Reggae Legends UB40 get sculpture to Perform in Nelson Festival

British reggae band UB40 will return to New Zealand to play six shows in December and early January, including a concert in Nelson.

The band, one of the best performing reggae artists, will perform at Trafalgar Park on January 6 and will be joined by US rock veterans Jefferson Starship and Kiwi rockers Dragon.

The popular British reggae band UB40 will perform for Nelson in early January as part of a tour of six concerts in New Zealand.
Tickets go on sale April 26th.

UB40 is heading down to celebrate the 40th anniversary delay in 2020, performing all of their hits during the tour in December and January, with concerts also being planned in Napier, New Plymouth, Matakana, Tauranga and Queenstown.

Mark Mekalick, manager of Nelson's Trafalgar Park and Trafalgar Center, said it was exciting to see international artists coming to Nelson and the city organizing major shows again, following the disruption caused by the Covid-19 disaster.

"It has been a difficult few years in the event industry," Mekalick said, adding that the UB40 festival allowed them to "see the light at the end of the tunnel".

He said faith was building again for the events that would take place in Nelson, and he would get feedback from people who want to start doing events again.

Mekalick said he realized there was still a lot of hesitation among the people about mixing with the crowd, and they would be doing everything they could to make people feel safe during the UB40 festival at Trafalgar Park.

"We hope there is a desire for people to come out again."

UB40 visited New Zealand for the first time in 1981, and has performed in the country many times. Over the past two years UB40 members have been hoping for a return, despite many unknowns in international tourism because of the tragedy.

"We are always looking forward to low-level trips," the band said in a statement.

"It is one of our favorite places in the world to perform, but given the uncertainty in the world over the past two years, we felt it was more important to focus on everyone's safety. Now that the borders are open again, we are finally ready to return to New Zealand. The fans have been waiting. ”

Along with their original hits, UB40 will be performing songs from their latest albums For The Many by Bigga Baggariddim.

UB40 has had over 40 of 40 best tracks in the UK and international sales of over 100 million records.

The band's current line-up features co-founders Robin Campbell (sound and guitar), Earl Falconer (bass, sound), Jimmy Brown (drums) and Norman Hassan (beat, sound) and new lead singer Matt Doyle.

Martin Meredith (sax) and Laurence Parry (trumpet), both of whom have been in the UB40 tourism and recording industry for over 20 years, will also be on the deck, along with Tony Mullings (keyboard) and Ian Thompson (sax).

Dragon and Jefferson Starship will join UB40 in all six New Zealand dates. Between 1974 and 1984, Jefferson Starship released eight gold and platinum albums and 20 hit songs, including We Built This City, Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now, and Sara, while Dragon continues to be New Zealand's most popular live drama, featuring hits such as' April. Sun in Cuba 'and' Are You Old enough '.