David Gray’s White Ladder: The 20th Anniversary Australian and New Zealand Tour has been rescheduled. The tour, originally scheduled for November-December 2020, then rescheduled to November 2021, will now take place in November 2022.
David Gray had this message for his fans –
Dear White Ladder ticket holders,
Thank you all for bearing with all this so patiently over the last 12 months. After lengthy discussions, it has been decided with regret that the only sensible option is to reschedule the entire White Ladder Anniversary Tour and move all the dates to 2022.
It is hugely disappointing to have to do so, but the key word to keep in mind here is interconnectedness. It’s not enough that some of the dates might be able to happen this year, all of the dates need to happen in order that the tour as a whole makes sense. This is the third time I’ve had to make one of these announcements, but if I’m being honest, it’s the first time that I feel, with a strong degree of certainty, that these rescheduled shows will actually take place.
DAVID GRAY | WHITE LADDER: THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR | 2021 DATES
FREMANTLE – Saturday 12 November – Fremantle Arts Centre (18+*)
MELBOURNE – Tuesday 15 November – Margaret Court Arena (All Ages)
BRISBANE – Thursday 17 November – BCEC (All Ages)
SYDNEY – Saturday 19 November – First State Super Theatre (All Ages)
CHRISTCHURCH – Tuesday 22 November – Horncastle Arena (All Ages)
WELLINGTON – Thursday 24 November – TSB Arena (All Ages)
AUCKLAND – Saturday 26 November – Spark Arena (All Ages)
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10 July 2020
David Gray’s White Ladder: The 20th Anniversary Australian and New Zealand Tour has been rescheduled, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Federal and State Government directives. The tour, originally scheduled for November-December 2020, will now take place in November 2021.
DAVID GRAY | WHITE LADDER: THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR | 2021 DATES
FREMANTLE – Saturday 13 November – Fremantle Arts Centre (18+*)
MELBOURNE – Tuesday 16 November – Margaret Court Arena (All Ages)
BRISBANE – Thursday 18 November – BCEC (All Ages)
SYDNEY – Saturday 20 November – First State Super Theatre (All Ages)
CHRISTCHURCH – Tuesday 23 November – Horncastle Arena (All Ages)
WELLINGTON – Thursday 25 November – TSB Arena (All Ages)
AUCKLAND – Saturday 27 November – Spark Arena (All Ages)
*18+ Licenced Show – Minors permitted with a legal guardian.
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Multi-platinum, multi-Brit and Grammy-nominated British singer-songwriter DAVID GRAY today announces Australian and New Zealand legs of the White Ladder: The 20th Anniversary Tour, to celebrate the trailblazing album’s 20-year anniversary. The seven million record-selling White Ladder will be performed in its entirety by Gray, together with all the original band members and with all the original equipment – as well as a set of the greatest hits.
DAVID GRAY | WHITE LADDER: THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR | 2020 DATES
AUCKLAND – Saturday 28 November – Spark Arena (All Ages)
WELLINGTON – Sunday 29 November – TSB Arena (All Ages)
CHRISTCHURCH – Tuesday 1 December – Horncastle Arena (All Ages)
BRISBANE – Thursday 3 December – BCEC (All Ages)
MELBOURNE – Saturday 5 December – Margaret Court Arena (All Ages)
SYDNEY – Tuesday 8 December – First State Super Theatre (All Ages)
FREMANTLE – Friday 11 December – Fremantle Arts Centre (18+*)
*18+ Licenced Show – Minors permitted with a legal guardian.
Talking about the announcement last year, Gray said: “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 releasing a special anniversary 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”.
David Gray returns in November – December to celebrate his iconic album, after last year’s lauded Bluesfest sets and sold out, blisteringly beautiful performances.
White Ladder was born of difficult circumstances. Gray had been struggling on the margins for a decade, a lonely figure with an acoustic guitar swimming against the tide of Britpop, grunge, hip hop and electro. He came close to quitting. But instead, he asked himself some difficult questions: “Can you make a better record? Can you write a better song? The decision was to open up and give it everything I’ve got.”
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. White Ladder boasts classic hit singles ‘Babylon’, ‘Please Forgive Me’ and ‘Sail Away’. It remains in the top 30 best-selling British albums of all time, is the best-selling album ever in Ireland, selling two times platinum in Australia, and three times platinum in New Zealand.
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 that 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.”
This sentiment is sure to ring true for the enigmatic performer’s visit this November-December. Celebrating an album that has touched many, White Ladder: The 20th Anniversary Tour is not to be missed.