Moby has confirmed Lady Blackbird has his “special guest” support act for his UK and European ‘Play’ tour.
The electronic artist will embark on his first European tour in a decade this September to celebrate 25 years of his acclaimed fifth studio album, including a huge London show at The O2.
Now, Moby has announced that acclaimed soul-jazz singer-songwriter Lady Blackbird – who he recently collaborated with on his 2024 LP ‘Always Centered At Night’ and 2023’s ‘Resound NYC’ – will be joining him as a special guest on tour, serving as the opening act.
Speaking about Lady Blackbird coming on tour with him in a press release, Moby said: “I feel like the luckiest musician in the world that I’m going to be going on tour with Lady Blackbird. Her voice and her presence and her creativity are incredibly inspiring.”
“The relationship started with Reginald and Bagel, which evolved into a creative, collaborative relationship with Moby on ‘Walk With Me’ and ‘Dark Days’,” shared Lady Blackbird in a press release. “I’m so excited to announce that I will be joining him on tour, where we shall all be centered at night.”
The ‘Porcelain’ musician recently announced a new tour date in Manchester at the O2 Apollo on September 18. Check out a full list of dates below and visit here to purchase tickets. 100 per cent of the profits made will go to European animal rights organisations.
Moby’s 2024 UK and European tour dates are:
SEPTEMBER
18 – O2 Apollo, Manchester
19 – The O2, London, England
21 – Sportpaleis, Antwerp, Belgium
22 – Velodrome, Berlin, Germany
23 – Mitsubishi Electric Hall, Düsseldorf, Germany
24 – Le Zenith, Paris, France
Released in 1999, Moby’s acclaimed fifth acclaimed record contains the classic songs ‘Porcelain’, ‘Natural Blues’ and ‘Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?’. It’s sold over 12million copies worldwide, won various awards and is the biggest-selling electronic album of all time.
Speaking to NME about the mammoth success of his fifth studio album, Moby said: “I still don’t 100 per cent believe it happened. Growing up, the music I listened to was not popular. In Connecticut in 1982, there weren’t many people listening to Joy Division and Minor Threat. So I assumed I would make music that no one would ever listen to. Then in the ‘90s, I found myself having more of an audience which was surprising to me because the first record I ever released was called ‘Mobility’ [in 1990] which sold just shy of 1,000 copies – but I thought that was a huge success because in high school, my punk rock band Vatican Commandos had released a 7-inch single that sold 300 copies.”
“By the late ‘90s, I was a maligned has-been and had been dropped by my US label. So when ‘Play’ was released and sold a few thousand copies, I thought: ‘OK, that’s it. I’m done. Now it’s time to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life’ which I assumed was go back and get a Master’s and PhD in philosophy and become a school teacher, and make music in my bedroom which no one would ever listen to.”
“So the success of ‘Play’ was unexpected. I’d made it in my bedroom with cheap equipment at a time when most successful records were made in huge studios with million dollar budgets. There was nothing that augured the success it had.”
He also reflected on how he looks back at the album’s legacy, sharing: “With a degree of wincing shame, I found myself obsessing over and loving the fame aspect of it. Growing up going to Fugazi, I thought you were selling out if you charge more than $5 for a show and suddenly, I’m standing onstage in front of 10,000 people and going to fancy parties and doing tons of drugs. I’m glad it chewed me up and spat me out but didn’t kill me, and that I didn’t end up as one of those musicians who’ve been hugely famous for so long that they don’t have a sense of self outside of fame. I feel like I should Venmo you for the therapy session!”