No confirmation of UB40 Zim show

There is no slot for Zimbabwe on the tour calendar

Zim Now Writer

A music promoter has warned Zimbabweans to exercise caution before buying tickets for the UB40 Zimbabwe performance.

“Don’t buy a ticket until you get confirmation from official sources that UB40 is indeed coming to Harare in May. At the moment it looks like a scam,” said a leading promoter whose name has been linked to the show in social media in a phone interview with Zim Now.

He said that he has only heard about the show in the media and has no idea why his name would be linked to it.

Zim Now has seen social media flyers saying that tickets will be sold from February 17. Efforts to get details on the organiser or promoter of the Zimbabwe show proved futile.

UB40 featuring Ali Campbell is set to perform in South Africa in the week straddling May and June. There have been media reports that the band will also perform in Zimbabwe on Africa Day, May 25.

However the official UB40 featuring Ali Campbell website does not show any booking for Zimbabwe for their 2023 world tour.

The promoter said serious UB40 fans who can afford it are better off planning to travel to SA instead of losing their money to scammers selling tickets to a show that never will be.

UB40 featuring Ali Campbell will be at Grand Arena Cape Town, on May 30, followed by the Durban ICC on June 1, and the Sunbet Arena, Pretoria, on June 3.

A UB40 fan pointed out that there is technically two UB40s and it could be that the group with the original brand label that is set to perform in Zimbabwe.

UB40 - with Robin Campbell as lead singer - have the rights to the official UB40 name, and have continued to perform and release music together. Their most recent album was 2019's For the Many. No African destination is indicated on UB40’s online performance calendar for 2023.

Ali Campbell created his own splinter group alongside Mickey Virtue and Astro, called UB40 featuring Ali, Astro and Mickey - and scored hit albums with 2016's Unplugged and 2018's A Real Labour of Love. Astro and Mickey are now both late.

Founded in 1978 with Ali Campbell on lead vocals, UB40 became a world brand with cover versions of timeless classics and hit songs such as “Red Red Wine”, “I Got You Babe” (a duet between Campbell and Chrissie Hynde) and “Falling In Love With You”.

The band has sold in excess of 70 million records and topped the UK singles chart on three occasions.

45 years later, both versions of the band are still riding on the magic of their 80s fame.