Castle Concerts 2022: Elbow to play huge outdoor gig at Edinburgh Castle - how to get tickets, when they go on sale

Elbow, the Mercury Prize and BRIT Award-winning band, will play a huge open-air gig in the Capital as part of the 2022 Castle Concerts series, the Evening News can exclusively reveal.

The multi-platinum-selling indie-rock outfit, fronted by Guy Garvey, will perform at Edinburgh Castle’s Esplanade on Friday, July 15.

The Manchester band are the fourth and final act to be announced for this summer’s Castle Concerts series, joining Olly Murs (July 8), Deacon Blue (July 9) and The Script (July 16) as this year’s big headliners.

Fans can expect to hear tracks from their critically acclaimed 2021 album, Flying Dream 1, along with anthemic hits from their back catalogue including One Day Like This, Grounds for Divorce and Magnificent (She Says).

Elbow are set to play a massive gig at Edinburgh Castle this summer.

Mark Mackie, Director of Castle Concerts said: “Elbow and Edinburgh Castle are the perfect combination. This is going to be a highlight of the summer in Scotland for sure.”

Tickets go on sale Friday (February 25) at 9am through Ticketmaster. Please note: Tickets are not available from Edinburgh Castle Box Office.

The Castle Concerts is an annual series that sees world-famous artists performing against the stunning backdrop of Edinburgh Castle every summer.

For the last two years, however, the gigs have been cancelled due to the Covid pandemic.

Artists who have headlined in previous years include Rod Stewart, Tom Jones, Paul Weller, Westlife, Duran Duran, Arcade Fire, Kylie Minogue and The Proclaimers.

In March 2017, Elbow played at double-header of gigs at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh.

In a career-spanning three decades, Elbow have released several No.1 albums, most notably their 2008 Mercury Prize-winning effort, The Seldom Seen Kid.

Further accolades include an NME Award, Mojo Award, BRIT Award and a several Ivor Novello prizes.

They are the only band to receive four consecutive 9/10 reviews from NME for their first four records.

Last November, Garvey warned the current streaming system threatens the future of music in the UK.

The 47-year-old singer and BBC 6 Music presenter appeared alongside Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien and singer-songwriter Nadine Shah to give evidence to a Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee looking into the effects of streaming on the music industry and record labels.

He told MPs that “tomorrow’s music” was at risk of being lost because many artists were unable to pay their rent or living costs.

Garvey said: “It’s not true that great art finds its audience. This is the reason I got involved in these proceedings. I have been ‘new music’, albeit some time ago when Elbow first started putting records out.

“We were lucky enough to work with record labels that got us from bedrooms and garages to a Mercury nomination on our first album. The reason I have come here today, and I can speak for Ed and Nadine here as well, is that the system as it is is threatening the future of music.

“That sounds very dramatic but if musicians can’t afford to pay the rent, if they can’t afford to live, we haven’t got tomorrow’s music in place.”

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