Richard Ashcroft to play huge summer show at Edinburgh’s Royal Highland Centre - how to get tickets, when they go on sale

Richard Ashcroft, frontman of indie legends The Verve, will play a massive gig at the Royal Highland Centre Showground’s Big Top this summer.

Richard Ashcroft will headline Edinburgh’s latest pop-up venue – The Big Top at Royal Highland Centre Showground on June 17, 2022.

Ashcroft has penned some of the most iconic songs of the 90s, with Bittersweet Symphony, Lucky Man and The Drugs Don’t Work all stand out tracks on The Verve’s ten-million-selling Urban Hymns.

The two-time Ivor Novello winner (Songwriter of the Year in 1998 and Outstanding Contribution to British Music in 2019) first rose to fame as the lead singer of The Verve in the 1990s, before going on to enjoy a successful solo career, with a number of top 10 albums.

In 2018, Ashcroft supported The Rolling Stones when the legendary rockers played at Murrayfield Stadium as part of their No Filter UK Tour.

The Stones had booked different warm up acts for all of the eight legs on the UK tour – including Florence and the Machine, The Vaccines, The Specials, Richard Ashcroft, Elbow, and James Bay – but Ashcroft was the only artist to appear twice, also opening for the band at Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester.

Tickets for the Wigan-born singer’s Capital gig, on Friday June 17, go on sale from 10am on Friday (March 18) via gigsinscotland.com.

The indie icon will treat fans to a selection of his best solo work – including tracks from latest album Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1 – alongside classics from The Verve’s back catalogue.

Last summer, Ashcroft pulled out of his headline slot at Sheffield’s Tramlines festival later this month, saying he opposed the event being used as part of government research into the transmission of Covid-19 at large events.

Ashcroft, 50, said in a post on Instagram that he had told organisers he was not willing to perform at the festival once it had become part of the Events Research Programme (ERP).

He wrote: “Apologies to my fans for any disappointment but the festival was informed over 10 days ago that I wouldn’t be playing once it had become part of a government testing programme.

“I had informed my agent months ago I wouldn’t be playing concerts with restrictions.

“The status of the festival was one thing when I signed up for it, but, sadly was forced to become something else.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.