Blondie confirm more UK shows for 2013

Blondie

Debbie Harry and Blondie recently announced a clutch of Forestry Commission Live Music 2013 shows for next summer, as well as being added to the Isle of Wight Festival 2013 line-up. Now they've been bitten by the 'live' bug and have inserted a few indoor shows into their schedule.

They're not small shows either - stops include Belfast on 26th June, followed by Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle and Camden (Roundhouse) on the 7th. We'll have tickets to this enticing quintet of gigs from 9am (9:30am for the Roundhouse gig) on Wednesday priced upwards of £30/£35. Belfast is on sale on Thursday at 9am and Newcastle is on sale on Friday - also at 9am.

The US new-wave turned pop outfit were relatively quiet in 2012 with little on the way of touring action or festival slots, with most recent album "Panic of Girls" appearing in 2011 and stalling at #73.

Blondie's catalogue, however, will ensure a massive turn out for the band who last toured the UK back in 2010. "Heart of Glass", "Denis", "Hanging on the Telephone", "Call Me", "Atomic", "Rapture", "Maria" and "The Tide is High" are just some of their biggest hits, 15 of them being Top 20 successes from 1978 to 2003.

Next year will see the 35th anniversary of not one but two Blondie albums - both "Plastic Letters" and ten-times platinum "Parallel Lines" appeared in 1978, with the latter perhaps their most commercial offering to date, a set that includes the recently-popular "One Way or Another" and chart-topper "Sunday Girl". No doubt you'll hear plenty from these and many other albums by the band.

Joining Blondie during their Forestry shows will be jaunty pop outfit The Lightning Seeds in acoustic mode - cheerful ditties like "The Life of Riley", "Pure" and "Perfect" are sure to warm the crowd up and make it a day to remember. As a reminder, the outdoor concerts include Sherwood Forest Pines on 14th June 2013, followed by Thetford Forest the day after, Westonbirt Arboretum and Bedgebury Pinetum on 21st and 22nd, Dalby Forest and Cannock Birches Forest on 28th and 29th June.

Paul Pledger