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Declan McKenna announces “live and intimate” UK warm-up shows ahead of Reading & Leeds 2026
“This one’s gonna be electric!”
Declan McKenna has announced some “live and intimate” UK warm-up shows ahead of his slots at Reading & Leeds 2026. Find all the details below.
- READ MORE: Declan McKenna on the journey to his joy-filled third album: “The whole process has been empowering”
The singer-songwriter will play four small gigs at grassroots venues in Scotland and England this month, marking his first headline dates on these shores in two years.
McKenna, who released his latest album ‘What Happened To The Beach?’ in 2024, said he was “so buzzing” to share the news. “It’s gonna be loud, live and intimate, and we’re even hitting some places I’ve never been to,” he added. “This one’s gonna be electric!⚡️.”
The brief tour is set to begin at An Seòmar in Inverness on August 20. From there, McKenna will head to Dundee’s Music Hall, Stockton-on-Tees’ Georgian Theatre, and Stoke’s Sugarmill.
The artist is then scheduled to perform at Reading Festival on Friday August 28, before heading up to Leeds the following day (Saturday August 29). His slots will take place on R&L’s newly-revamped main stage, now called ‘The Grid’.
Tickets for McKenna’s intimate UK tour go on general sale at 10am BST this Friday – you’ll be able to buy yours here.
View this post on Instagram
Declan McKenna’s intimate UK tour dates are:
Recommended
AUGUST:
20 – An Seòmar, Inverness
21 – Music Hall, Dundee
23 – The Georgian Theatre, Stockton-on-Tees
24 – Sugarmill, Stoke
McKenna will appear at Reading & Leeds along with this year’s headliners Florence + The Machine, Fontaines D.C., Dave, Charli XCX, RAYE and Chase & Status. Meanwhile, Kasabian will serve as the first-ever Thursday night headliner, exclusive to Leeds.
According to a press release, McKenna is currently at work on new music. In October 2024, he followed up his latest album with a double A-side single, ‘Champagne’ and ‘That’s Life’.
“‘Champagne’ and ‘That’s Life’ have come together in the last few months as the first finished tracks produced with my good friend Jules [Apollinaire],” he explained at the time. “They are old ideas that started to come to life while I was messing around with them in my new studio.”
In a four-star review of McKenna’s most recent record, NME wrote: “On ‘What Happened To The Beach?’, perfectionism is released to make space to revel in creativity, resulting in a truly joyful effort.”
McKenna said in an interview with NME upon its release that he’d found the process of making the LP “quite empowering”, adding: “[It] has made me feel like I’m capable of executing different kinds of songs.
“I see every album of mine as an opportunity to make something that I’m proud of, as well as an opportunity to learn from different people along the way. I followed a dramatically different process to what I have done before, but it allowed me to absorb new methods from the musicians around me.”
Last month, Declan McKenna opened for Imagine Dragons at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
In other news, the singer appeared in an all-star choir that performed on the ‘Help(2)’ charity album for War Child earlier this year. The compilation was recently shortlisted for the Mercury Prize.
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Declan McKenna has announced some “live and intimate” UK warm-up shows ahead of his slots at Reading & Leeds 2026. Find all the details below.
- READ MORE: Declan McKenna on the journey to his joy-filled third album: “The whole process has been empowering”
The singer-songwriter will play four small gigs at grassroots venues in Scotland and England this month, marking his first headline dates on these shores in two years.
McKenna, who released his latest album ‘What Happened To The Beach?’ in 2024, said he was “so buzzing” to share the news. “It’s gonna be loud, live and intimate, and we’re even hitting some places I’ve never been to,” he added. “This one’s gonna be electric!⚡️.”
The brief tour is set to begin at An Seòmar in Inverness on August 20. From there, McKenna will head to Dundee’s Music Hall, Stockton-on-Tees’ Georgian Theatre, and Stoke’s Sugarmill.
The artist is then scheduled to perform at Reading Festival on Friday August 28, before heading up to Leeds the following day (Saturday August 29). His slots will take place on R&L’s newly-revamped main stage, now called ‘The Grid’.
Tickets for McKenna’s intimate UK tour go on general sale at 10am BST this Friday – you’ll be able to buy yours here.
View this post on Instagram
Declan McKenna’s intimate UK tour dates are:
Recommended
AUGUST:
20 – An Seòmar, Inverness
21 – Music Hall, Dundee
23 – The Georgian Theatre, Stockton-on-Tees
24 – Sugarmill, Stoke
McKenna will appear at Reading & Leeds along with this year’s headliners Florence + The Machine, Fontaines D.C., Dave, Charli XCX, RAYE and Chase & Status. Meanwhile, Kasabian will serve as the first-ever Thursday night headliner, exclusive to Leeds.
According to a press release, McKenna is currently at work on new music. In October 2024, he followed up his latest album with a double A-side single, ‘Champagne’ and ‘That’s Life’.
“‘Champagne’ and ‘That’s Life’ have come together in the last few months as the first finished tracks produced with my good friend Jules [Apollinaire],” he explained at the time. “They are old ideas that started to come to life while I was messing around with them in my new studio.”
In a four-star review of McKenna’s most recent record, NME wrote: “On ‘What Happened To The Beach?’, perfectionism is released to make space to revel in creativity, resulting in a truly joyful effort.”
McKenna said in an interview with NME upon its release that he’d found the process of making the LP “quite empowering”, adding: “[It] has made me feel like I’m capable of executing different kinds of songs.
“I see every album of mine as an opportunity to make something that I’m proud of, as well as an opportunity to learn from different people along the way. I followed a dramatically different process to what I have done before, but it allowed me to absorb new methods from the musicians around me.”
Last month, Declan McKenna opened for Imagine Dragons at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
In other news, the singer appeared in an all-star choir that performed on the ‘Help(2)’ charity album for War Child earlier this year. The compilation was recently shortlisted for the Mercury Prize.
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