By Marie-Louise Gumuchian
LONDON (Reuters) – British band Bastille say they want to take fans on a joyous celebration of their 15 years together when they head off on their first UK arena tour in three years in November.
The foursome, made up of Dan Smith, Kyle Simmons, Will Farquarson and Chris “Woody” Wood, will perform nine shows for their “From All Sides – Songs from The First 15 Years” tour, starting in the southwestern English city of Plymouth on November 6.
There will be stops in Cardiff, Nottingham, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham and Brighton before wrapping up at London’s O2 arena on November 18.
On the list are fan favourite songs, deep cuts, music from their mixtapes as well as unplugged moments, Smith and Simmons told Reuters, adding the shows would be a nod to the group’s different phases.
“This tour is like our opportunity to kind of bottle the euphoria of one of our festivals sets and show everything we’ve done…We just want it to be…like a really joyous celebration of everything that we’ve done,” Smith said.
“Nothing’s off the cards. It’s really interesting to try and build the set,” Simmons added.
Formed in 2010, Bastille shot to global fame with their 2013 hit “Pompeii”. They have scored three UK no.1 studio albums, starting with their debut “Bad Blood”, and sold more than 13 million records.
“From All Sides”, for which tickets went on sale on Friday, comes after the group took a break from touring last year.
“It’s just nice to be able to have the chance, because we took the foot off the gas after sort of 13 years, to be like, ‘Let’s have…a bit of a look back and a bit of a celebration’,” Simmons said.
“We’re seeing this tour as a bit of a restart…We want to come back playing the songs…brilliantly and reframing them,” Smith added.
Bastille will give a tour donation to charity Youth Music’s Rescue the Roots campaign to help raise funds for grassroots youth music projects in Britain. According to the charity, 41% of grassroots youth music projects are at risk of closure.
“We feel so lucky to get to do this as our job and we have done…for such a long time now. But…it’s very tough for new young musicians sort of starting out,” Smith said.
Earlier this week, Smith lent his support to the launch of the O2’s “Stamp It Tout” information hub, which aims to aid fans to buy concert tickets without being ripped off by touts.
“It’s frustrating, but it doesn’t need to exist. So that’s…why we’re talking about it,” he said. “We’ve been encouraging people…to lend their voices to that.”
(Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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