Wasserman’s Penty talks Lewis Capaldi arena tour

Wasserman Music agent Ryan Penty has spoken to IQ about Lewis Capaldi’s 2023 European arena tour.

The Scottish singer-songwriter, whose second album Broken by Desire to be Heavenly Sent comes out next May, has announced a 31-date trek for January to March next year, with stops in the UK and Ireland (excluding London), Poland, Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy and Spain.

“We’re doing arenas right across Europe so it’s very exciting times,” says Penty, who represents Capaldi with Wasserman’s Alex Hardee.

Tickets for the UK leg cost £40-60. Capaldi broke internationally with his UK and US No.1 single Someone You Loved in 2019, while his debut LP Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent was the biggest UK album of both 2019 and 2020. His comeback single Forget Me topped the charts in the UK last month.

Back in 2020, Capaldi joined a select group of artists who have headlined arenas while still on their first album campaign. He also sold out two nights at London’s 20,000-cap The O2, which finally took place last month after being postponed twice due to the pandemic.

“I never thought I’d get to the point where I had two O2 shows and just wanted them to be out of the way so badly!”

“We announced them on the day of the 2020 BRIT Awards and sold them out in the first hour,” recalls Penty. “They were supposed to happen that year as the full stop of the campaign and they served in the end as the start of the new campaign. It was nice to tie it all up finally and have those shows done – I never thought I’d get to the point where I had two O2 shows and just wanted them to be out of the way so badly!

“The show has come on leaps and bounds. It’s gone from Lewis being on stage with great songs, a great band and great chat, to now also having really impressive production.”

Capaldi returned to the road over the summer for a string of UK festival headline shows at TRNSMT, Isle of Wight, Latitude, Lytham and Belsonic, as well as slots around the continent at Northside (Denmark), Rock Werchter (Belgium), Lollapalooza Stockholm (Sweden), Slottsfjell (Norway), Pori Jazz (Finland), MEO (Portugal), Sziget (Hungary), Live Festival (Poland), Frequency (Austria), Lowlands (Netherlands) and Zurich Openair (Switzerland).

“It was quite a struggle,” admits Penty. “We had that full festival summer, booked in for 2020, which we then moved to 2021 – which we then didn’t have the music ready for, so we moved it to 2022, which we still did that the music ready for – but we pressed on anyway and everybody was very accommodating.

“I’m just very excited about the future,” he adds. “We’ve taken it step by step, ticking off the boxes along the way, and I feel like we’re in a really, really good place.”

The full list of 2023 tour dates announced so far is listed below.

January

Sat 14th: Leeds, First Direct Arena

Mon 16th: Sheffield, Utilita Arena

Wed 18th: Manchester, AO Arena

Thu 19th: Liverpool, M&S Bank Arena

Sat 21st: Newcastle, Utilita Arena

Mon 23rd: Aberdeen, P&J Live

Tue 24th: Glasgow, OVO Hydro

Thu 26th: Birmingham, Utilita Arena

Fri 27th: Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena

Sun 29th: Belfast, SSE Arena

Mon 30th: Dublin, 3Arena

February

Wed 1st: Cardiff, International Arena

Thu 2nd: Exeter, Westpoint Arena

Mon 13th: Warsaw, Torwar – Poland

Tue 14th: Vienna, Stadthalle – Austria

Thu 16th: Berlin, Mercedes-Benz Arena – Germany

Fri 17th: Prague, O2 Arena – Czech Republic

Sun 19th: Hamburg, Barclays Arena – Germany

Tue 21st: Frankfurt, Festhalle – Germany

Thu 23rd: Antwerp, Sportpaleis – Belgium

Sat 25th: Amsterdam, Ziggo Dome – Netherlands

Sun 26th: Paris, Accor Arena – France

Tue 28th: Cologne, Lanxess Arena – Germany

March

Thu 2nd: Copenhagen, Royal Arena – Denmark

Fri 3rd: Oslo, Spektrum – Norway

Sun 5th: Stockholm, Avicii Arena – Sweden

Tue 7th: Zurich, Hallenstadion – Switzerland

Wed 8th: Milan, Mediolanum Forum – Italy

Fri 10th: Barcelona, Palau Sant Jordi – Spain

Sat 11th: Madrid, WiZink Center – Spain

Tue 14th: Stuttgart, Schleyerhalle – Germany

Wed 15th: Munich, Olympiahalle – Germany

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