elbow Tickets

Elbow met as teenagers, played their early gigs in pubs around Manchester, and chose their name because they heard it described as ‘the loveliest word in the English language’ on a BBC TV drama. Whilst their sound has varied throughout their nine studio albums, fluctuating between indie rock, prog, and a host of other sub-genres, Elbow’s music is characterised most by its down-to-earth Britishness, often cheering and always comforting.

The band got off to something of a rocky start, signing with Island records only to be dropped in the midst of Island’s sale to Universal, their almost-completed first album killed. When Asleep In The Back was finally released in 2001 – after six years in the works – it brought the band BRIT and Mercury Music attention and resulted in a successful tour and Glastonbury set. It earned the band a Mercury Music Prize nomination, a prize the band would eventually claim with The Seldom Seen Kid, their fourth studio album.

Whilst Elbow’s first to fourth albums had consistently ranked in the top 15 of the UK album charts, their fifth studio album saw them reach new levels of commercial success. Build A Rocket Boys! not only reached No.2 but also earned the band another Mercury Prize nomination and paved the way for a memorable tour of Britain’s biggest festivals.

The Take Off And Landing Of Everything topped this again, becoming the band’s first No.1 album. Drummer Richard Jupp left the band in 2016, but Guy Garvey, Craig Potter, Mark Potter and Pete Turner carried on, releasing three further albums together. Their 2021 ‘lockdown album’ Flying Dream 1 saw the band opt for a quieter, more restrained sound than that of their previous offerings, swapping crowd-pleasing anthems for intimate musings on life and love.

The band's 10th album, Audio Vertigo, arrived in 2024 to rave reviews and was accompanied by their first arena tour since 2018. The band announced huge shows at Cardiff Castle and Westonbirt Arboretum for 2025.