Welcome to Events & Entertainment’s go-to guide to exciting new music, events & more!
From forthcoming tours & album releases from some of the biggest names in the charts to what’s on stage & screen, there’s something fun for everyone this autumn.
It's music time!
Cue the music…
New music releases, news + tours
Bryan Adams - How's It Goin'’
Multi-award-winning Canadian superstar Bryan Adams releases his new album ‘How's It Goin'’ on 6th November, following the recent release of the brand-new single and title track.
Rooted in the people, places, landscapes and stories that have shaped his home country, the album is a deeply personal, musical “love letter” to Canada, with ‘How's It Goin'’ seeing the singer turn his unmistakable songwriting and voice towards home.
“The idea was simply to make a record about Canada,” says Bryan of his brand-new album, which explores a distinctly Canadian musical landscape, drawing on country, folk and rock.
“It started with writing the song for the documentary ‘Canada’s Wild Eastern Edge’, and after doing so much research I was inspired to start writing more songs about Canada. Musically, it took me somewhere a little different, too, which made the whole thing exciting.”
Bryan’s live concerts have established him as one of the world’s best rock singers of our time, with the star recently treating fans to acoustic solo songs, tracks from the new album and a Q&A session with the audience at three very special, intimate UK outstore live shows at Leeds TESTBED, Kingston Circuit and Norwich UEA'
The shows came among the world-famous singer-songwriter’s extensive global arena touring, for which he has just announced further European dates.
Corinne Bailey Rae - 20th-anniversary Royal Albert Hall show
Photo credit: Ulrike Rindermann
Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Corinne Bailey Rae has just returned from a hugely successful 20th Anniversary tour of the USA, ahead of her celebratory sold-out headline performance at London's Royal Albert Hall.
After performing with Mark Ronson and other singers paying tribute to Amy Winehouse at the special ‘Back To Black’ concert at The Roundhouse last week, the soulful singer will headline London’s famed Royal Albert Hall on October 27th.
Corinne’s eponymous first album went straight to No. 1 in the UK and produced timeless global hits including ‘Like A Star’ and ‘Put Your Records On’, resulting in multi-platinum sales and Brit Award and Grammy nominations.
Culminating a year of celebrations marking her 20th anniversary, this exclusive Royal Albert Hall performance will see her play her acclaimed debut album, ‘Corinne Bailey Rae’, in full.
“Twenty years since my first album! The songs on that record were moments from my life, and those songs went on to change my life, forever,” Corinne explains.
“I love them and can’t wait to perform all of them in this magical venue. I’ve always wanted to perform at The Royal Albert Hall with my own show. It’s an iconic building and I’m honoured to be revisiting my debut album in this grand setting. This will be a special night for me.”
Featuring her career-spanning hits, the unique show will also include top tracks from Corinne’s other albums ‘The Sea’, ‘The Heart Speaks In Whispers’ and ‘Black Rainbows’, all of which have gained worldwide acclaim, including two Mercury Prize nominations in the UK.
Tony Iommi - From The Dark
Photo credit: Ross Halfin
Photo credit: Tina Korhonen
Black Sabbath's legendary guitarist Tony Iommi last week launched his brand-new album ‘From The Dark’, following the release of his new single 'Stormwatcher'.
Joined throughout by singer Jørn Lande, who shares writing credits on all songs, along with bassist Becky Baldwin and drummer Karl Brazil, ‘From The Dark’ is already being hailed in reviews as one of the must-have rock albums of the year.
“It’s an album we’ve really enjoyed making,” Tony reveals. “We’re not trying to prove anything – it’s a great album. It rocks!”
Revered as the “Godfather of Heavy Metal”, Birmingham-born Tony Iommi formed the group Earth with three old acquaintances from his school days - bassist Terry "Geezer" Butler, drummer Bill Ward, and singer John "Ozzy" Osbourne.
After a brief spell with Jethro Tull, a change of name from Earth to Black Sabbath and a musical shift to their trademark and highly influential dark, self-written material saw the band’s career take off.
After relentless touring, Tony went solo before reuniting again with the original Black Sabbath line-up, resulting in the album ‘13’, which broke all records, selling well over a million copies and hitting the No.1 spot in more than 50 national charts worldwide. It marked a 40-year gap between No.1s in the UK and garnered the band’s first-ever US No.1.
Tony was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, with the honour presented by Queen’s Brian May, and into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in New York, at which the induction presented by Metallica. In 2008, while working on the ‘Heaven & Hell’ album, he was also honoured with a star on Birmingham’s Walk of Stars pavement, before The Black Sabbath Bench above the bridge on Canal Street, also named after the band, was installed in 2019 to celebrate the Brummie metal band.
In 2013, Black Sabbath were awarded a second Grammy for the track, ‘God Is Dead?’, followed by a third, this time a Lifetime Achievement, with the band members reconvening for the final time in 2025 for the monumental ‘Back To The Beginning’ concert, held at Villa Park, in Birmingham.
A celebration of both Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne, the memorable gig paid tribute to the enormous and enduring influence and legacy of the band’s music, featuring a host of rock and metal acts from around the world, from Metallica, Alice In Chains and Pantera, to Tool, Slayer and Guns N’ Roses.
In a poignant farewell to fans, the emotional event culminated with Tony and Black Sabbath performing together for the very last time. Just a fortnight later, the legendary Ozzy Osbourne sadly passed away.
Levellers – Anniversary remixed version of ‘Levelling The Land’
Photo credit: Steve Gullick
The much-loved Levellers set out on a major UK headline tour last week, with shows in Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow, York, Llandudno, Blackpool, Nottingham and Bristol, before taking to the stage at London's Hammersmith Apollo.
Celebrating the 35th anniversary of one of their definitive, platinum-selling albums, 1991's ‘Levelling The Land’, the album has been reissued with a brand-new contemporary mix plus lots of bonus material.
“We had 24 tracks of analogue tape to work with, and we used them all”, explains founding member and fiddle player Jon Sevink. “Music in the early 1990s was bound by technology and the advances in music-mixing technology have now given us a ‘wider’ stereo image to listen to, allowing for more space in the music between instruments and voice.”
The new remixed version album created from the original multi-tracks sounds current without losing sight of the album that everyone knows and loves.
Released on a single vinyl edition, reflecting the track listing of the original album, the specially expanded CD version of the album comes as a 3CD package, featuring an array of bonus tracks including B-sides, out-takes and demos, many of which were lost for decades and re-discovered in the process of remixing the album.
“So forget the anniversary; it’s just a number after all,” says Jon. “Far more important is that this definitive collection of material is finally seeing the light of day. Songs as relevant today as they were in 1991. Sounding great!”
The Brighton folk-rockers have been one of Britain’s most enduring and best-loved bands for nearly 40 years. Widely acclaimed, the Levellers completely rewrote the rulebook on their own terms, proving themselves heroes of the scene for free thinkers, drop-outs, vagabonds, vagrants and dreamers.
‘Levelling The Land’ also features one of the most striking pieces of album art of the last 40 years, an image designed and created by bassist Jeremy Cunningham which has adorned hundreds of thousands of T-shirts around the world, too.
“The artwork is the same as the music on the album - it juxtaposes all these ideas,” Jeremy explains. “And the bottom line is weighty lyrics but played over pop music. Both the artwork and the music came from the same place. Expanding the Levellers ‘world’.
Iron Maiden: Anniversary releases + Run For Your Lives world tour
Forty years since the release of Iron Maiden's multi-million-selling sixth album ‘Somewhere in Time’ the appreciation and acclaim for the band’s groundbreaking songs and production continues to grow.
To celebrate its anniversary, the album will be reissued on limited-edition, oxblood-colour vinyl on 4th December, while to tie into Iron Maiden's milestone 50th anniversary, reflecting the songs the band are performing on their two-year ‘Run For Your Lives Tour’, a 10-disc vinyl box set of their first nine studio albums, entitled the ‘50th Anniversary Studio Album Collection, Part One: 1980 – 1992’, will be released the following week.
The brand-new box set comes in a fully designed artwork box complete with an anniversary poster.
The band have recently been playing to rave reviews, completing a series of huge sold-out Canadian shows and continuing to tour stadiums across the USA, central and south American before taking the show to Australia, New Zealand and Japan. On completion, the tour will have played to well over three million people worldwide!
Kodaline - Final album + farewell world tour
After more than a decade together, the beloved Irish band Kodaline have sadly announced they are drawing their celebrated chart-topping career to a close after releasing their fifth and final album, ‘We Were Only Young’, earlier this month.
A stunning record of huge anthems, heartfelt reflective songwriting and the greatest music they have made in years, the band’s new single 'Vultures' is a jubilant folk-pop track making light of the industry pressures they faced over the years.
“It’s a great feeling to be releasing new music, giving the fans something new before we go our separate ways,” says the band’s drummer, Vincent “Vinny” May. “I think we owe it to them – some of them have been with us from the very start, supporting us through thick and thin, and we wouldn’t be who we are without them.”
Kodaline’s phenomenal career has seen the bandmates score a No.1 album in Ireland and No.3 in the UK with their debut record, ‘In a Perfect World’, in 2013.
Singles such as ‘High Hopes’ and ‘Love Like This’ have provided the soundtracks to some of the biggest and most pivotal scenes in TV and film. Their sprawling, cinematic and anthemic sound was the perfect accompaniment to hit shows such as ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and ‘The Vampire Diaries’, with the band even providing the theme to Channel 4's much-loved series ‘Gogglebox’.
“We’ve had a lot of fun as a band, but there have also been the times that have really tested us along the way,” reveals Vinny. “It’s definitely not been easy, and sometimes we’ve felt that the cracks were showing – it’s been tough on everyone.”
He recalls some encouraging words from Bono, after U2 championed the band when they were first starting out. “He said there were teams of writers who’d sit in a room trying to emulate what we were coming up with,” Vinny discloses. “Thinking of how many tours we sold out, playing these incredible venues around the world, connecting with so many people… It’s a family, at the end of the day. People from every corner of the Earth have been listening to our songs and finding meaning in them.”
On ‘Vultures’, the band makes light of the industry pressures they faced over the years, having survived everything that was thrown at them. Buoyed by uplifting guitars and rousing percussion, the mood is celebratory. “There were certainly times when it felt the vultures were circling, but it’s a fun song about sticking to your goals, learning to forget all the outside noise and making it through.”
The band is currently on a massive worldwide farewell tour, with the UK leg in December sold out.
“We’ve been in this band for over half our lives, and we’re definitely ending it on a high.” says frontman Steve Garrigan. “A lot of bands can fizzle out, and I think it’s better to call it a day yourself and step away with intent into a new era”. “It’s amazing to be going out on our own terms,” adds Vinny. “And I think the decision has given everybody a lot of time to reflect on what the band’s meant to them.”
The band who formed in Swords in Dublin are laying down their arms and leaving with peace in their hearts.