STILL GOING STRONG: UB40 will visit South Africa – and Port Elizabeth – as part of their world tour later this year
Nelson Mandela Bay music fans can look forward to an invigorated and reinvented UB40 when the band performs in Port Elizabeth later this year.
The band will be performing with three of the original members, including the legendary Ali Campbell, for the concert at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium Outer Fields on November 8.
The 11-member band, who are Britain’s biggest reggae band of all time, will be performing classic hits such as Red, Red Wine, Kingston Town and Can’t Help Falling in Love as well as newer songs from their most recent album, Silhouette.
Speaking to Weekend Post this week, Campbell said the band would return to Port Elizabeth for the first time since the early 1990s.
They were looking forward to being back in the city, he said.
“The last time we were in South Africa was about two years ago but it has been a while since we were in Port Elizabeth. We are really excited to be back.
“We upheld the cultural boycotts during apartheid but after Nelson Mandela was released we played quite a few shows in South Africa.
“We go everywhere and pride ourselves on being musical pioneers when it comes to our world tours. Other exciting places we have played include the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.
“We have been to other parts of Africa as well and an astonishing time we played was to 100 000 people at a music festival in Luanda.”
Campbell said they had just completed dates in England and would be heading to the US for various concerts before arriving in South Africa.
“People always ask us what the secret to our longevity and our tenacity is, because we simply refuse to go away, and the simple answer is that we chose reggae.
“It is a genre that is universally popular, in every country.
“Reggae is uplifting. It unifies people and it makes you feel good. Music has the ability to heal your soul as well.”
He said many people believed the band had three albums – when the actual number was 24.
They sold 10 million albums in the United States alone.
“We are just a bunch of guys who grew up in Birmingham, England, where around 1967 and 1968, when I was nine years old, reggae was huge.
“It was an area with a lot of immigrants like West Indians and Africans and we all grew up listening to artists like John Holt, and obviously the big influence for us was Bob Marley and the Wailers,” Campbell said.
“We are very excited to be performing with Bob Marley’s son, Steven Marley, during our shows in the United States.”
The band also enjoyed keeping abreast of new and upcoming reggae artists like Raging Fyah.
“I left my own original band eight years ago but it will be myself, Astro and Mickey Virtue performing old hits and a few new ones as well,” Campbell said.
“We will be 11 people on stage, so what fans will be seeing is a reunited and reinvented UB40.”
The band will arrive in South Africa in November as part of their world tour and will be performing four concerts, with their other performances at Cape Town’s Grand Arena, GrandWest, on November 5, Durban’s Botanic Gardens on November 10 and Johannesburg’s Ticketpro Dome on November 12.
The shows are being organised by Big Concerts and will be presented by Heart FM, Algoa FM, East Coast Radio, Jacaranda FM and Channel 24.
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