Ultravox frontman Midge Ure talks solo shows, writing ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’

Scottish stone instrumentalist Midge Ure thought his archetypal solo acoustic circuit of the United States six years agone would besides beryllium his last.

“At the time, it was to marque a point,” says Ure, the erstwhile Ultravox frontman and a onetime subordinate of bands Visage and Thin Lizzy arsenic well. “I’d been speaking to young euphony students and they were asking questions astir multi-album deals and satellite tours and whatever.

“It was reasonably evident that astir of them successful the country would possibly ne'er get the accidental to bash thing similar that,” helium says. “So I wanted to amusement however hard it is to effort and bash this worldly connected your own.”

At the extremity of the Fragile Troubadour circuit successful 2015, which Ure filmed, helium asked himself if he’d ever bash different similar it.

“Probably not,” Ure says helium answered. “Because it was earnestly hard work.”

But past the pandemic turned the satellite upside down, and abruptly the unthinkable seemed the precise happening to do.

“With the mode things person been for the past 2 years, I deliberation it was benignant of clip to spell backmost out, adjacent though it feels a small premature,” Ure says. “It’s 1 happening performing successful beforehand of your machine for hardcore fans astir the world. It was nary substitute for face-to-face.

“So I decided to leap connected committee and spell and enactment myself done the rigors again.”

Now the Un-Zoomed and Face to Face circuit is headed to Southern California for shows connected Friday, Nov. 12 astatine the Concert Lounge successful Riverside, and Sunday, Nov. 14 astatine the Coach House successful San Juan Capistrano.

New songs and visuals

Like galore musicians stuck astatine location successful 2020, Ure decided to play euphony for fans online and his Backstage Lockdown Club delivered a higher prime of audio and visuals than most.

“I’ve already got the audio prime due to the fact that I person a studio,” helium says. “I conscionable had to fig retired the champion cameras. So I deed YouTube. I looked for youth, for young radical who vlog and blog and bash each of that.”

When helium was finished, helium had not lone a nonrecreational signaling studio, but capable video cogwheel to let him to automatically person the cameras determination and different near-professional tricks.

“I find myself with what benignant of looks connected the surface similar I’m successful a due video-recording studio, with not conscionable myself, due to the fact that of the mode it cuts betwixt shots and things,” Ure says. “A batch of artists are asking conscionable however I bash it, truthful I deliberation I’m the go-to who’ll nonstop them sheets of information.”

The Backstage Lockdown Club shows besides expanded his quality to play solo and acoustic versions of songs helium primitively wrote for a set and physics instruments.

“Just the quality of that mates of performances each period meant that I was challenged by an audience,” says Ure, who recalls the fans asking for little evident cuts from his catalog. “I acceptable astir looking astatine songs that possibly I’ve ne'er performed, surely successful this format before, and delved into immoderate of that.

“So determination volition beryllium tunes that I’m playing this clip that I’ve never, ne'er played earlier connected immoderate erstwhile tours. And that’s been fun, due to the fact that it truly kept maine connected my toes.”

‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’

Ure mixes up his setlists from nighttime to night, though the bulk of the worldly is drawn from his solo records and Ultravox albums. But 1 of his best-known songs astir apt won’t amusement up, astatine slightest not this aboriginal successful the year.

In 1984, Ure and Bob Geldof of the Boomtown Rats wrote “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” arsenic a fundraiser for famine alleviation and recruited a big of stars specified arsenic Sting, Bono, Phil Collins and Boy George to sing it.

“It’s inactive a spot premature for that, I think, but who knows?” helium says connected the telephone from New York City. “I’ve been present 10 days, and I’ve seen America alteration from pumpkins and brownish leaves to Christmas overnight. It’s rather a spectacular happening to see.”

Ure says that erstwhile the 1984 wintertime holidays ended, helium thought that was the extremity of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” too.

“Not erstwhile did it transverse our minds that if you person a palmy Christmas song, adjacent though it was precise circumstantial astir the famine, that it mightiness look again the twelvemonth later,” helium says. “And then, you know, inactive 37 years later.”

That amazes him successful portion due to the fact that helium doesn’t deliberation of the opus arsenic a peculiarly large composition.

“But the grounds works, the accumulation works,” Ure says. “It makes thing retired of what wasn’t a large opus to commencement with — it’s a opus with nary chorus, for a start.

“Every clip I bash perceive the opus randomly connected the vigor oregon successful a supermarket oregon something, the opening clang, that intro, conscionable inactive gets me, it inactive does its job.”

And, helium notes, it’s inactive doing the occupation it was made to do. Both helium and Geldof donated their writers’ royalties to the Band Aid Trust.

“So yeah, who expected that?” Ure says. “That’s an income root for the origin that cipher ever saw, truthful it was rather something.”

Midge Ure shows

Nov. 12: The Concert Lounge, 3557 University Ave., Riverside. Tickets are $20-$40.

Nov. 14: The Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, Suite CSan Juan Capistrano. Tickets are $25.

For more: midgeure.co.uk/shows.html