UB40 turn 45

IT has been some time since one of Britain’s top bands has visited Spain, but that is all about to change.

Speaking to Robin Campbell, one of the original founding members of the iconic UB40, he explained that “we can’t just decide where to go, but rely on management and promoters to find the work for us.

“As a touring band, now in our 45th year, we have played almost everywhere and when we return from an upcoming American tour, we are really looking forward to entertaining our fans in Spain!”

They have three performances planned for Spain, July 26 in Santander, July 29 at Es Jardí in Calvia Mallorca and July 30 at Mare Nostrum in Fuengirola.

With 20 studio and six live albums and more than 50 hit singles to their name, the band has a huge range of songs to choose from and recognises the fact that fans will expect to hear some of the big hits.

Robin said “After all this time, I still really enjoy being on stage with the band, but I think we would all get bored if all we did was just resurrect the hits.

“We are still writing and our next album which will be entitled UB45 (because that’s how old we are) features our new singer Matt Doyle with one or two reworkings of our favourite songs as well as a selection of new numbers.

“Matt used to play in a band called Kioko which supported us on around 40 gigs and I thought what a great singer he was, so when my brother Duncan suffered a stroke and had to retire in order to recover his health, Matt was the obvious replacement.

“The good news is that Duncan is really on the mend and Matt has fitted in with the band as perfectly as we expected.”

It has become clear that since both the pandemic and Brexit that it is quite difficult for British bands to travel to Spain due to much more restrictive visa and instrument importation requirements and only the bigger and better known performers can really afford to visit.

“You have to rely on good management and promoters to take care of these matters so that we can concentrate on what we do best, which is to entertain, but not too many years ago, we changed management and now my son (who used to look after social media for the band) and his business partner are doing a great job for us.”

With four original members still forming the basis of the band there has been some confusion with there apparently being two versions and Robin doesn’t hide the fact that he is disappointed that his other brother Ali left and then effectively set up in competition and now tours as UB40 featuring Ali Campbell.

The hard core of this band however have been together since they were 11year ­ old mates at school, love what they do and the fact that their fans do as well so promise three top performances in Spain this July.

Denmark

Too soon

A SURVEY for Danish cancer charity Kræftens Bekæmpelse found that approximately 30,000 people aged between 15 and 24 needed emergency hospital treatment over the last year after drinking alcohol. The charity said the figures were “shocking” and called for the minimum age for buying alcohol to be raised from 16.

Cry wolf

TWENTY-NINE wolves currently live in Denmark, and the number is believed to be growing. Aarhus University’s Environment and Energy department has issued guidelines on how to react on encountering wolves in the wild while taking care not to disturb their natural habitats or accustom the animals to humans.

The Netherlands

Ancient site

DUTCH archaeologists discovered a 4,000year-old burial site which was also a solar calendar on industrial land in Tiel. A burial mound with the remains of approximately 60 men, women and children, contained several passages where the sun would have shone directly on the longest and shortest days of the year.

Mother tongue

FOREIGN students will soon need to be able to speak Dutch, announced Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraafand, who is under pressure to tackle the dominance of English as a teaching medium. Most bachelor degree courses will require two-thirds of their content to be offered in Dutch, he told a parliamentary committee.

Belgium

Equal footing

BELGIUM was ranked 10th in the world for gender equality by the World Economic Forum’s 2023 Gender Gap Report, moving up four places since last year. Iceland remained at the top of the list, followed by Norway and Finland. Algeria, Chad and Afghanistan occupied the last three places.

War footing

BELGIUM officially joined the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme as an observer. Bringing Brussels onto the team would not change the current contracts signed between France, Germany and Spain, officials said, but would accelerate the operational partnership between the four nations’ air force.