Ocean Colour Scene, one of the key bands of the 90s Britpop era, have announced an extensive UK tour for spring 2025, with contemporaries Kula Shaker joining as special guests. This much-anticipated tour will see the two beloved bands share the stage across numerous cities, rekindling a live music collaboration that dates back to their early days.
The tour is set to kick off in Leeds on March 27, 2025, before moving on to major cities such as Birmingham, Sheffield, London, Manchester, Glasgow, and Liverpool. It will wrap up by late April. Fans in Ireland can also catch Ocean Colour Scene in Dublin, but Kula Shaker won’t be performing at the Irish dates.
Ocean Colour Scene, known for their anthems “The Riverboat Song” and “The Day We Caught The Train,” have been captivating audiences for over three decades. With their three Top 5 albums and nine Top 20 single. Their sound has evolved over the years, incorporating elements of soul, folk, and blues into their Britpop roots, ensuring that their shows remain fresh while still delivering the hits.
Formed in Birmingham in 1989, OCS emerged from the ashes of several indie bands and the city’s thriving music scene. Their big break came in 1996 with the release of their second album, Moseley Shoals, which catapulted them to Britpop stardom. The album featured some of their most iconic tracks, including “The Riverboat Song,” “The Day We Caught The Train,” and “You’ve Got It Bad.” Moseley Shoals sold over a million copies and became a defining record of the Britpop era. Notably, NME praised the album as “a fine, occasionally stunning record,” cementing the band’s status as one of the decade’s essential acts Kula Shaker, who will support Ocean Colour Scene throughout the UK portion of the tour, first rose to prominence in the ’90s with hits like “Tattva” and “Hush.” The band took a hiatus before returning to the music scene, most recently releasing their seventh album, Natural Magik, in 2024. Reflecting on their long-standing friendship with Ocean Colour Scene, Kula Shaker said: “We go way back with OCS – great musicians and even better friends. Some of our earliest gigs were with them, including shows at the Splash Club in London before Kula Shaker were signed.”
UK TOUR NEWS!
Kula Shaker will join @OCSmusic as very special guests on their 2025 UK tour!
General sale: Fri, Oct 4, 10am.
Pre-sale: Wed, Oct 2, 10am (sign up below).
https://t.co/yvhk4O2eLfSee you in 2025! pic.twitter.com/AI6ih9JekH
— Kula Shaker (@kulashaker) September 27, 2024
This tour isn’t the first time Ocean Colour Scene has shared the stage with other notable acts. In 2018, they hit the road with soul legends Martha Reeves and the Vandellas. Simon Fowler, the band’s frontman, reflected on that experience, saying, “We couldn’t quite believe that Martha Reeves was supporting us, it seemed absurd. But our crowd loved it, she went down really well.”
Tickets for the 2025 tour go on sale at 10 am BST on Friday, October 4. Fans eager to secure their spots can also access pre-sale tickets two days earlier, on Wednesday, October 2, by signing up online here. Both bands are expected to deliver crowd-pleasing performances, with Ocean Colour Scene’s life-affirming sing-alongs and Kula Shaker’s dynamic psychedelic rock making for a nostalgic yet refreshing combination.
