Radio!! Radio!! Tour 2027

[Pughie]

Vince Clarke will be Musical Director for the tour but will not be appearing onstage alongside Andy Bell. He explains, “I recently moved to California from New York, and I travelled from here to London. The travelling took a toll - it really messed me up. I never seemed to recover from it. I just thought ‘I don’t want to do this anymore’. I told Andy, and he made me musical director, and I thought, ‘how fantastic is that?’ I can do all my work and all my direction from here, but I don’t have to leave sunny San Diego.”

Bell goes on to say, "I'm so pleased that we were able to find a way for the tour to work for Vince. He's always too modest but he's so much more than the Musical Director, Vince is one of the great loves of my life and everything we do as Erasure we decide together.”

Tour Dates:
April 2027
Sun 25 - Cardiff Utilita Arena
Mon 26 - Bournemouth International Centre
Wed 28 - Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Fri 30 - Birmingham Utilita Arena (NIA)

May 2027
Sat 01 - Manchester AO Arena
Wed 05 - Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Thu 06 - Hull Connexin Live
Sat 08 - Leeds first direct bank arena
Sun 09 - Glasgow OVO Hydro
Tue 11 - Brighton Centre
Wed 12 - London The O2

[opalfruit]

Going to be strange without Vince but so long as they're both happy I'm okay with that, we all thought that'd be it for touring after that interview so I'm really happy with this compromise.


I wonder if we'll see the return of Loveboat era cardboard cutout Vince or even Chorus era mannequin?

[moxxey]

I wonder if we'll see the return of Loveboat era cardboard cutout Vince or even Chorus era mannequin?

Someone posted a comment on social media that it's telling Richard said 'Vince won't be appearing...onstage' as it implies another format. I think it will be more like the 2020 Vince with him on a big screen playing live from New York (when Andy was singing live in the UK), or, more likely, seen controlling the music direction from home in San Diego. He'll be 8 or 9 hours behind most of the shows, so effectively will be playing at his house on an afternoon!

I bet we'll have Andy talking to Vince from his mic, too, when he's ready for Vince to trigger the tracks or something similar. So some interaction with Vince....just not him on the actual stage! Ideal Vince scenario for him.

Andy won't be the only person on stage. I bet he brings a version of his solo tour band on the road, with Vince on a screen.

[kwerty]

I think it will be more like the 2020 Vince with him on a big screen playing live from New York (when Andy was singing live in the UK), or, more likely, seen controlling the music direction from home in San Diego. He'll be 8 or 9 hours behind most of the shows, so effectively will be playing at his house on an afternoon!

Could be, but I suspect 'Musical Director' means he will preparing and programming the sequencer arrangements and choosing synths - like he always does but for someone else to then operate on stage. At most maybe with a live video link-up to just say hi, but not to just press play for every track.

I remember in an interview many years ago - possibly from before Erasure was formed (or at least in their early years) - Vince saying that his ideal situation was to just program the synths but not go on the tour. This is him finally doing that!

[moxxey]

Could be, but I suspect 'Musical Director' means he will preparing and programming the sequencer arrangements and choosing synths - like he always does but for someone else to then operate on stage. At most maybe with a live video link-up to just say hi, but not to just press play for every track.

Yes, but you missed my point entirely. Back in 2020 Vince was playing (at least the guitar) live back in NYC and also interacting with Andy and starting the tracks etc. He could easily do that remotely on a screen. There's a fair amount he could join in with remotely.

[opalfruit]

Going to Manchester, £80 a ticket though? bit steep, still happy to see them touring again,

[Pat2000]

Clarke won’t be in attendance. Instead, he will serve remotely as the tour’s musical director, leaving keyboard technician Howard Rider to work the synths on the night.

From the Guardian