Commenter Schwenko just dropped a note a week or two ago letting me know that Midge Ure is up to his old tricks, touring in America, but a closer look tells us that there’s no stopping the man as he undertakes an extensive North American as well as UK tours the rest of the year with select [New] European dates for good measure. All of the dates outside of America are full band shows, with the “Band Electronica” three-piece backup that do a great job of playing the Ultravox classics. Following the death of Chris Cross earlier this year, that draws a hard line in the sand for any future Ultravox reunions [which weren’t likely to happen, realistically] so this is our jam going forward. Fortunately, the band are up to the task judging from the streamed concert I caught during lockdown. I actually thought they improved “Western Promise;” my favorite “Vienna” cut.

Expect the tasty blend of Ultravox, solo and Visage material that he’s been playing out for the last several years. It’s great to have the Visage material in there as in all candor, it was the other pillar of his 80s ascendance. The North American tour is playing a healthy 24 dates with road warrior Midge keeping things fleet of foot with the “Band-In-A-Box” concept. This means that it will be him on guitar/synths/vox [as usual] with a backup keyboard player, Charlie Round-Turner, on 2nd keys/loops/drum programs. A pragmatic way to get into the nooks and crannies of this huge nation on a budget, as we’ll see later. I still consider it rare to see him in the Southeast, that’s why we pounced twice in 2016/2017 on two legs of his then-current tour. The closest gig to Monastic home base is once again, Atlanta. Holy Toledo! He’s playing that same dive bar I saw him at in ‘16, The Earl! Capacity 106 if you want to see him up close – pores and all, but that’s not the least of it.

In addition to tony, world renown venues like Daryl’s Place, Totonto’s El Mocambo, and The Coach House [as well as several City Wineries] he’s playing in… Mount Dora, Florida! This is a small rural town in between other small towns that pass by in a blink going from Orlando to Ocala. I’m shocked that Mount Dora has a venue much less one where Midge Ure would play! When I lived in Orlando we never got an Ultravox tour in the whole of the southeast. Or a solo show, for that matter – apart from a Howard Jones opening set I still missed. These days Midge plays any stage that makes sense on his trajectory! What a trouper that guy is.

SUMMER BAND ELECTRONICA TOUR • 2024

• Sat, JUL 13 | Szymbark Castle | Szymbark, Poland
• Sat, JUL 20 | Millennium Square | Leeds Icd, UK
• Sun, JUL 21 | Rewind Festival: Scotland 2024 | Perth, UK
• Sun, AUG 4 | Capesthorne Hall | Cheshire West And Chester, UK

NORTH AMERICA BAND-IN-A-BOX TOUR • 2024

• Wed, AUG 7 | Daryl’s House | Pawling, NY
• Thu, AUG 8 | Space Ballroom | Hamden, CT
• Fri, AUG 9 | City Winery | Boston, MA
• Sat, AUG 10 | My Father’s Place | Glen Cove, NY
• Sun, AUG 11 | City Winery | New York, NY
• Tue, AUG 13 | Rams Head Onstage | Annapolis, MD
• Wed, AUG 14 | City Winery | Philadelphia, PA
• Thu, AUG 15 | Jergels Rhythm Grille | Warrendale, PA
• Fri, AUG 16 | El Mocambo | Downtown Toronto, Canada
• Sun, AUG 18 | Space | Evanston, IL
• Tue, AUG 20 | Shank Hall | Milwaukee, WI
• Wed, AUG 21 | Parkway Theater | Minneapolis, MN
• Fri, AUG 23 | Rickshaw Theatre | Vancouver, Canada
• Sat, AUG 24 | King’s Hall at APEX Art + Culture Center | Everett, WA
• Thu, AUG 29 | Yoshi’s | Oakland, CA
• Fri, AUG 30 | Zebulon | Los Angeles, CA
• Sat, AUG 31 | Casbah | San Diego, CA
• Sun, SEP 1 | The Coach House | San Juan Capistrano, CA
• Wed, SEP 4 | Granada Theater | Dallas, TX
• Thu, SEP 5 | 3TEN ACL Live | Austin, TX
• Sun, SEP 8 | The Earl | Atlanta, GA
• Tue, SEP 10 | Bayboro Brewing | St. Petersburg, FL
• Wed, SEP 11 | Mount Dora Music Hall | Mount Dora, FL
• Fri, SEP 13 | Culture Room | Fort Lauderdale, FL

EUROPEAN BAND ELECTRONICA FALL TOUR • 2024

• OCT 1 – 7, 2024 | Costa Festival Portugal 2024 | Albufeira, Portugal
• Thu, OCT 24 | Tvornica kulture | Zagreb, Croatia
• Thu, OCT 31 | Aarschot Festival | Aarschot, Belgium

UK BAND ELECTRONICA TOUR • 2024

• Tue, NOV 12 | The Forum | Bath, UK
• Wed, NOV 13 | The Hawth Crawley | Crawley, UK
• Fri, NOV 15 | Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre | Bournemouth, UK
• Sun, NOV 17 | Hall for Cornwall | Truro, UK
• Mon, NOV 18 | Princess Theatre | Torquay, UK
• Tue, NOV 19 | The London Palladium | London, UK
• Wed, NOV 20 | Buxton Opera House | Buxton, UK
• Fri, NOV 22 | Guildhall Studio | Portsmouth, UK
• Sat, NOV 23 | New Theatre | Oxford, UK
• Sun, NOV 24 | New Theatre – Cardiff | Cardiff, UK
• Mon, NOV 25 | De Montfort Hall | Leicester, UK
• Wed, NOV 27 | Ipswich Regent Theatre | Ipswich, UK
• Fri, NOV 29 | G Live | Guildford, UK
• Sat, NOV 30 | Sheffield City Hall | Sheffield, UK
• Sun, DEC 1 | Symphony hall | Birmingham, UK
• Tue, DEC 3 | Hull City Hall | Hull, UK
• Wed, DEC 4 | Glasshouse International Centre for Music – Sage 1 | Gateshead, UK
• Thu, DEC 5 | Scarborough Spa Grand Hall | Scarborough, UK
• Sat, DEC 7 | The Auditorium at M&S Bank Arena | Liverpool, UK
• Sun, DEC 8 | Leeds Grand Theatre | Leeds, UK
• Mon, DEC 9 | The Bridgewater Hall | Manchester, UK
• Thu, DEC 12 | Music Hall | Aberdeen, UK
• Fri, DEC 13 | Perth Concert Hall | Perth, UK
• Sat, DEC 14 | Usher Hall | Edinburgh, UK
• Mon, DEC 16 | Ulster Hall | Belfast, UK
• Wed, DEC 18 | The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall | Glasgow, UK

That’s 63 dates over six months; making for a lot of flight time for Mr. Ure. I’m glad to see he’s entered his golden years like a rocker; leaving the acoustic guitar at home. I always felt that Midge was best heard with plenty of electricity flowing. I’m not going to be seeing any dates this time, but I say to anyone who’s not experienced Midge live, that if he’s in your airspace, you should take the trip and add your voice to the sound of the crowd. And hope that he’s still putting the incredible “Yellow Pearl” in his setlists!

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