X-ray’s Scott Thomas on the Stereophonics’ return

X-ray Touring’s Scott Thomas has given IQ the lowdown on the Stereophonics’ biggest ever tour.

The enduring Welsh band, who sold more than 250,000 tickets on their last UK tour in 2022, will headline some of the UK and Ireland’s largest outdoor venues next summer.

The Stadium Anthems – Summer 25 run will include stops at Belfast Belsonic (5 June), Dublin St Anne’s Park (6 June), Cork Virgin Media Park (7 June), Huddersfield John Smith’s Stadium (14 June), Glasgow Bellahouston Park as part of Summer Sessions (28 June) and London Finsbury Park (4 July), culminating with two hometown shows at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium (11-12 July).

Thomas, their longtime agent, says demand to see the beloved rockers has swelled further still during their extended absence.

“We left the UK touring market with a whole run of shows in 2022 and the band were always going to take a break after that,” he tells IQ. “There were other avenues Kelly [Jones, frontman] and the other members wanted to pursue. Kelly had his Far From Saints project, which toured very successfully last year, and his solo project, which he did a very successful tour of this year as well, so we were always going to have a significant amount of time out of the market.

“To be honest with you, a) because the band’s growth live anyway over the last decade has been so pronounced. And b) because there was a certain amount of time off, we knew that demand would be huge when they came back, it was always my theory that they would be able to play bigger headline shows than ever and that’s been borne out.”

“We’ve still left tickets on the table and there’s other places to go”

Promoting duties for the dates have been divided up between Kilimanjaro Live (Wales), SJM Concerts (England) and DF Concerts (Scotland). The group also played two nights at Principality Stadium last time around in 2022.

“We’ve gone back with the two [Cardiff concerts], announced without any supporting bill, and we’re pretty much sold out,” says Thomas. “We’re going to Finsbury Park, which is a venue we pondered in the past, and the opportunity was there to do this year. Going to Huddersfield, we wanted to play a stadium show in the north, and we’re playing the Summer Sessions in Glasgow, because, again, that was something we’ve looked at in the past, and the timing was right.

“The band’s live strength is not just undiminished, it is ever-growing. And when an artist of their size and their calibre has a certain amount of time off – or even when they don’t – it demands something really substantial when they come back. We’ve still left tickets on the table and there’s other places to go.”

Stereophonics will also headline the Isle of Wight Festival on 21 June, with the current slate of announced shows part of a “multi-stage campaign”, with a new studio album set for release next year. The band have been a consistent draw on the live scene ever since their 1997 debut Word Gets Around.

“They still write songs that get amazing amounts of airplay, still receive television coverage and still resonate with people,” reflects Thomas. “It’s a craft for them in terms of putting their songs out there: they are among the greatest live performers to come out of this country in the last few decades and there is new material still to come. This tour is very much part of the next album campaign.”

“We’re about to announce a European tour that will combine a set of arenas and large theatres”

Represented in North America by Wasserman Music’s Marty Diamond, the quartet have a run of shows in the US and Canada booked for next spring, commencing at Théâtre Beanfield in Montreal on 21 March and visiting venues such as Brooklyn Paramount Theater, House of Blues Boston and The Wiltern in Los Angeles. They will also play Teatro Metropolitan in Mexico City on 11 April.

Thomas, meanwhile, reveals the band will shortly confirm details of a European headline jaunt.

“We’re about to announce a European tour that will combine a set of arenas and large theatres,” he says. “There’ll be a set of festivals next summer and a wider international run in Q4 outside of Europe, which will go to Australasia and Asia. Again, it’s been quite a time since they’ve been out touring internationally with the time they’ve had off, and that was preceded by the Covid break, so festivals have been off the market for a certain amount of time.”

Stereophonics’ touring comeback adds to what is already a stacked 2025 for the live industry, and Thomas suggests there is plenty more on the way.

“You only have to look at how impossible it is to get avails at greenfield sites and stadium sites – and we all know a certain amount of major artists are still to drop shows for next year – so it’s going to be a huge summer,” he concludes. “That’s why strategy: where you play, when you play, when you launch, how you market, is all important because it’s always a crowded marketplace.

“There are always other things to see and certainly with Stereophonics, we’ve paid a great deal of attention to all of the moving parts and facets. But that said, we’re hugely gratified by how well these shows have already sold.”

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