Blur’s Alex James announces first ‘Britpop Classical’ 2026 UK tour

Blur bassist Alex James has announced a ‘Britpop Classical’ UK tour for 2026. Find all the details below.

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The musician will take the collective on the road on these shores for the first time next year, after premiering the show at his Big Feastival event this summer.

James is set to bring the biggest hits of the Britpop era to life with a full live orchestra. He’ll also be joined on stage by a host of special guests, including Phil Daniels, Saffron of Republica and Gary Stringer of Reef, with more names to be confirmed at a later date.

The group will showcase hit tracks by the likes of Blur, Oasis, Pulp and Supergrass.

“Somehow all of these songs mean more to people now than they did when they were first released. They really resonate with my kids’ generation too,” James explained.

“Bringing them back to life with a symphony orchestra, a kick ass band, some old friends and very special guests totally blew the roof off at Feastival and I absolutely cannot wait to get this show on the road.”

The forthcoming tour is due to kick off with a performance at the historic Royal Albert Hall in London on March 11. Further gigs are scheduled in Birmingham, Manchester, Brighton, Nottingham, Newcastle, Glasgow and Sheffield throughout the month.

A run of outdoor summer shows will then follow in June and July. These include slots at the Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Halifax’s Piece Hall, Dreamland in Margate, and Latitude 2026.

Tickets go on general sale at 12pm GMT this Friday (October 31) – you’ll be able to buy yours here. An artist/O2 Priority pre-sale will go live at 9am GMT tomorrow (Wednesday October 29), ahead of promoter/venue pre-sales at the same time on Thursday (30).

Alex James’ ‘Britpop Classical’ 2026 UK tour dates are:

MARCH
11 – Royal Albert Hall, London
12 – Symphony Hall, Birmingham
14 – O2 Apollo, Manchester
15 – Brighton Centre, Brighton
17 – Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham
18 – O2 City Hall, Newcastle 
19 – Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow
21 – Sheffield City Hall, Sheffield

JUNE
13 – Guildhall Square, Southampton
18 – Lincoln Castle, Lincoln
28 – Llangollen Pavilion, Llangollen

JULY
17 – Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Scarborough
19 – The Piece Hall, Halifax
24 – Dreamland, Margate
26 – Latitude Festival

During this year’s edition of Big Feastival, James invited members of Travis to the stage for a live cover of Blur‘s classic single ‘The Universal’.

The bassist had revealed that he had some “special guests involved” for the Big Feastival performance earlier this year. “I really cannot think of a better way of bringing Feastival to a crescendo finale on a Sunday night this summer,” he explained. “I am really, really fucking genuinely excited.”

In other news, Blur announced a 30th anniversary vinyl reissue of ‘The Great Escape’ last month, containing rare B-sides and bonus tracks from that era.

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