Starsailor with Strings

Starsailor play Town Hall on Friday 23 October, as part of a tour marking the 25th anniversary of their debut album, Love Is Here. They're playing the record in full, with the songs rearranged for a string ensemble and conducted by Joe Duddell.

It's a specific way to look back. Love Is Here came out in 2001, peaked at number two, and went multi-platinum, and this tour is built around that one record rather than a best-of set. The strings aren't just backing, either — they're the whole point of the arrangement. If you're familiar with the original, you'll hear the songs you know, but played with a full string section around them. The tour opened at the London Palladium on 2 October, so by the time it reaches Birmingham, the band will have had a few weeks to run it in.

For context, Starsailor formed in 2000 at Wigan and Leigh College and signed to EMI early the following year. Love Is Here was their start, and they followed it with Silence Is Easy, which also hit number two, then On The Outside (2005), All The Plans (2009), and All This Life (2017), produced by Embrace's Rick McNamara. After a five-year hiatus, they returned in 2014, and in 2024 they put out Where The Wild Things Grow, also with McNamara, alongside their first live album, Starsailor with Strings: Live from Liverpool. Fronted by James Walsh, the Chorley band makes intensely beautiful songs full of raw emotion and atmosphere reminiscent of Richard Ashcroft and Neil Young.

The night is billed as Starsailor with Strings, and the set is Love Is Here from start to finish. Tickets are £32 to £49.50, and the show runs from 19:00 to 23:00 at Town Hall, Victoria Square, B3 3DQ.