Culture Club And James Join The Scarborough Line-up

Culture Club and James have been added to the fantastic line-up for Scarborough Open Air Theatre’s 2021 season. Their headline show on Saturday 14 August will be the first at SOAT for Boy George and Culture Club while James make their third appearance at the Yorkshire coast venue on Thursday 9 September.

Since forming in 1981, Culture Club, with their iconic frontman Boy George, have sold more than 150 million records worldwide and their stream of classic hits includes Do You Really Want to Hurt Me, Karma Chameleon, Church Of The Poison Mind, Victims, It’s A Miracle and The War Song. In 1984, the band picked up the Grammy Award for Best New Artists, and the awards for Best British Group and Best British Single at the BRIT Awards.

Culture Club became the first group since The Beatles to have three Top 10 hits in America from a debut album. The New Romantic pop sensations went on to achieve seven UK Top 10 singles, nine Top 10 singles in the USA, and nine Top 20 singles in Australia.

Their 2021 line-up, with Boy George performing alongside original Culture Club members Roy Hay and Mikey Craig in a stunning live band, continues to sell-out headline shows and tours around the world.

Culture Club join a stunning summer line-up at Scarborough Open Air Theatre which includes Stereophonics, Duran Duran, Snow Patrol, Olly Murs and Kaiser Chiefs along with many more at the 8,000-capacity arena.

 “I’ve wanted to bring Boy George and Culture Club to Scarborough OAT for some time so I’m delighted we have been able to make this happen for this summer,” said Scarborough OAT venue programmer Peter Taylor. “George remains one of the most colourful and iconic pop stars in British history, a true music star around the world. Culture Club’s live shows are a true spectacle, and this is going to be a really special night.”

This will be the third time James, who gave the world such timeless anthems as Sit Down, Born of Frustration, She’s A Star and Come Home, have headlined Scarborough OAT after shows at the Yorkshire coast venue in 2015 and 2018.

“We always have a great night there,” said bassist Jim Glennie, “even back in the days when you had to cross the old moat to get to the audience! We are looking forward to another very special night on the Yorkshire coast.”

The Manchester indie legends have sold more than 25 million records worldwide over the past 30 years, gaining both critical and commercial acclaim. Their enduring creativity and musical legacy has made them one of the most influential British bands of the last four decades.

They continue to be a huge live draw, headlining festivals and recently selling 60,000 tickets for their 2021 UK arena tour, their fastest selling tour ever. Ahead of the tour James have recently issued the new single Beautiful Beaches, a taster for their eagerly-awaited new album All The Colours Of You to be released on 4 June.

Beautiful Beaches was written by Tim Booth in response to climate change migrations and the subsequent increasingly regular Californian fires bringing devastation to his community.

Recorded in part before the Covid pandemic struck, All The Colours Of You was produced by the Grammy award-winning Jacknife Lee (U2, REM, Taylor Swift, Snow Patrol, The Killers) who bought a fresh approach to their sound. Working remotely from his studio and liaising with them, Lee reimagining their demos, and captured a band in all their virtual glory.

The result is a record with the freshest and festival-ready tracks of James’ 38-year career. It is the sound of one of Britain’s best bands, deconstructed and reassembled by one of the world’s most renowned producers.

All The Colours Of You is James’ 16^th studio album and follows the release of LIVE In Extraordinary Times, a live recorded collection of their last studio album Living In Extraordinary Times.

“We are absolutely delighted James are returning to Scarborough OAT this summer,” said Peter Taylor. “They continue to be one of the UK’s most relevant and influential bands, pioneers of the Manchester music scene since the 1980s and a must-see live act. Roll on September 9… it’s going to be an amazing night!”

For more details of all Scarborough Open Air Theatre events and tickets, please visit https://scarboroughopenairtheatre.com/ . Culture Club tickets are available from Friday 21 May at 9am.