Idlewild announce 2026 UK tour

Idlewild have announced a UK and Ireland headline tour for later this year. Find all the details below.

The Scottish band are due to hit the road this spring in support of their self-titled 10th studio album, which was released last October.

Kicking off with a show at Nottingham’s Rescue Rooms on April 7, the forthcoming trek will also include performances in Brighton, Cardiff, Birmingham, Exeter, Portsmouth, Oxford, Sheffield, Sunderland and Belfast.

The confirmation of these new dates follows the 30th anniversary of Idlewild’s first live gig on January 19 1996, held at the Subway in Edinburgh.

Tickets for the group’s 2026 UK tour go on general sale at 10am GMT this Friday (January 30) – you’ll be able to buy yours here. Alternatively, fans can access a pre-sale at the same time on Wednesday (January 28) by signing up here.

This year’s shows come on the heels of the band’s 2025 UK tour last autumn and winter.

“After a brilliant album tour in Oct and Dec, we’re delighted to announce a spring UK tour visiting some of the places we missed last year!” they wrote on social media alongside the new dates.

Earlier this month, Idlewild performed at Rockaway Beach 2026 in Bognor Regis. Their live schedule for this year also includes a massive support slot with My Chemical Romance in Glasgow, an appearance with Embrace at Halifax’s Piece Hall, and a set at this summer’s Bearded Theory.

Idlewild’s 2026 UK and Ireland headline tour dates are:

APRIL
07 – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
08 – Concorde 2, Brighton
09 – Tramshed, Cardiff
10 – O2 Institute, Birmingham 
12 – Phoenix, Exeter 
13 – Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth 
14 – O2 Academy 1, Oxford 
16 – Foundry, Sheffield 
17 – The Fire Station, Sunderland 
18 – Mandela Hall, Belfast

When speaking to NME last autumn, Idlewild said they weren’t “massively nostalgic” when it comes to their live shows, having previously toured to mark the 20th anniversary of ‘The Remote Part’.

“If we’re going to go on tour, we want the focus to be on new and creative work,” explained frontman Roddy Woomble. “When the band started 30 years ago, we never did cover versions – we were always working on our own stuff. At the start, we were very rudimentary and quite bad at times, but there’s always got to be something new to say with each other.”

He continued: “That’s not to dismiss any of the music we’ve made or the wonderful records we’ve done together, but sometimes those album or anniversary shows are a catalyst to focus on what’s good about the band. That’s what ‘The Remote Part’ shows reminded us of.

“There’s a Scottish disposition to be a wee bit self-deprecating, to not really celebrate yourself. Those kinds of shows force you to do that because you see the joy on people’s faces. You realise you’ve done something really good.”

Woomble added: “We came away from those shows thinking, ‘Let’s make a new record and try to capture a bit of that feel that ‘The Remote Part’ or ‘100 Broken Windows’ has’ – these records that people really respond to. It’s not like we’re not looking forward. It’s more, ‘Let’s do it now, let’s make our version of Idlewild and maybe reference ourselves a little bit’. It feels like a mix of a lot of good things about the band.”

As for whether any more new material was to come soon, the singer told NME: “We need to get back into playing gigs. We’ve not spent that much time together since we recorded the record. We need to get on tour and start hanging out, and something will hopefully naturally come from that.”

Meanwhile, last month saw Idlewild join a wave of artists in protesting against BBC Scotland’s axing of specialist late-night music shows.