Paul Weller announces UK Forest Live gigs

16 January, 2023

Paul Weller has announced a trio of live dates as part of Forest Live 2023, the summer concert series presented by Forestry England – find details below and purchase tickets here.

Weller will perform on Thursday, June 8 at Westonbirt Arboretum, Gloucestershire, Friday, June 9 at Cannock Chase Forest, Staffordshire and Saturday, June 17 at Thetford Forest, Suffolk.

Tickets go on sale for the shows, which will also feature special guests, this Friday (January 20) at 9am GMT from here.

Speaking about the upcoming dates in a statement, Weller said: “I am very happy to be playing the Forest Live gigs again as they are always such great shows with such a great audience! See you there.”

In December 2021 Weller had to cut his UK tour short after he contracted coronavirus.

The final three dates of his 2021 UK tour – which were due to run from December 3-5 in Norwich, Lincoln and Cambridge – were cancelled on December 3 after “a band member tested positive for COVID-19”.

Weller then confirmed that he was the one who had tested positive. “I was so, so disappointed to not be able to finish the rest of the shows,” he wrote on Twitter. “I caught the dreaded COVID so that was that!” The Modfather then resumed touring across the UK last year.

In May 2022, Weller and Suggs from Madness teamed up on their stomping single, ‘Ooh Do U Fink U R’.

“Me and Suggs have been talking about doing something together for the last few years so to see it finally happen is amazing! I love the tune and working with him,” Weller said.

“He’s truly a man of many talents. We wanted to do something special and I really think this track is.”

More recently, Weller launched a scathing attack on Robert Smith, calling The Cure frontman a “fucking fat cunt” during a lengthy interview for Record Collector magazine.

The Cure‘s Roger O’Donnell then weighed in on the Modfather’s comments via Twitter. “I’ve always thought, as Spike Milligan said, people who live in glass houses should pull the blinds down before removing their trousers… Mr Weller?” the keyboardist wrote.

Elsewhere, Weller recently expressed his bafflement at the “fucking bizarre” national mourning over Queen Elizabeth’s death.

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