Black Grape announce ‘It’s Great When You’re Straight, Yeah’ 30th anniversary 2025 UK tour
Black Grape have announced details of a new UK tour, celebrating 30 years of ‘It’s Great When You’re Straight, Yeah’.
The record was shared by the duo – comprised of Shaun Ryder and Paul Leveridge (aka Kermit) – back in 1995 as their debut album. It soon went on to top the charts in the UK and eventually gathered a Platinum certification.
Now, marking three decades since the album was first shared, the band have confirmed that they will be hitting the road for a UK tour.
Taking place across November and December, 11 shows have been announced, kicking off in Glasgow with an opening night at the QMU venue on November 28. This will be followed the next night with a stop at NX in Newcastle.
From there, all remaining dates will be held the following month, commencing with a show at the historic Leadmill venue in Sheffield on December 4 before continuing with gigs in Wolverhampton, Bristol, Southampton and Brighton.
On December 12, Black Grape will head to the Electric Ballroom in London, before wrapping up the tour with shows in Norwich, Nottingham and Manchester on December 18, 19 and 20 respectively.
Tickets go on sale Friday January 31 at 10am, and pre-sale options are available now. Visit here to buy tickets and find a list of tour dates below.
Black Grape’s ‘It’s Great When You’re Straight, Yeah’ 30th-anniversary tour dates are:
NOVEMBER
28 – Glasgow, QMU
29 – Newcastle, NX
DECEMBER
4 – Sheffield, Leadmill
5 – Wolverhampton, Wulfrun Hall
6 – Bristol, SWX
11 – Southampton, Engine Rooms
12 – Brighton, CHALK
13 – London, Electric Ballroom
18 – Norwich, Waterfront
19 – Nottingham, The Level
20 – Manchester, Academy
The follow-up to ‘It’s Great When You’re Straight, Yeah’ arrived two years later in the form of ‘Stupid Stupid Stupid’, and it wasn’t until nearly two decades later that the duo recorded ‘England Till I Die’ for the European nations of 2016.
‘Pop Voodoo’, their third studio album, arrived in 2017 and their latest studio offering was ‘Orange Head’, which was shared in 2023 via DGAFF Records.
In other Shawn Ryder news, the singer recently gave an update about his bandmate from other project Mantra Of The Cosmos.
Earlier this month, the group – which sees Ryder perform alongside Zak Starkey (The Who), Bez (Happy Mondays) and guitarist Andy Bell (Oasis, Ride) – were forced to cancel a secret intimate gig in London due to Starkey suffering a blood clot in his right leg.
Following the cancelled show, Ryder spoke out about whether or not Starkey was being considered for the upcoming Oasis reunion shows. “You gotta ask him that. We sort of know…,” he responded.
The cancelled gig came just days after Mantra Of The Cosmos performed a pair of shows in Liverpool on January 19 after releasing the psychedelic single ‘Domino Bones (Gets Dangerous)’ with Noel Gallagher. The band are also currently working on an album.
As for Happy Mondays, last month the group confirmed that they had parted ways with vocalist and percussionist Rowetta after 34 years, and announced that the group would be joining James on the Colchester date of their huge summer 2025 UK tour.
Last year both Shawn Ryder and Bez spoke to NME on the red carpet for the MTV EMAs and opened up about what’s in store for them in 2025. “Quiet, because we kind of knocked it on the head in 2024. We went out doing Black Grape and Mantra Of The Cosmos, so in 2025 we’ll be back at it,” Ryder said.
Bez added: “We’re getting the band back together again…again!”
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Liberty Dunworth
NME
