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It’s been a hell of a year for live music, with British rock icons and UK rap legends thrilling fans across the country, proving that our love of big gigs remains in rude health. But what are the most in-demand UK shows this month? It’s lucky you asked, because viagogo have crunched the numbers to reveal the acts who’ve been hotting up the servers as we barrel towards silly season.
From indie heroes to liquid funk, there’s bound to be something here that floats your boat. Where else are you going to find Cliff Richard and D Block Europe on the same list?
Mumford & Sons
Playing: Glasgow: OVO Hydro (Dec 2), Manchester: Co-op Live (Dec 3), Sheffield Utilita Arena: (Dec 5), Birmingham: Utilita Arena (Dec 7), Cardiff: Utilita Arena (Dec 8), London: The O2 (Dec 10-11)
One newspaper recently referred to Marcus and the gang as “monsters of rock”. Before you knock over the nearest upright bass in a rage, think about it for a moment. Now a trio, following guitarist Winston Marshall’s departure in 2021, the banjo-peddling superstars have been opening their UK arena tour with ‘Run Together’, a gargantuan anthem taken from their upcoming album ‘Prizefighter’. These unstoppable beasts only just released its predecessor, ‘Rushmere’, in March!
D Block Europe
Playing: Glasgow: OVO Hydro (Dec 1), Liverpool: M&S Bank Arena (Dec 2), Birmingham: bp pulse LIVE (Dec 4), Leeds: First Direct Arena (Dec 6), Nottingham: Motorpoint Arena (Dec 7), Manchester: Co-op Live (Dec 9-10), Brighton Centre (Dec 12), Cardiff: Utilita Arena (Dec 14), London: The O2 (Dec 15-Dec 16), Cardiff: Utilita Arena (Dec 17), London: The O2 (Dec 19)
Talk about range. Young Adz and Dirtbike LB might be best-known for thumping trap – probably the main reason they were picked to headline Wireless back in 2023 – but the Lewisham lads can also do romance, introspection and killer hooks, as massive 2024 album ‘Rolling Stone’ proved. Known for surprising fans with stellar guests at their high-energy shows, the duo thrive with a little help from their friends. So that’s why they call themselves the ‘Black Beatles’.
Jamairoquai
Playing: Glasgow: OVO Hydro (Dec 3), Manchester: Co-op Live (Dec 6), London: The O2 (Dec 9), Birmingham: Utilita Arena (Dec 12), London: The O2 (Dec 14)
Who ordered the trunk of funk? This winter, novelty headwear enthusiast Jay Kay has been treating audiences to his soulful brand of acid-jazz-disco-pop mash-up (and it’s not often you get to write that). Before Dua Lipa brought the relentlessly groovy Stretford star out to unleash ‘Virtual Insanity’ on 70,000 punters at Wembley Stadium in June, she introduced him as “someone who has really been a trailblazer for British music”. If it’s good enough for Dua…
Stereophonics
Playing: Birmingham: Utilita Arena (Dec 3), Nottingham: Motorpoint Arena (Dec 4), Newcastle: Utilita Arena (Dec 6), Sheffield: Utilita Arena (Dec 7), Aberdeen: P&J Live (Dec 9), Glasgow: OVO Hydro (Dec 10), Manchester: Co-op Live (Dec 12), Birmingham: Utilita Arena (Dec 13), Liverpool: M&S Bank Arena (Dec 16), London: The O2 (Dec 18)
When the Welsh rock titans released their 13th album this spring, ‘Make ‘Em Laugh, Make ‘Em Cry, Make ‘Em Wait’ was notable for being their shortest yet (less than 30 minutes) while also having a really long title. Confusing. More importantly, it absolutely slapped. Ahead of hitting the arena circuit earlier this year, frontman Kelly Jones told NME: “The shows keep getting bigger and the audiences get younger”. Not bad for a band that formed in 1992!
Cliff Richard
Playing: Birmingham: Symphony Hall (Dec 2), Brighton Centre (Dec 4), Bournemouth International Centre (Dec 6), London: Royal Albert Hall (Dec 8-9)
Cliff isn’t just for Christmas, even if ‘Mistletoe and Wine’ is as much a part of the festive season as having a tantrum in your childhood bedroom because you lost at Monopoly. In the recently rereleased Beatles Anthology documentary series, John Lennon famously said: “Before Cliff and ‘Move It’, there was nothing worth listening to in England”. No wonder the rock ’n’ roll pioneer’s still packing out arenas some 67years since the release of that debut single.
Madness
Playing: Sheffield: Utilita Arena (Dec 4), Manchester: AO Arena (Dec 5), Glasgow: OVO Hydro (Dec 6), Aberdeen: P&J Live (Dec 7), Newcastle: Utilita Arena (Dec 9), Liverpool: M&S Bank Arena (Dec 10), Leeds: First Direct Arena (Dec 12), Nottingham: Motorpoint Arena (Dec 13), Brighton Centre (two shows on Dec 14), Bournemouth International Centre (Dec 16), Cardiff: Utilita Arena (Dec 18), Birmingham: Utilita Arena (Dec 19), London: The O2 (Dec 20)
Nostalgia is a hell of a drug, but it’s one that Madness kicked long ago. Frontman Suggs once said that acclaimed 2009 album ‘The Liberty Of Norton Folgate’ helped them escape “‘80s nostalgia shit”, while the north London ska dons scored their first-ever UK Number One album with 2023’s ‘Theatre Of The Absurd Presents C’est la Vie’. More than 45 years since their formation, the lads still love a right old knees-up.
Ed Sheeran
Playing: Coventry Building Society Arena (Dec 5), Manchester: Co‑op Live (Dec 7)
There’s some weird magic to the Framlingham folkie’s gigs. How does he shuffle onstage, dressed like he’s there to man the hot dog stand, and bewitch stadiums full of people with nothing but an acoustic guitar? 2025’s Loop Tour is named after his gift for layering sounds to simulate the effect of a full band – less a technique than a conjuring trick. If you’re lucky, he might pull a surprise guest out of a hat, too.
Wolf Alice
Playing: Cardiff: Utilita Arena (Dec 1), London: The O2 (Dec 2-3), Leeds: First Direct Bank Arena (Dec 5), Glasgow: OVO Hydro (Dec 7), Nottingham: Motorpoint Arena (Dec 8)
“We’ve backed ourselves creatively,” Wolf Alice bassist Theo Ellis told NME earlier this month. Not half! Their fourth album ‘The Clearing’, released in summer, found them reaching for the big time while preserving what made them special in the first place. Rich in scope and packed with epic songwriting, it also paved the way for their current arena tour – heartwarming proof that the live circuit still delivers acts from poky pub gigs to massive venues.
Carols At The Hall
Dates: Royal Albert Hall, London Dec 14-24
With better acoustics than God’s bathroom, the Royal Albert Hall is one of the most iconic venues in the world. This Christmas, the Royal Choral Society will be joined by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, plus a whole host of other world-class musicians, for a big festive bash at the Kensington gaff. Fun fact: the Royal Choral Society performed their debut concert there in 1871. That’s right – they’ve been together longer than the Rolling Stones!
Three Days Grace
Playing: O2 Academy Birmingham (Dec 9), O2 Academy Glasgow (Dec 10), O2 Apollo Manchester (Dec 12), London: O2 Academy Brixton (Dec 13)
Speaking of grizzled rockers: Canadian angst-mongers Three Days Grace have also gone from strength to strength, thanks in part to original vocalist Adam Gontier’s return to the fold after his messy departure in 2013. His replacement, Matt Walst, stayed in his post for last year’s album ‘Alienation’, giving them the rare distinction of being a band with two frontmen. Horns up for their biggest tune ‘Animal I Have Become’ – fittingly named for a two-headed beast.
The post These are the most in-demand UK gigs in December appeared first on NME.
