UB40 add Northampton date to rescheduled Bigga Baggariddim tour

Iconic reggae band UB40 will head to Northampton this winter as part of a tour to mark the release of their forthcoming album Bigga Baggariddim.

The gig at Royal & Derngate on Wednesday, December 1, is among nine new dates which have been added to the band’s rescheduled UK and Ireland tour.

Tickets for the additional dates went on sale this morning.

UB40 formed in 1978 and have transcended their working-class origins to become the most successful reggae band in the world, selling more than 100 million records worldwide and spending over a combined 11 years in the UK album chart, alongside releasing 40 UK hit singles.

Funder members Robin Campbell, Brian Travers, James Brown, Earl Falconer, Norman Hassan, and long-time members Duncan Campbell, Martin Meredith, Laurence Parry and Tony Mullings will perform new tracks, alongside the band’s timeless classics and greatest hits, including Food For Thought, One In Ten, Kingston Town, (I Can't Help) Falling in Love With You and Red, Red Wine, among many others.

Guitarist and vocalist Campbell said: “We really believe this will be the last time we’ve had to move these dates because of Covid, we’re going stir crazy and just want to get back on the road again.”

Drummer James Brown added: “It’s been so frustrating not being able to play gigs.

“It’s what we love to do. We can’t wait till we are back on the road, doing what we do best, performing on stage to a packed crowd.”

After kicking off in Castlebar in Ireland, the tour will visit Aberdeen, Belfast, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull, Kerry, Leeds, Liverpool, London’s SSE Arena Wembley, Manchester, Northampton, Norwich, Nottingham, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Stockton and Stoke.

Percussionist and singer Norman Hassan, added: “We just can’t wait to feel the vibe and love of a live crowd, dancing and singing, moving and a grooving. That’s what we live for.”

Bigga Baggariddim is the follow up to the band’s critically acclaimed 1985 release Baggariddim. Much like Baggariddim, when UB40 invited other artists to voice over their riddims, Bigga Baggariddim is an international celebration of reggae, featuring New Zealand’s House of Shem, India’s Reggae Rajahs, reggae veterans Inner Circle, Tippa Irie and Winston Francis, and upcomers Gilly G. Kioko, BLVK H3RO and Leno Banton.

The album also includes tracks with Pablo Rider and Slinger, who both featured on the 1985 Baggariddim album.

During lockdown UB40 launched weekly UBZoomy broadcasts on social media and an UB40 app to.

Tickets for original dates remain valid.

For more information, visit www.UB40.global and http://bit.ly/UB402021Tour and https://www.royalandderngate.co.uk