Keys to the World (#2, 2006) and These People (#3, 2016). He will tour the UK in support of Natural Rebel next April.
The 1975
The indie dream pop group will tour the UK this coming January to celebrate the release of their third album A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships which will be released later this month. The album will contain such hits as ‘TooTimeTooTimeTooTime’ and ‘Give Yourself A Try’, and has already been awarded five stars by NME and DIY.
Kaiser Chiefs
Following the announcement that Leeds’ Kaiser Chiefs re-signed to Polydor / Universal, the band have announced a run of dates in January / February 2019. The band have also announced that they are back in the studio working on their 7th studio album with Ben Allen, the producer who worked on the band’s UK Number 1 album Education, Education, Education and War. Formed in 2000, Kaiser Chiefs are one of the leading bands of their generation. The band have released 6 original studio albums which includes their Mercury nominated debut, Employment which sold over 2 million copies, It’s number 1 follow up, Yours Truly, Angry Mob, which went twice-platinum in the UK alone.
Miles Kane
Following an intimate and rip-roaring UK club tour with his explosive new band that included two sold out shows at Moth Club, Miles Kane has announced 13 further UK dates for this winter including a show at the O2 Academy Brixton on 6th December. Kane also released his first solo record in five years Coup De Grace in August via Virgin EMI. Coup De Grace is a blistering exercise in modern rock ‘n’ roll, and features the anthemic ‘Loaded’ written by Miles, Lana Del Rey and Jamie T; the T Rex inspired current single ‘Cry On My Guitar’, the insanely catchy ‘Too Little Too Late’ and title track ‘Coup De Grace’.
Cast
Pedigree Britpop legends Cast will embark on a major UK tour this winter in support of their new album Greatest Hits 1995-2017. Originally formed in 1992 from the ashes of two of the most legendary and lauded guitar bands of all time, The La’s and Shack, Cast released four albums, the second Mother Nature Calls also went platinum (three of them top 10), and had ten top 10 singles, Their debut All Change celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2015 and has become the biggest selling debut album of all time for Polydor Records.
Classical
Il Divo
The original and the best classical cross over group of all time, Il Divo return to the UK in 2019 with their Timeless Tour, which will see them perform all their greatest hits live throughout June and July. Forming 15 years ago, they spearheaded an entirely new musical genre with their groundbreaking debut album. Il Divo have evolved into the pre-eminent tenor powerhouse vocal group with 160 Gold and Platinum albums in 33 countries to their credit, over 30 million albums sold, and were the first Classical Crossover artists to have an album debut at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart.
Katherine Jenkins
Britain’s best-selling classical artist of the last 25 years, Katherine Jenkins OBE has announced a magical UK tour to accompany the release of her new album Guiding Light out 30th November via Decca Records. She will be joined by one of the UK’s most versatile orchestras, The London Concert Orchestra, under Musical Director Anthony Inglis for the majority of the tour. The London Concert Orchestra has worked with Katherine for the last two years in her series of hugely popular Christmas concerts.
The Overtones
The Overtones have announced a 22 date UK tour starting on November 22nd at Watford Colosseum and ending with a special festive show at London’s Indigo at the O2 on December 20th 2018. Promising “a night to remember” the group will be joined on stage by their band to perform favourites from their previous Top 10 albums as well as songs from their self-titled new record. The album was released in October in preparation for these incredible shows, and stays true to the group’s signature old-school cool, modern vintage vibe and trademark vocal harmonies.
Collabro
After the success of last year’s huge sell-out theatre tour, Collabro will be back on the road next Spring with a mammoth 51 dates across the UK. The musical theatre group’s ‘Road to the Royal Albert Hall’ Tour will be kicking off at South Shields Customs House in February and will see the group perform at a variety of intimate theatres and iconic venues over three months, before finishing the tour at the world renowned Royal Albert Hall in London. The world’s most successful musical theatre group met in 2014 for their first rehearsal and within a year won Britain’s Got Talent with one of the biggest majorities in the show’s history.
Alfie Boe
One of the world’s greatest classical singers Alfie Boe brings it back to the UK, announcing a 2019 tour in what is becoming another landmark year for the much loved tenor. He revealed his return to the solo spotlight with the release of his new album As Time Goes By which is due later this month. Boe is one of the best-loved vocalists of his generation and a hugely successful, multi-platinum selling artist. He has triumphed on theatre stages and in concert halls around the world and has two recent UK #1 albums under his belt for albums Together and Together Again, made with his great friend Michael Ball. The duo also won two Classic BRIT Awards earlier this year for ‘Best Album’ and ‘Group of the Year’.
Film, Theatre and Conversation
Back To The Future In Concert
Power up your DeLorean… recharge your flux capacitor… and get ready to celebrate this unforgettable movie classic! Back to the Future is the 1.21-gigawatt blockbuster that topped the 1985 box office chart, spawned two wildly successful sequels and stamped an enduring imprint on pop culture. Now fans old and new will experience the thrill of Back to the Future like never before – on an HD screen with a full symphony orchestra performing Alan Silvertri’s dazzling musical score live in synch with the movie. Audiences will also be in for an exclusive treat: approximately twenty minutes of brand new music added by award-winning composer Silvestri to the film’s score especially for these unique live orchestra presentations.
Ant Middleton
Ant Middleton, best known as the Chief Instructor for Channel 4’s hit shows, SAS : Who Dares Wins, Mutiny and Escape has announced a brand new fully immersive show for 2019, The Mind Over Muscle Tour. The No. 1 Sunday Times Best Selling Author’s tour will bring the ‘elements’ to the audience through lighting, sound and set. The show will recreate what mental strength it took behind the scenes for Ant to complete his recent SAS series and his huge Everest challenge. Plus throughout Ant will take the audience through a motivational journey of self-help and self-discovery.
An Evening With The Hairy Bikers
National Treasures Si King and Dave Myers, aka The Hairy Bikers have announced a huge nationwide tour for 2019 taking in over 37 dates between February and April. With their irresistible enthusiasm, An Evening With The Hairy Bikers will be an epic night of cooking and conversation. Big hearted, down-to-earth cooks with a love of good food, Si and Dave have been cooking together for more than twenty years. They have created haute cuisine dishes with Michelin-starred chefs and travelled the world in the pursuit of great food. They’ve also explored the length and breadth of the British Isles to discover brand new recipes and create their own fresh takes on cooking classics.
Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Musical?
The award-winning Brendan O’Carroll and Mrs. Brown’s Boys invite you to their brand new production Mrs. Brown’s Boys D’Musical? coming to arenas across the UK and Ireland in 2019, promising to take audiences on an exhilarating, side splitting and musical adventure. Mrs. Brown’s Boys success has been nothing short of incredible. Voted the No. 1 Sitcom of the 21st Century, awards include 5 BAFTAs, 4 National Television Awards, 3 TV Choice Awards, 4 IFTA awards, 3 TV Times Awards as well as RTS, TRIC and National Comedy Awards.