Midge Ure bringing Voice & Visions tour to Derngate stage next week

Midge Ure is bringing his Voice & Visions tour to Royal & Derngate this month as part of a run of shows which will see the singer-songwriter and his band play more than 30 dates across the UK.

The tour, which kicked off in April, follows 2019’s The 1980 Tour and will see Ure and Band Electronica celebrating 40 years since the release of Ultravox’s Rage In Eden and Quartet albums.

At the start of 1981, Ultravox were laying their claim to be one of the defining acts of the 80s following the global success of hit Vienna.

Ure said: “I think ‘popdom’ had been thrust upon us as the song itself was never designed to ever be played on the radio.

“Once you’re in that position though, it’s very weird, especially in those days, as you’re riding the crest of a wave, so to a certain extent, it didn’t really matter how obscure or dark the songs you were writing were, as they always got a spin on the radio and reached a large audience.

“So it was great to have the success that Vienna gave us as it enabled us to go do Rage Of Eden, though we did it in completely the opposite way from Vienna, as instead of going in the studio with the songs already written and taking three weeks to record and mix them, we went over to Conny Plank’s studio in Germany for three months.

“We created the entire thing there, which we wouldn’t have been able to do without the success of Vienna. That changed everything for us.”

Rage in Eden, which was released in 1981, hit the Top 5 in the UK album charts while Quartet, their third album with Ure, came in quick succession in 1982 with production from legendary Beatles producer George Martin.

Continuing the band’s impressive chart run, it became their third Top 10 album, featuring four Top 20 singles including the anthem Hymn.

Talking about both records, Ure said: “Ultravox were a difficult band, for ourselves, not necessarily anyone else, but we weren’t stoic about what we would or should be doing.

“We weren’t trying to write hit records, we just wanted to make interesting pieces of music.

“So for us at that time to loosen our self-imposed reins and let someone else into our inner sanctum as it were, was quite huge.

“Weirdly, I prefer Rage In Eden to Quartet though, as much as I loved working with George, what came out of it sounded much more polished, which didn’t feel quite right to me.

“It wasn’t wrong, but it has lost some of that raw, spiky edge that we had on both Vienna and Rage In Eden. It’s still a record I’m really proud of though.”

While this tour is celebrating two of Ultravox’s albums, Ure is working on new music, with no plans to settle into the ‘heritage act’ scene.

He said: “Making new music is so important, as far as I’m concerned. It’s just something I do, no different from breathing or blinking.

“I don’t want to ever be considered a heritage act, though there’s an element of that you can’t avoid just by getting older.

“Saying that, the idea when you’re doing tours like this one where you’re concentrating on heritage albums is like fishing, as you’re trying to remind people that they exist, like you’re saying ‘I didn’t just do Vienna, by the way’.

“It’s a way of garnering an audience back into the fold, I think.

“Remind them of the old music, then you can give them new music as well.

“I can’t imagine just settling for playing the back catalogue forever, as much as I love doing it.

“As long as I’m able and willing, I’ll be writing and releasing new music, there’s no doubt about that.”

Midge Ure headlines Royal & Derngate in Northampton on Tuesday, May 23.

Tickets cost from £27.50 in advance before fees and are available via https://www.royalandderngate.co.uk

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