Gigs to go GAGA for in 2018
The big names hitting the road in the New Year . . .
STADIUM SUPERSTARS
HE MIGHT downplay his achievements as ‘just a boy with a one-man show’, but Ed Sheeran has taken his acoustic guitar and loop pedal an awfully long way, filling arenas and headlining Glastonbury.
Next year sees him back in the big stadiums, boosted by 2017’s bestselling album, divide.
Sheeran, now an MBE, begins his tour on May 4 with the first of three nights at the Pairc Ui Chaoimh stadium in Cork and returns to Wembley Stadium for the first time since 2015, playing four concerts there between June 14 and 17.
don’t expect a stripped- down performance: Ed’s live show has all the whistles and bells of a modern pop pageant ( edsheeran.com).
Taylor Swift also visits Wembley Stadium on June 22 and 23. Her tour, which starts on June 8 at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester, also takes in dublin’s Croke Park and will include songs from recent album Reputation alongside the catchy choruses and whip- smart lyrics of old hits such as Shake It Off ( livenation.co.uk).
POP QUEENS
LADY GAGA shunned her usual gimmicks to put the onus on her musical talent with 2016’s Joanne album and she will be aiming to emphasise her move away from machine-tooled dance music when she starts a tour at Arena Birmingham on January 31 ( livenation.
co.uk). Shania Twain opens her first UK tour in 13 years at the SSE Hydro, Glasgow, on September 19. The Queen Of Country Pop’s recent album, Now, was a let- down, but her live show will be bolstered by the crowd-pleasing That don’t Impress Me Much and Man! I Feel Like A Woman! ( livenation.co.uk).
Some homegrown female stars also take to the road, with Paloma Faith beginning her first tour in three years at the First direct Arena, Leeds, on March 2 ( ticketby
master.co.uk), and soul siren Jessie Ware warming up for her March tour with a date at the Jazz Cafe, London, on February 22 ( ticketmaster.co.uk).
Little Mix also return next year, the feisty female quartet behind hits such as Shout Out To My Ex beginning a series of summer shows at the Central County Ground, Hove, on July 6 ( ticketmaster.co.uk).
SOUL BOYS
SACRAMENTO-BORN jazz man Gregory Porter made his last album, Nat King Cole & Me, in London with a 70-piece orchestra and he will be backed by lush strings ngs again when he visits the he capital to launch his spring tour at the Royal Albert Hall on April 2 ( gregoryporter.
British soul singer Sam Smith is also back, opening at Sheffield Arena on March 20 ( gigsandtours.
GUITAR GODS
UNdAUNTEd by the absence of guitarist dave Keuning and bassist Mark Stoermer, who no longer tour, The Killers play a string of open-air summer gigs.
With charismatic singer Brandon Flowers (above) still at the helm and this year’s Wonderful Wonderful album marking a return to form, the revitalised Las Vegas band play the Liberty Stadium, Swansea, on June 23 before visiting the Isle Of Wight Festival, Glasgow’s TRNSMT and Bolton’s Macron Stadium ( gigsandtours.com).
Other major American guitar bands with big British shows next summer include Pearl Jam, who play London’s O2 Arena on June 18 and 19 ( axs.com), and the Foo Fighters, who start a tour at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester, on June 19 ( gigsandtours.com).
FESTIVAL PLEASERS
WITH Glastonbury taking a break in 2018, British Summer Time is shaping up as the premier outdoor show. Stars confirmed for the Hyde Park spectacular include former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters (July 6), The Cure (July 7), Eric Clapton (July 8), Michael Bublé ( July 13) and Bruno Mars (July 14). Among support acts are Santana and Goldfrapp
( bst bst-hydepark.com). hyd Cam Camp Bestival, stag staged at Lulworth Ca Castle in dorset fro from July 26, has al also announced its liB line-up, with Clean Bandit, Simple M Minds and Rick A Astley headlining ( c campbestival.net), while wh download Festival, Fes at donington ton Park in June, features featur Guns N’ Roses, Ozzy Osbo Osbourne and Avenged Sevenfold ( downloadfestival.co.uk).
NOEL vs. LIAM
THE Britpop years were dominated by the rivalry between Oasis and Blur, but it’s now Oasis’s two Gallagher brothers who are at loggerheads.
Both put out solo albums in 2017 and both are hitting the road in 2018. Noel Gallagher avoided any songs that sounded like his old band on November’s Who Built The Moon?, though we can expect some old favourites when he starts an arena tour at the Brighton Centre on April 22 ( gigsandtours. com). Liam Gallagher (below) had no such qualms about revisiting Britpop- style singalongs on October’s As You Were.
The younger Gallagher headlines a major outdoor show in London’s Finsbury Park on June 29 ( liamgallagher.com).
ROCK LEGENDS
AMONG those hitting the comeback trail are progressive rock stalwarts Yes, who celebrate their 50th anniversary by playing excerpts from landmark album Tales From Topographic Oceans plus tracks from Fragile and Close To The Edge. Their tour starts on March 13 at Colston Hall, Bristol, with two nights at the London Palladium ( eventim.co.uk). Tears For Fears, with founding members Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith back, begin their first tour since 2005 with a show at the First direct Arena, Leeds, on April 27. They play the O2 Arena, London, on May 10 ( axs.com). Former Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox makes a rare public appearance when she hosts an evening of music and chat at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Lond o n , on March 4 ( ticketmaster. co.uk), while Randy Newman, on the back of his first album in nine years, begins a UK tour at Usher Hall, Edinburgh, on March 8 ( ticketmaster.