Edwyn Collins announces final-ever UK tour for 2025 – including London show

Edwyn Collins has announced details of his final-ever UK tour, scheduled for this autumn. Find all the details below.

The Scottish musician, producer and former Orange Juice frontman is set to hit the road for ‘The Testimonial Tour – A Last Lap Around The UK’ this September. It’ll follow the release of his 10th solo album ‘Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation’ next Friday (March 14).

Collins will play nine gigs across the UK overall. Kicking off in Glasgow, the forthcoming trek also features stop-offs in Buxton, Bath, Southampton, Brighton, Norwich, Manchester and Newcastle.

On October 4, Collins is due to play a headline concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London.

His live band for this final tour will feature Carwyn Ellis (bass), Andy Hackett (guitar), Jake Hutton (drums), Patrick Ralla (guitar) and Sean Read (keyboard).

Tickets go on general sale at 10am GMT this Friday (March 7) – you’ll be able to buy yours here.

Edwyn Collins’ 2025 dates for ‘The Testimonial Tour – A Last Lap Around The UK’ are:

SEPTEMBER
27 – Theatre Royal, Glasgow
29 – Opera House, Buxton
30 – Komedia, Bath

OCTOBER
02 – Central Hall, Southampton 
03 – St. George’s Church, Brighton
04 – Royal Festival Hall, London 
06 – Epic Studios, Norwich 
07 – Albert Hall, Manchester
08 – The Boiler Shop, Newcastle

Collins played his first show in 1977 with The Nu-Sonics, at the bottom of the line-up supporting The Backstabbers, The Skids and Steel Pulse at the Satellite City nightclub above the Apollo in Glasgow.

Additionally, he has further previewed ‘Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation’ by sharing a new single called ‘The Heart Is A Foolish Little Thing’.

Speaking about the track, Collins explained: “I suppose I’m thinking about heartbreak when you’re young and how daft it all seems now. At the time though, it’s intense. I remember.” Listen here:

The full album is described as Collins’ “most finely wrought, thought-provoking and frankly hummable set of songs in two decades”, as well as being his “most optimistic” yet. It’ll offer “boundless, life-affirming hope”, with the collection bringing “affirmation, resolution and out-and-out catchiness”.

1.   ‘Knowledge’
2.   ‘Paper Planes’
3.   ‘The Heart Is A Foolish Little Thing’
4.   ‘The Mountains Are My Home’
5.   ‘Strange Old World’
6.   ‘Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation’
7.   ‘Sounds As A Pound’
8.   ‘The Bridge Hotel’
9.   ‘A Little Sign’
10. ‘It Must Be Real’
11. ‘Rhythm Is My Own World’

In 2019, Collins opened up about the “terrifying” experience of losing the ability to speak after suffering two cerebral haemorrhages in 2005. “I was in hospital for six months and for all that time I couldn’t speak… I was just inside my mind. I was so scared,” he told The Guardian.

“[…] Thanks to my therapist I’ve got an awful lot back that I lost. They’ve given me my life back.”

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