Echo & The Bunnymen are heading back out on the road. The Liverpool post-punk veterans have announced a run of UK tour dates for November 2026, arriving just days after the release of Apples For Isaac, their first new studio album in twelve years.
The trek opens on November 9 at Cardiff's Tramshed and continues through Eastbourne, Southampton, Wolverhampton, Middlesbrough, Holmfirth and Coventry, closing on November 20 at the HMV Empire in Coventry. The full itinerary includes stops at Eastbourne's Winter Garden on November 10, Southampton's Engine Rooms on November 12, The Wulfrun Hall in Wolverhampton on November 13, Middlesbrough's Empire on November 17 and The Picturedrome in Holmfirth on November 19.
Tickets go on general sale at 10am BST this Thursday, September 24, with a pre-sale available for fans who sign up in advance. The dates mark the band's first UK headline run since the new record arrived last week.
Apples For Isaac is the group's first new album since 2014's Meteorites, following the 2018 compilation The Stars, The Ocean and The Moon. The record carries a notable credit: late drummer Clem Burke, best known for his work with Blondie and the Ramones, contributed to ten of the album's eleven tracks. Burke died while the record was being completed.
In a statement, Echo & The Bunnymen paid tribute to him: «The mighty, legendary Clem Burke — longtime friend of Mac — was integral to the making of the album, and heartbreakingly passed away during its completion… love you Clem.»
The tour announcement caps a turbulent year for frontman Ian McCulloch. In June, the band was forced to postpone a show at Philadelphia's Fillmore after McCulloch's vehicle was involved in what a statement described as a «road traffic incident.» His injuries were described as «not believed to be serious,» though the singer was left «understandably shaken by the incident.»
McCulloch recovered in time to join My Chemical Romance as a special guest at a huge homecoming show at Liverpool's Anfield Stadium by the end of June, a performance that underlined the band's enduring pull in their hometown.
The new album also arrives amid wider activity around the group's members. At the end of 2024, Courtney Love said she was working with Echo & The Bunnymen guitarist Will Sergeant on her new solo album — while making clear she was not collaborating with PJ Harvey, whom she called «rude.»
Critical reception for the band's recent studio work has been mixed. Reviewing Meteorites in 2014, NME praised the «candour of the lyrics and song titles,» noting that McCulloch «candidly examines his mental health throughout, while one song's called 'Is This A Breakdown?'» The review concluded that, «as a whole, 'Meteorites' fails to set the sky on fire.»
For a band whose career stretches back more than four decades, the November run represents a return to the UK stages where they built their reputation. The seven-city tour gives British audiences their first chance to hear the new material live, and it places Apples For Isaac — and Burke's final contributions — at the center of the set.
Fans hoping to attend should act quickly when tickets go on sale Thursday morning, as the venues on the itinerary are mostly mid-sized rooms that have historically sold out for the band's UK appearances.