Shed Seven have spoken about they had planned their headline show in York for a year and how they had originally dreamt of playing at the former Bootham Crescent stadium.
The band announced on Friday they will be performing at York’s LNER Community Stadium on May 29, 2027, a stone’s throw from where a teenage Rick Witter and Paul Banks first composed songs at Huntington School.
Joining the Sheds for this hometown gig – at the football ground where Chasing Rainbows rings out before every York City home match and has become a “Chasing City” terrace anthem too – will be special guests The K’s, Reverend And The Makers and The Mersey Beatles.
Speaking in York City’s dressing room at Wednesday morning’s press launch, Rick told Charles Hutchinson: “This gig has been mooted for about a year.
"We were approached by Cuffe & Taylor, who we’ve done shows for at Scarborough Open Air Theatre last summer and Halifax Piece Hall this summer, so we have history and a good working relationship with them already, and why would we not want to do a concert like this in our home city?
“It’s always been a thing, growing up here, to play at York City’s ground, because it’s so connected with us.
"We always talked about playing Bootham Crescent, but that ground went, and there was even talk of us doing a last hurrah there [before its conversion into housing], but this show makes more sense.
Shed Seven said they had dreamt of playing at York City's former ground Bootham Crescent
“It’s a new ground. We’ll be the first band to play there, just like we were the first rock band to play at York Museum Gardens in many years [since Roxy Music in 1973], and fingers crossed it will set up the stadium for more gigs.”
“Our ambition, even as school kids, was to one day play our own stadium show,” added lead singer Rick, now 53.
“What kid who dreams of being in a rock’n’roll band doesn’t want to do that?
"Now, almost 40 years later, we’ve reached the point where we thought… it’s now or never.
"And if we were going to do it, it had to be York.
Shed Seven at York's LNER Community Stadium where they will be playing in May 2027. (Image: Tom Oxley)
“What will make it even more special is that the stadium is a stone’s throw from where we met, went to school and where we first formed a band.
"We’re coming back to pretty much where it all began – I remember when it was just fields – to play the biggest show of our career and that is a proper full-circle moment.”
To promote the gig with a 14,000 capacity, look out for a special pre-sale for people in York that will see the city being flooded with Shed Seven posters and beer mats carrying QR codes to give local fans access to tickets before they go on general sale at 10am on Friday, October 23 via ticketmaster.co.uk.
In addition, an exclusive Shed Seven artist pre-sale will open at 10am on Tuesday, October 20 for anyone signed up to the Shed Seven mailing list at https://shedseven.os.fan/sign-up?utm_source=chatgpt.com.
Fans wishing to access the artist pre-sale must sign up by noon on Monday, October 19.
Next spring’s stadium extravaganza will build still more on the momentum of two number one albums, January 2024’s A Matter Of Time and September 2024’s Liquid Gold, in a year when Shed Seven heralded the launch of Futuresound’s Live At York Museum Gardens concerts with two sold-out July shows.
The Sheds have since been crowned Best Live Act at the AIM Independent Music Awards; returned to Glastonbury Festival last July after a 30-year hiatus since their NME Stage debut; played the BBC Radio 2 Piano Room, backed by the BBC Concert Orchestra, and opened Cuffe & Taylor’s 42-gig 2026 calendar at The Piece Hall, Halifax, on June 6, when playing 1996’s hit-laden A Maximum High in full to mark its 30th anniversary.
In the in-tray for the Sheds are their biggest UK winter tour to date, Shedcember X, climaxing with Leeds O2 shows on December 12 and 13, ahead of chasing a hat-trick of number ones with the January 8, 2027 release of their self-titled seventh studio album on Cooking Vinyl, showcased already by the singles Stand Together and The Centre Of My Everything.
Looking forward to returning to the York outdoors, Rick says: “The York Museum Gardens shows in 2024 were incredible…and to see Shed Seven fans travelling from all over the country to our hometown was amazing.
“Our fanbase has been incredibly loyal to us and they’re the reason we’re even in a position to attempt something like this.
"We really hope they’ll travel from all over again, make a weekend of it and let us welcome them to our wonderful home.
“Expect a huge career-spanning set and for us to push the production further than we ever have before.
"If we’re going to do it, we want to do it properly and make this the biggest and best Shed Seven show we’ve ever put on.
“It’s out first stadium headline show, so we’ll be pulling out all the stops with a hit-filled show with guests, and we’ll have to ramp up the spectacle, but these are the things we always enjoy doing."
To mark the landmark show, Shed Seven will release a special limited-edition York Edition of their forthcoming album, featuring unique artwork and live versions of fan favourites Let’s Go Dancing, Talk Of The Town and Chasing Rainbows, the anthem that fans take delight in sending Witter videos of their train-journey renditions from York City away matches.
From every York Edition CD sale, £1 will be donated to York City Foundation, supporting its work with communities across York.
To buy, go to: https://store.shedseven.com/.
Furthermore, at the May 29 gig, Shed Seven will support York’s next generation of musicians, with a fan zone stage ahead of the main stadium show featuring up-and-coming artists from the city.