Ahead of Midge Ure’s visit to Scarborough Spa with his new ‘Catalogue’ tour on 5th December, Yorkshire Coast Gigs spoke to the man himself as he prepared to start rehearsals.
Midge Ure is known for many things, perhaps most notably the Band Aid release, ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’, and then the phenomenal Live Aid concert in 1985, alongside his tenure in an array of bands since the 1970’s – Slik, Thin Lizzy, Rich Kids, Visage and Ultravox – as well as working as a solo artist and music producer. He has received a number of awards, including Ivor Novello, Grammy and BASCAP gongs, and many gold and platinum selling albums. Hailing from Cambuslang, near Glasgow, he turned 70 last year and to celebrate, played a special one-off concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
When we speak, Midge has just returned from America for the ‘Band in a Box’ tour. I enquire whether this tour was a similar format to what can be expected with the European ‘Catalogue’ tour; he confirms it will be quite different. “Ultravox never really cracked America – they didn’t quite understand us, we were a bit too soon for them I think – they were still into heavy rock stuff on all the radio stations, only a handful would play us – so when I tour America it’s a radically different thing. Staying in motels, driving everywhere yourself, no road crew, just a bunch of musicians out having a good time, playing coast to coast. Whereas the Catalogue tour will be full band, full light show, full staging, it’s a very different thing.”
On the question of whether he’s at the point of excitement ahead of the tour, or whether nerves are possibly kicking in, he confirms it’s probably a bit of both. “Because I’ve just come back from America and played Zagreb last week and we’re about to go and play in Belgium – all a different format again, nothing to do with the tour that’s coming up! – I’ve still got to dot the i’s and cross the t’s on the tour we’re just about to do.” Laughing, he explains he still hasn’t chosen all the songs they want to do, still hasn’t chosen a set list, is still designing the stage and the lighting; there’s “a huge amount to do – it’s exciting, but trepidatious at the same time. And that’s the way it should be – if you’ve got it all completely ironed out before you walk in and start rehearsals, there’s no challenge left.” He enjoys the process of remoulding and reshaping things in rehearsal – “it’s never-ending, but like the ultimate toy box,” he says with glee.
I ask whether, even with his extensive experience, the things that actually capture an audience are sometimes the unexpected moments. Acknowledging that about 50 per cent of any audience are likely to not, in fact, be hardcore fans, but partners, friends and family who have been drafted along with a significant other, he knows they’ll recall the big hits, but not know every track. “So, you have to think about how you’re going to keep them engaged with the songs that they don’t know. And sometimes those songs that they don’t know – the album tracks, the singles that didn’t really make it – sometimes it’s down to how well you play and perform those things; if they walk out and that hook, that melody, is still going round their heads, then you’ve done your job. So, for me, to see which ones resonate with people, is great.”
As to the Catalogue Tour itself, he feels the title sums it up – “It will be a full-blown band, veering from acoustic moments to high-tech stuff, covering the catalogue of music I’ve written and created from the 1970’s to now. It was born out of the fact that I did the Albert Hall last year for my 70th birthday, and I kind of widened the scope of the music that I was going to play, and it was such a magical evening, but not everyone could get there, of course. So, I thought, let’s get out there and widen this musical net, and maybe with things I’ve actually never played live, to all the hits that people will recognise, from bombastic to intimate; that’s the only way I can describe it right now.”
Talking a little more generally about his career, we discuss something which will have relevance for many in the early stages of their careers: at what stage did his parents think that musician was actually a viable career choice? His answer is warm and down to earth. “I got a guitar when I was ten, my parents had to save up to buy me this second-hand guitar for £3; they knew I was passionate about it, I was mad about it, all I would talk about was music. I’d been sensible about it, though, I later got myself an apprenticeship as an engineer, but I was playing all the way through and got the opportunity to join a full-time band when I was 18. I desperately wanted to do this, but I let my parents choose whether I should do it or not. It was my mother, who totally overrode my father, and said, follow your heart. Then it was maybe quite a few years later for my father that the penny dropped, when he was living in a nice house, and when I bought him a car and all of those lovely things – but when they did the TV programme This Is Your Life, on me, and he got to see that, and he understood that because that was something that happened to famous footballers, or famous actors – to people who had done something in life!”
It feels remiss not to ask about Midge’s charity work; besides the legendary Band Aid and Live Aid efforts, he’s long been an ambassador for Save the Children, and he advocates and supports a wide range of notable causes. I wanted to know if there was any particular cause he wanted to give a mention to right now; his answer is heartfelt; “I think just supporting sanity is quite a good thing right now. The world seems to have gone mad … I just don’t know what’s happened to morals and right and wrong and good and bad. It just seems to be all over the shop. So, I think everyone needs support right now. A lot of institutions need support, a lot of charities. A lot of people need support. I’ve never heard so many young people talking about mental health. It was something that was swept under the carpet twenty years ago, now people wear it openly and talk about it a lot. And music is a great leveller for that, of course. A drug in a good sense – it gets you though things, music. So if you see someone who might be struggling, ask them; helping each other is probably a very good thing.”
The tour begins on 12th November and visits venues across the UK. For tickets to see the concert at Scarborough Spa on December 5th, visit their website.
For more information on Midge Ure and the rest of the tour, see the official website at midgeure.co.uk
