Arctic Monkeys have teamed up with The Big Issue for the official programme of their first UK stadium tour, which begins tonight (May 29).
In support of new album ‘The Car’, the band will play 15 dates across the UK and Ireland over the next month, including two hometown gigs at Sheffield’s Hillsborough Park and three at London’s Emirates Stadium.
Ahead of the tour beginning at Bristol’s Ashton Gate tonight, the band have confirmed that they have teamed up with The Big Issue for the official programme for the tour, with all proceeds going to the homelessness charity.
An announcement from the publication reads: “The 36 page programme with a long lasting and collectible heavy cover, features brand-new never before seen images of the band on the road plus an in-depth interview with the band’s beating heart, drummer Matt Helders.”
Discussing the band’s wish to support the publication’s work, Helders told The Big Issue: “The obvious reason is the good work you do… but it’s not just that. It is good journalism as well as being a good cause.”
Priced at £10, programmes are available online here as well as at all the UK gigs.
The 36 page programme with a long lasting and collectible heavy cover, features brand-new never before seen images of the band on the road plus an in-depth interview with the band’s beating heart, drummer Matt Helders. pic.twitter.com/9hr3L6F4p0
— The Big Issue (@BigIssue) May 29, 2023
All proceeds from all programme sales – at the shows or online – go to Big Issue to boost their work helping the most vulnerable in society
Read more: https://t.co/HYbRIQRUJd pic.twitter.com/cvlDnijokR
— The Big Issue (@BigIssue) May 29, 2023
See Arctic Monkeys’ upcoming UK stadium tour dates below.
MAY 2023
29 – Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol
31 – Building Society Arena, Coventry
JUNE 2023
2 – Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester
3 – Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester
5 – Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough
7 – Carrow Road Stadium, Norwich
9 – Hillsborough Park, Sheffield
10 – Hillsborough Park, Sheffield
12 – Swansea.com Stadium, Swansea
14 – The Ageas Bowl, Southampton
16 – Emirates Stadium, London
17 – Emirates Stadium, London
18 – Emirates Stadium, London
20 – Malahide Castle, Dublin
25 – Bellahouston Park, Glasgow
In a new feature ahead of the tour, NME discussed why Arctic Monkeys’ imminent stadium gigs mark a new golden age for the band.
NME wrote: “With ‘The Car’ in tow, it can be argued that Arctic Monkeys have entered a new golden age, taking their most intricate – and certainly least commercially viable – material to their biggest-ever shows, with a sound that decidedly feels lightyears away from their jagged rock beginnings.
“Though as he told NME in the band’s Big Read interview last year, the album had even got frontman Alex Turner thinking that, for the first time, his songs could at least “hang out” in a stadium.”