The region’s favourite sons of reggae are coming home
It’ll be a homecoming for one of the region’s most successful bands when UB40 featuring Ali Campbell and Astro headline Arena Birmingham tonight.
2019 marks 40 years since UB40 first performed live and Ali and Astro will be celebrating with a greatest hits set that features global smashes including ‘Red Red Wine’, ‘Cherry Oh Baby’, ‘Rat In Mi Kitchen’ and ‘Kingston Town’.
Ali and Astro will be joined on-stage by their incredible eight-piece reggae band.
The band sold more than 70 million records, making them Britain’s biggest reggae band, after coming up from the streets of Birmingham in 1979.
Eleven years ago, UB40 splintered as frontman Ali left along with keyboardist Mickey Virtue, then, later, Astro.
Court cases followed and Ali’s brother replaced the frontman as they claimed a legal right to use the UB40 moniker. Ali and co soldiered on, just adding their names to the title.
Ali says: “I keep seeing Duncan singing my songs on YouTube and words fail me. I think he’s destroying the legacy of the band and the worst and most embarrassing thing is that people think it’s me – that truly makes my skin crawl.”
He’s not spoken to the others since. “I was betrayed by them all. There’s not really any point in the me getting back in touch... too much water has gone under the bridge really.
“We try and ignore them in the hope they go away, it’s as simple as that.”
Last year, Ali’s band released A Real Labour Of Love, which featured The Everly Brothers’ Ebony Eyes, Gregory Isaacs’ Once Ago and Barrington Levy’s Here I Come as well as Stevie Wonder’s Sixties hit A Place In The Sun.
Ali adds: “Enough time has gone past that we could start covering songs that we listened to when we were in the band. It’s just a continuation of the first Labour Of Love really because we’ve gone into the Eighties and the electronic reggae age.”
He’s looking forward to returning to Birmingham. “You’ll always find me in the toilets before the gig. You’ve got to be nervous if you’re gonna perform properly, I think if you just walk on and don’t give a sod you’re not going to give a very good performance, are ya?”
Ali says playing alongside Astro has been a gift. “When I left UB40 Mickey left with me so we were travelling around the world doing what we have always done, which is what I set UB40 up for all those years ago when I started the band.
“When the old guys decided to record a country album, that’s when Astro decided that he would leave.
“What Astro said to the press when he was asked about why he left, he said that since me and Mickey had left, UB40 were like a rudderless ship. They were setting off in all different directions; they didn’t really write anything, and they still haven’t, except for this disastrous country album which they released.
“So Astro came back and Mickey was quoted as saying that it felt like putting on an old pair of boots; the dynamics definitely changed with Astro with us, and you can feel that the audiences are a lot happier. It’s like there is a conclusion; Astro’s back thank God for that.”
