REVIEW
✭✭✭✭✭ 5/5
‘A MAN OF TWO WORLDS TOUR’
2-Jun-26 Southend Cliffs Pavilion
✭✭✭✭✭ 5/5
‘A MAN OF TWO WORLDS TOUR’
2-Jun-26 Southend Cliffs Pavilion
A brilliant evening of familiar songs and great electronic music
Midge Ure - Cliffs Pavilion, Southend - 2 June 2026 All photos credit: KimTobinPhotography
Ultravox’s Midge Ure is famous for his involvement with ‘Live Aid,’ when together with Bob Geldof, he raised money with their charity single, Do They Know It’s Christmas. However, an artist as legendary as Midge shouldn’t be remembered for what he used to do. Over the years, there have been eight and a half studio albums, countless tours and festival shows, as well as a selection of greatest hits with Ultravox, Visage and other bands.
Midge’s current tour is billed as a concert experience and it certainly is. The show starts with the support act Scenius, an Anglo-French synth-pop duo. They are very much in the style of Kraftwerk, with an excellent electronic sound. However, some of the songs sounded very samey and the audience began to become restless waiting for their star to appear.
After the interval, we were entertained with 45 minutes of a non-stop musical journey. The show builds upon the retrospective of Midge’s catalogue and shows that there’s more to him than just the sound of minimalist synth-pop.
Midge’s current tour is billed as a concert experience and it certainly is. The show starts with the support act Scenius, an Anglo-French synth-pop duo. They are very much in the style of Kraftwerk, with an excellent electronic sound. However, some of the songs sounded very samey and the audience began to become restless waiting for their star to appear.
After the interval, we were entertained with 45 minutes of a non-stop musical journey. The show builds upon the retrospective of Midge’s catalogue and shows that there’s more to him than just the sound of minimalist synth-pop.
As the lights go down and the show begins, a row of lines of light move in time to the instrumental Different View, which is the opening track to his new album. It’s a surprising start, as it is a quiet, gentle piece that could almost be background film music. This instrumental is the opening track to his new album also called A Man of Two Worlds. However, Midge soon launches into the funkier Again We Love.
The show is a combination of outstanding lighting effects, almost a laser display, and video projections, as the four-piece band play terrific electronic music. The journey consists of a mix of album tracks from Ultravox, and Visage such as, Call of the Wild, Accent on Youth, Lament, as well as the ethereal eponymous, A Man of Two Worlds. Also, there are instrumental numbers such as Monster. The 45-minute first part of the show is an eclectic selection of which some are not as familiar as the hit singles.
Midge Ure not only sings, he plays keyboards and some incredible guitar solos too. Proof of this was in the past, when he stepped in to cover for Gary Moore in Thin Lizzy.
The show is a combination of outstanding lighting effects, almost a laser display, and video projections, as the four-piece band play terrific electronic music. The journey consists of a mix of album tracks from Ultravox, and Visage such as, Call of the Wild, Accent on Youth, Lament, as well as the ethereal eponymous, A Man of Two Worlds. Also, there are instrumental numbers such as Monster. The 45-minute first part of the show is an eclectic selection of which some are not as familiar as the hit singles.
Midge Ure not only sings, he plays keyboards and some incredible guitar solos too. Proof of this was in the past, when he stepped in to cover for Gary Moore in Thin Lizzy.
The journey ends with the famous Ultravox song Vienna, which everyone had been waiting for. This song aided by a very adept electric violinist that enhances the dramatic effect.
As this famous piece ends, Midge speaks for the first time, and announces to the audience that he knew they were asking, ‘when is he going to play something we know.' The following set is a mix of Ultravox and Visage hit singles. There are renditions of Fade to Grey, If I was, The Voice and others. Midge told the audience to bop along and they certainly did. Up they all stood clapping along; singing along with the songs they love. All these songs are a fitting reminder of Midge’s back catalogue over many years.
Of course, there is the inevitable encore, and the band came back to the stage to launch into an instrumental version of Phil Lynott’s Yellow Pearl, followed by the Ultravox number The Hymn. The audience loved every minute of it.
I think it would have been nice for Midge to interact with the audience more, as most of his medley of songs were continuous play. As the show ended, he merely thanked the audience for coming and left the stage.
If you are a fan of eighties electronic music then this is the show for you as you go down memory lane.
Review: Jacquee Storozynski-Toll
As this famous piece ends, Midge speaks for the first time, and announces to the audience that he knew they were asking, ‘when is he going to play something we know.' The following set is a mix of Ultravox and Visage hit singles. There are renditions of Fade to Grey, If I was, The Voice and others. Midge told the audience to bop along and they certainly did. Up they all stood clapping along; singing along with the songs they love. All these songs are a fitting reminder of Midge’s back catalogue over many years.
Of course, there is the inevitable encore, and the band came back to the stage to launch into an instrumental version of Phil Lynott’s Yellow Pearl, followed by the Ultravox number The Hymn. The audience loved every minute of it.
I think it would have been nice for Midge to interact with the audience more, as most of his medley of songs were continuous play. As the show ended, he merely thanked the audience for coming and left the stage.
If you are a fan of eighties electronic music then this is the show for you as you go down memory lane.
Review: Jacquee Storozynski-Toll
Below: support act, Scenius
Photo credits: (c)Kim Tobin Photography
Photo credits: (c)Kim Tobin Photography
NEW ALBUM A MAN OF TWO WORLDS OUT 8 MAY
An inspired double album featuring a collection of instrumentals and songs on his first new material in 12 years
Acclaimed musician, producer and songwriter Midge Ure is set to embark on his visionary A Man Of Two Worlds Tour this May and June 2026, with additional dates now added for November due to demand. The tour marks a bold new live chapter and coincides with the release of his brand-new studio album, A Man Of Two Worlds, arriving on 8 May, the opening night of the tour.
Anticipation has continued to build around what promises to be one of the most distinctive shows of his career. Rather than delivering a straightforward greatest-hits set, Ure has conceived A Man Of Two Worlds as a seamless and immersive concert experience, blending classic tracks and fan favourites with cinematic instrumental pieces to create a continuous musical narrative.
Released on the first night of the tour, the album is Ure’s first collection of new material in 12 years. Divided into two halves, eight instrumental compositions and eight vocal songs, the record mirrors the concept of the live show. While it stands as a powerful statement in its own right, it also provides the creative backbone of the tour, with new material sitting naturally alongside the classics.
Midge explains:
“Almost every album I’ve made over the past 40+ years has featured at least one instrumental track. For this album I wanted to explore that further, showing two sides of what I do. The Man Of Two Worlds Tour reflects this idea, combining instrumentals I’ve written over the years with songs, album tracks and fan favourites side by side, taking the audience on a journey.”
The tour follows a remarkable run of live activity in recent years, including a sold-out 70th birthday celebration at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 2023 and an extensive UK tour in 2024. Continually evolving as a performer, Ure once again challenges expectations with a production that balances reflection with reinvention.
Few artists can claim such creative longevity. From his glam rock days with Slik, through the punk-tinged energy of The Rich Kids (alongside Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols), to defining the sound of the '80s with Ultravox and Visage, Midge Ure has consistently been at the forefront of innovation. His role in co-writing and producing the global anthem “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and helping orchestrate Live Aid remains one of the most significant moments in modern music history.
With Ivor Novello, Grammy, and BASCAP awards to his name and a legacy of gold and platinum selling records, Ure now brings fans something completely new.
An inspired double album featuring a collection of instrumentals and songs on his first new material in 12 years
Acclaimed musician, producer and songwriter Midge Ure is set to embark on his visionary A Man Of Two Worlds Tour this May and June 2026, with additional dates now added for November due to demand. The tour marks a bold new live chapter and coincides with the release of his brand-new studio album, A Man Of Two Worlds, arriving on 8 May, the opening night of the tour.
Anticipation has continued to build around what promises to be one of the most distinctive shows of his career. Rather than delivering a straightforward greatest-hits set, Ure has conceived A Man Of Two Worlds as a seamless and immersive concert experience, blending classic tracks and fan favourites with cinematic instrumental pieces to create a continuous musical narrative.
Released on the first night of the tour, the album is Ure’s first collection of new material in 12 years. Divided into two halves, eight instrumental compositions and eight vocal songs, the record mirrors the concept of the live show. While it stands as a powerful statement in its own right, it also provides the creative backbone of the tour, with new material sitting naturally alongside the classics.
Midge explains:
“Almost every album I’ve made over the past 40+ years has featured at least one instrumental track. For this album I wanted to explore that further, showing two sides of what I do. The Man Of Two Worlds Tour reflects this idea, combining instrumentals I’ve written over the years with songs, album tracks and fan favourites side by side, taking the audience on a journey.”
The tour follows a remarkable run of live activity in recent years, including a sold-out 70th birthday celebration at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 2023 and an extensive UK tour in 2024. Continually evolving as a performer, Ure once again challenges expectations with a production that balances reflection with reinvention.
Few artists can claim such creative longevity. From his glam rock days with Slik, through the punk-tinged energy of The Rich Kids (alongside Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols), to defining the sound of the '80s with Ultravox and Visage, Midge Ure has consistently been at the forefront of innovation. His role in co-writing and producing the global anthem “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and helping orchestrate Live Aid remains one of the most significant moments in modern music history.
With Ivor Novello, Grammy, and BASCAP awards to his name and a legacy of gold and platinum selling records, Ure now brings fans something completely new.
3-Jun-26 Portsmouth Guildhall
4-Jun-26 Milton Keynes Theatre
5-Jun-26 Gateshead Glasshouse
20-Nov-26 York Barbican
21-Nov-26 Derby Vaillant Live
22-Nov-26 Hull Connexin Live
23-Nov-26 Brighton Dome
25-Nov-26 Cardiff Depot
27-Nov-26 Watford Colosseum
29-Nov-26 Coventry Warwick Arts Centre
30-Nov-26 Guildford G Live
Tickets available from midgeure.seetickets.com/ & www.midgeure.co.uk
4-Jun-26 Milton Keynes Theatre
5-Jun-26 Gateshead Glasshouse
20-Nov-26 York Barbican
21-Nov-26 Derby Vaillant Live
22-Nov-26 Hull Connexin Live
23-Nov-26 Brighton Dome
25-Nov-26 Cardiff Depot
27-Nov-26 Watford Colosseum
29-Nov-26 Coventry Warwick Arts Centre
30-Nov-26 Guildford G Live
Tickets available from midgeure.seetickets.com/ & www.midgeure.co.uk