David Gray has commenced the 20th Anniversary tour commemorating the release of his breakthrough 'White Ladder' album. The album was originally self-released by David on his own label in 1998, but wasn’t the massive success it would become until a reissue in May of 2000 on ATO Records (Three million sales and counting in the UK). The album was ubiquitous in the early part of the century as five hit singles propelled it to the top of the charts and, seemingly, a CD into every home in the land. Understandably, the tour has been delayed for obvious reasons but the album continues to be influential with Ed Sheeran and Adele amongst those singing its praises. David will be playing the album in full and the shows will start at 8PM (NO support act, David and his band will play two sets). Please read on for the official press release for the tour, David’s thoughts on the album and those all-important tour dates.
Multi-platinum, multi-Brit and Grammy-nominated, British singer-songwriter David Gray’s UK and Ireland arena tour to celebrate White Ladder: The 20th Anniversary will commence in May 2022 to celebrate the 7 million selling, trailblazing album’s 20-year anniversary. The people’s choice blockbuster that launched a thousand troubadours and one of the greatest and most heart-warming word-of-mouth successes in music, White Ladder will be performed by Gray with all the original band members and with all the original equipment to recreate the record in its entirety, plus a set of the greatest hits.
White Ladder: The 20th Anniversary Tour began at Belfast’s SSE Arena on 17th May and will include three nights at Dublin’s 3 Arena (May 19th, 20th and 21st), London’s The 02 on 27th May and Glasgow’s The OVO Hydro on 31st May. Gray will also play shows in Woodstock, Cork and Cartmel across June to celebrate the album’s anniversary.
In addition to the tour, the UK Single Mix of Gray’s breakthrough hit single ‘Babylon’ was made available on streaming services for the first time on 21st January. The mix, a No.1 UK radio airplay hit and much loved by fans, had thought to have been lost several years ago in the archives.
A special remastered 20th anniversary edition of White Ladder the album is also available on CD and, for the first time ever, on vinyl. There is also a deluxe 2xCD edition and 4xLP version that includes White Ladder rarities and B-sides, plus an extensive booklet with stories written by Gray about the whole White Ladder experience - from the people involved, to the stories behind the songs and memorable shows.
“It’s the 20th anniversary of White Ladder, a unique record with its own remarkable history. Jammed full with big, open hearted songs and flooded with a raw emotional energy. It’s an album that came from nowhere to steal the hearts of millions all over the world, completely transforming my life in the process. Twenty years on and it feels like White Ladder is just as alive for people now as it was back then - so to celebrate this milestone, I will be re-releasing a fully remastered version of the album and assembling all the original band members with all the original equipment, in order to take White Ladder out on the road and recreate the record in its entirety”
Written and recorded on minimal budget by Gray in the bedroom of a tiny terraced house in Stoke Newington, David experimented with drum machines and electronic elements, creating a blend of folktronica that has since become a familiar part of the musical landscape, aided by drummer Craig McClune and engineer Iestyn Polson. Self-released at first on his own kitchen sink label, White Ladder slowly (very, very slowly) found an audience. It took a year to creep into the lower reaches of the British charts, then worked its way all the way up to number one. White Ladder eventually spent 3 years (from May 2000 to March 2003) in the UK top 100, spawning classic hit singles ‘Babylon’, ‘Please Forgive Me’ and ‘Sail Away’. It remains in the top 30 best-selling British albums of all time and the best-selling album ever in Ireland (a nation who know a good song when they hear it).
Celebrating its 20th anniversary, it’s interesting to consider the extraordinary aftermath of White Ladder. Its success spawned a new wave of singer-songwriters in an acoustic boom that resonates to this day, a soul-baring lineage that can be directly traced from David Gray to the all-conquering Ed Sheeran. Indeed, Ed is a fan, known to cover ‘This Year’s Love’ live. Fellow world beating British superstar Adele is also an admirer, citing ‘This Year’s Love’ as one of her all-time favourite break-up songs.
White Ladder remains an album of great depth and startling beauty, a superlative collection of emotional songs capturing a very special moment in time, as raw and immediate as when it was recorded. It’s one of 11 complex, ambitious and heartfelt albums Gray has recorded in a career than spans 25 years. Some, like White Ladder, have been big commercial successes (2002’s A New Day At Midnight and 2005’s Life In Slow Motion were UK chart toppers), others have been more intimate and experimental. All feature music that is both intimate and broad, intensely personal yet capable of speaking to the masses.
Says Gray, “What happened with White Ladder involved more than music. It was a sort of heart and soul moment of total surrender for everybody involved, for me and the audience. That was it. It doesn't get any better than that.”
WHITE LADDER: THE 20th ANNIVERSARY TOUR
IRELAND & UK 2022
17th May – Belfast @ SSE Arena
19th May – Dublin @ 3 Arena
20th May – Dublin @ 3 Arena
21st May – Dublin @ 3 Arena
23rd May – Bournemouth @ Bournemouth International Centre
25th May – Leeds @ First Direct Arena
26th May – Birmingham @ Resorts World Arena
27th May – London @ O2 Arena
29th May – Cardiff @ Motorpoint Arena
30th May – Liverpool @ M&S Bank Arena
31st May – Glasgow @ The OVO Hydro
16th June – Woodstock @ Blenheim Palace
18th June – Cork @ Musgrave Park
24th June – Cartmel @ Cartmel Racecourse
DAVID GRAY LINKS
As a twentysomething with my own aspirations as singer-songwriter, I was always churlishly dismissive of David Gray, and I confess I have only been peripherally aware of his work since that album. A couple of decades later, I’m treating its anniversary show as an opportunity to grow up, catch up and re-evaluate. White Ladder struck a chord with (literally) millions, at a time when thoughtful, acoustic songsters were looking for ways to sound relevant in a musical landscape still recovering from the ravages of Britpop. Alongside artists like Dido and Beth Orton, Gray embraced beats and electronica in ways that few of his fellow troubadours previously had. The slow-burn success of White Ladder, and in particular the massive hit ‘Babylon’, not only marked a stratospheric rise for Gray, it also paved the way for a huge resurgence in acoustic music that would follow.