UB40: The Homecoming

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Sun 27 Aug 2023

Iconic reggae band UB40 will celebrate their 45th anniversary with a very special outdoor show in their native Moseley, Birmingham , on Sunday August 27, 2023.



Entitled The Homecoming, the performance takes place at Moseley Park and Pool , in an area steeped in UB40 history. Joining the globetrotting superstars are British soul/R&B pioneers  Soul II Soul , Manchester’s  The Mouse Outfit , DJ  Don Letts and Caribbean ensemble  Freetown Collective . Also on the bill are Birmingham’s own  Friendly Fire Band (pictured below) and  Young Culture Band , who both demonstrate reggae’s continued importance to the city, and the enduring influence of UB40.



The Homecoming will also feature a rare screening of the 1984 UB40 film Labour Of Love, along with artist Q&As hosted by broadcaster/actor  Adil Ray .

There will also be a range of street food vendors and craft beer on tap.

UB40 have scored over 50 UK hit singles, including three number ones. They've topped the US charts twice and headlined countless major festivals across multiple continents.

It all began in Birmingham in 1978, specifically in and around the Moseley neighbourhood, as band members attended Moseley School of Art , and rehearsed in a cellar Road, under Earl Falconer (bass/vocals) and saxophonist Brian Traver’s flats in Trafalgar Road. They went on to play their first ever gig at the nearby Hare & Hounds (pictured below) in 1979, an event commemorated by a PRS For Music Heritage Award plaque, and recorded their debut album, Signing Off, in the basement of producer Bob Lamb’s Moseley home.



UB40’s Robin Campbell (guitar/vocals) says: "Moseley is where we started and spent our first formative years, so it will be a true homecoming and could get emotional."

Recalling the band’s connection to the neighbourhood, Jimmy Brown (drums) adds: "Moseley was always very bohemian – eccentric, arty, with some great pubs. A few of us would hang out at The Fighting Cocks – one of our first gigs was in the upstairs room there – and we once played on the back of a lorry driving up and down Moseley Road. It was the birthplace of the band."

Tickets for The Homecoming, priced from £50, are on general sale from March 10, 2023, at ub40.global/thehomecoming




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