Following on the heels of a successful series of sold-out theatre shows in March of this year, the upcoming U.K. dates extend Elbow’s successful Little Fictions tour, undertaken in support of the band’s latest album. The newly announced dates are as follows:
Friday, 2 March 2018 -- Glasgow, The SSE Hydro
Saturday, 3 March 2018 -- Birmingham, Genting Arena
Sunday, 4 March 2018 -- Manchester, Manchester Arena
Tuesday, 6 March 2018 -- Leeds, First Direct Arena
Wednesday, 7 March 2018 -- London, The O2
Tickets to the announced dates are on sale here now.
This latest series of shows follow an upcoming U.S. tour and the band’s first scheduled show in Mexico at the Corona Festival this November. A select number of European dates will precede appearance on US soil too.
In addition, Elbow have just concluded the tail end of a series of sellout venues in Manchester, London, and Edinburgh, as well as a series of critically acclaimed festival appearances this past summer.
The band’s new single, a re-recording of 'Kindling (Fickle Flame)', pairs singer Guy Garvey with special guest and former touring mate John Grant. “We are always looking for ways to lead new ears to our records and the idea of duetting with John on the track came from a dressing room conversation in Cork,” Garvey explains. “I felt that there was space in the song between the original vocals for a sympathetic voice and a romantic close harmony. John was the first person that came to mind for us when we thought about who could do that.”
Demand for the band has increased exponentially with his each new release. Known for their ambitious aggregation of harmonic compositions, orchestral arrangements and Garvey’s atmospheric lyrics, the band finds synergy in the combined dynamics of drummer Richard Jupp, guitarist Mark Potter, bassist Pete Turner, and organist Craig Potter. The group met while attending college in Bury and moved to Manchester soon after, signing their first label deal in 1998.
After an early, turbulent trajectory that saw the band jostled from one label after another, Elbow finally nested with independent label Uglyman, which released two EPs, “Newborn” and “Any Day Now” to favorable plaudits from the pundits. The band’s critical ascent progressed with the release of the albums Asleep in the Back in 2001 followed by Cast of Thousands in 2004.
Subsequent albums, Leaders of the Free World (2005), The Seldom Seen Kid (2008), Build a Rocket Boys (2011), The Take Off and Landing of Everything (2014), further elevated their popularity while garnering a steady swarm of critical kudos in the process. A collection of B sides, Dead in the Boot (2012), was equally well received, joining its predecessors in the upper reaches of the U.K. album charts, while also spinning off seven singles that placed in the top 40. Their latest effort, Little Fiction, released earlier this year, has been their most successful effort to date, climbing all the way to number one on the U.K. charts and securing their reputation as a bonafide commercial entity.
