Ashcroft Arrives at Live '27 With a No.1 Album Behind Him

Richard Ashcroft opens all 42 Oasis shows on Live ‘27, and he arrives in career form. His seventh solo album Lovin’ You topped the UK Official Vinyl Albums Chart. A sold out solo arena run sits behind him as the tour approaches.

Lovin’ You is his first all new album since Natural Rebel in 2018. Eight years separate the two records, a long gap by his own standards. The vinyl chart summit rewarded the fans who kept buying his records in physical form.

The Verve supported Oasis on tour back in 1993, before either band broke through. Ashcroft and the Gallaghers have circled each other ever since those club dates. The support slot in 2027 closes a circle that opened over thirty years ago.

Lead single Lover interpolates Joan Armatrading’s Love and Affection. Armatrading praised the track publicly after its release. Few compliments carry more weight for a songwriter of Ashcroft’s generation, and he quoted hers with pride.

Armatrading’s praise closed a neat circle for the single. Lover borrows the spirit of her song, and she blessed the borrowing in public. Songwriters guard their catalogues fiercely, so her approval carried unusual weight among his peers.

The arena run opened at Co-op Live in Manchester on 8 November 2025. Sell-outs then followed across the spring leg in March 2026. Cardiff, Liverpool, London and Glasgow all filled their arenas for a man the Oasis bill calls the support act.

The spring leg played Cardiff’s Utilita Arena on 24 March 2026. Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena followed on 26 March, then The O2 in London on 28 March. Glasgow’s OVO Hydro closed the run on 31 March, in front of another full house.

A headline act in the support slot

Ashcroft then headlined Alexandra Palace Park in London on 17 July 2026. The outdoor date carried a 13,500 capacity, festival scale for a solo show. Summer outdoor and castle dates filled the rest of his calendar around it.

His solo catalogue runs to seven albums across more than two decades. Songs from every era give his support set a depth most openers cannot match. Fans who know only the Verve hits get the solo records as a bonus.

For context, Live ‘27 fans get a full headline act before Oasis walk on. Ashcroft fronted The Verve and wrote Bitter Sweet Symphony and The Drugs Don’t Work. His catalogue gives the support slot a weight most stadium tours never enjoy.

Still, support slots usually go to rising acts, not to chart topping headliners. Promoters broke that pattern because Ashcroft guarantees a singing crowd from the first song. His own hits warm a stadium better than any newcomer on the circuit could.

That said, the support slot asks something different of a headline singer. Arena headliners rarely play while crowds still find their seats and bars. Ashcroft must win each stadium early, night after night, before the Gallaghers appear.

Above all, Manchester hears him most often among the homecoming crowds. He plays the Etihad Stadium eleven times across June 2027 in the support role. Our Manchester city page covers those nights, the biggest single run of the tour.

On the practical side, fans who arrive at doors should expect a substantial Ashcroft set. The slot gives his Lovin’ You material the largest audience of its life so far. Arriving late to skip the support act wastes half the evening’s story.

The vinyl summit suits an artist whose fans still buy records physically. Ashcroft’s audience collects his albums rather than renting them through playlists each week. A No.1 on the Official Vinyl Albums Chart measures that loyalty in hard sales.

In practice, fans at those spring arena shows heard the Lovin’ You songs first. The same material now travels to stadium crowds across Europe and North America next summer.

Our Richard Ashcroft profile tells his full story, from The Verve to the reunion stage. The Oasis lineup page lists the whole touring band he joins next summer. The stage times page will carry his set times as promoters publish them, city by city.