Starsailor

Starsailor play The Bridgewater Hall on Sunday 18 October, their first headline gig at any of the six venues on this tour. They're playing their debut album, Love is Here, in full, with a string ensemble arranged and conducted by Joe Duddell.

It's the 25th anniversary of the record, which came out in 2001. It went multi-platinum, peaked at number two in the UK, and sold more than 300,000 copies, drawing praise from NME, Rolling Stone and Q. Fronting the band is James Walsh, whose voice NME called 'remarkable'. They signed to EMI in early 2001 and followed up with Silence Is Easy, also a number two album and produced in part by Phil Spector, and the more direct On The Outside in 2005.

After a five-year hiatus, they returned in 2014, eventually releasing All This Life in 2017, their first work with Embrace's Rick McNamara, who also produced 2024's Where The Wild Things Grow. The 2026 dates are the band's first headline shows at any of the six venues on the tour, and the Bridgewater Hall turns 30 that same year.

The night runs from 7.00pm, with auditorium doors opening at 6.30pm, the first set starting at 7.30pm, an interval at 8.20pm, and the show finishing at 10.00pm. Tickets are £32.25 to £52.25, all prices including a £4.75 booking fee.