Midge Ure, the warm and gregarious Scotsman who achieved global fame as the frontman for British new wave titans Ultravox, soon embarks on a 2024 solo tour of the USA. Midge’s Band in a Box 2024 Tour arrives locally for a date at Rams Head on Stage in Annapolis, Maryland, on August 13.

Prior to the tour, Midge chatted with Parklife DC’s Mickey McCarter about the specifics of his new show, turning 70 years old, the 40th anniversary of Live Aid, and Chris Cross, his late friend and Ultravox bandmate.

Visit Midge Ure’s website for a full list of tour dates!

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Mickey McCarter: Hello, Midge! We are looking forward to seeing you on your upcoming USA tour.

Midge Ure: It’s going to be fun. The amount of work involved in prepping this is huge. In this case, it’s two people on stage, one proper keyboard player. I dabble with the keyboards and I play guitar and sing. And the rest of it is kind of programmed so the drums and the bass sit and whatever. But it takes forever doing it.

If I didn’t know that the end result was as good as it was when I did Howard Jones’s tour two years ago in this format, I would have given up a long time ago because it’s so boring to sit and program it. But it’s great to go out and play with it.

MM: I have to say, when you come to this area this time, you’ll be in Annapolis playing at a venue called Ram’s Head on Stage. Of course, I saw you when you were here at 9:30 Club recently with Howard Jones. And I know that there were a lot of people in the audience that were seeing you live for the first time, and they got chills in a good way when they heard you sing “Fade to Grey” with a synthesizer. You could feel the electricity and the excitement in the crowd by witnessing that. I’m glad that worked out and I think people are going to come out this time if they missed you last time.

MU: It’s great to hear because I was kind of reticent about doing this. The whole reason that I did this, the two-man band in a box thing, was that when Howard asked me over two years ago, to join him on his tour, I couldn’t do it with a full band. I think originally, he thought we could. And I said, “Fiscally, it doesn’t work. I need to bring a full band and all the bells and whistles. I need the crew and all of this.” And I never had that kind of commercial success in America to justify it. We came up with the concept of stealing one of his keyboard players for half an hour before his set.

And I was reticent about it because I think somewhere in the back of my mind, it still seems to me that it’s cheating. Because Ultravox never used any backing tracks or pre-programmed things or tapes or anything like that. Everything was played absolutely live. And there’s only two of you. You are kind of limited there. But the moment I got the reaction from the audiences every night when they heard “Vienna” or “All Stood Still” or “Dancing with Tears in My Eyes,” the response was phenomenal. So hence coming out, it’s taken this long to get round to coming out and doing it again.

Watch Midge Ure perform “Dancing With Tears in My Eyes” live at W Festival on YouTube:

MM: It is a great thing that you’ve been able to regularly come no matter how you do it. Because, it’s always exciting to see you. I want to ask you about a few things you’ve been doing in the past year. And the first thing I want to ask is that you celebrated a milestone birthday and you had a big show at the Royal Albert Hall. How did it go?

MU: Well, the tour we did of the UK last year was phenomenal. It was great. But the tour finished prior to my birthday. And halfway through the tour, my agent said, “Look, you’ve got this 70th coming up. What would you like to do? Do you want to do anything?”

I said, “Well, we’d rather do something big if we don’t do anything at all.”

So, the problem being that all the venues after lockdown were all snapped up because everyone had a year or more empty. The moment it opened up again, all those people who had already had the Royal Albert Hall booked had grabbed the next available dates. They came back and said that there isn’t a date for two years. It’s booked up solid for two years!

And then just before my birthday, my agent said, “One’s just come available four days before your birthday.” We grabbed it crossed our fingers that people would back it up and resonate with it. And they did. It was just spectacular! I don’t know if you’ve ever been in the Royal Albert Hall. It’s a beautiful place. I mean, it’s Victorian, of course. Victoria made it for Albert, her husband. It’s almost circular, but it’s oval, and it’s just got a magnificence about it.

And when we did the show, everyone’s saying, “You’re going to bring on Kate Bush. You’re going to bring on Sting. You’re going to bring on so and so…” And I’m saying, “No, I don’t think it… I don’t want to do that. I want to just play a lot of songs that people would like to hear.”

And it was just magnificent from the moment we walked on. I walked on solo with an acoustic guitar, did the first song on my own, and I brought on a couple of guys to do a string quartet. And I grew it from there, and it ended up with my full band performing. It was just magnificent. It was great.

MM: I haven’t been there myself, but I’ve seen concert footage of other people performing there. And yeah, it seems like it’s a bucket list item for me to go.

Another thing I want to ask you about that I’m very curious about your reaction to is, more recently, there was the Live Aid musical, Just for One Day. And that played in London, I think. Were you involved? Because I know you were portrayed on stage. And at the very least, I want to ask you how that was to see yourself being portrayed and whether you thought it was a good portrayal.

MU: I’m still a Band Aid trustee, of course. They are responsible for, you know, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and all things associated with Live Aid. And they are responsible for conjuring up as much income from that as possible. And of course, the music industry has changed a huge amount since that song came out.

It’s 40 years this year. Nobody buys records. There is no money in streaming. There is nothing. You can get the odd opportunity for a movie or whatever. You can generate a chunk of money from a song in a movie, but you are limited as to how you create the income stream to keep the funding going. Every time “Do They Know It’s Christmas” is played on the radio, Bob Geldof and I give the royalties to Band Aid. And so, every time the record is played anywhere, it generates income. That’s fine.

When we were approached about doing this Live Aid musical, we all kind of go for it.

Perhaps at first, we said, “Don’t be ridiculous.” Then you look at things like Queen’s “We Will Rock You” or ABBA’s “Mamma Mia,” and they hit an audience that never ever bought an ABBA record or a Queen record. There’s something about them. We thought, well, if we can do something and keep it within the realms of good taste, we should do it. Something that retells the story as accurately as possible without being too miserable about it. And I have to say, I went with huge reticence, huge worries about what this thing might be like, and I was involved partly all the way through. Bob was much more involved in the creating of the script and more.

But it was spectacular. It was absolutely spectacular what they did with it. We’re hoping it’s going to go into the West End in London next year and hopefully come to New York. It’s up in Toronto, I think, right now. Those things can easily bounce round the world because it’s quite a unique story. It’s educational, it’s entertainment, and it also helps generate income for the cause. And that’s not a bad thing.

Watch Ultravox perform “Vienna” live for Live Aid on YouTube:

MM: You were portrayed by the actor Jack Shalloo, who some of us Americans saw in the movie 1917. How did you feel about being portrayed? Was it weird to see yourself as a character on the stage?

MU: No, he was a much better singer than I am. But he’s six foot two, and he’s got red hair. You have to squish your eyes up a to imagine that’s supposed to be me. But he did a fantastic job. His accent was a little troublesome. I think he needs to work on it a little bit. Doing a Glasgow accent isn’t easy. Everyone thinks they can do it, but they can’t!

MM: Speaking of Live Aid, the 40th anniversary of Live Aid is next year. Is there anything planned? Will we in the United States see anything maybe?

MU: Hand on heart, I don’t think there’s anything particularly planned for next year. There are lots of documentaries and radio documentaries and such all going on to mark the occasion. But right now, there are no plans for another concert. I’m not sure a concert’s the answer to anything anymore. There’s nothing major planned. But there’s been all sorts of talk about streaming television series and documentaries and such. There’s a documentary on the way right now. It’s a fairly serious documentary, telling the true story of what went on — and not just the fluffy bits: the pop stars all turning up and singing a song or turning up and turning U2 into a mega band. It’s much more about the nuts and bolts behind the scenes. But again, it’s all in its infancy right now, and there’s nothing major planned.

But I do work with Bob, and he tends to thrust things upon you at the last minute, so who knows?

MM: You and I once talked about like the possibility of a traveling museum exhibit of some sort, perhaps. Is there anything like that still in the cards?

MU: Well, all the stuff’s there, and I don’t see why it wouldn’t be. It would be of interest to people. As we saw in the past, people will go to see David Bowie’s clothes in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. People queued up to go in there and say, “I saw that on Ziggy Stardust, and I saw him wearing that to Live Aid.” You can go to the Cavern Club exhibition in Liverpool, and you can see the first guitar John Lennon ever had. People are fascinated by those things.

So, I don’t see why we couldn’t put up an exhibit because we still own every item that was there and all the photographs from backstage as well as the instruments that we used for the record. There are other ways to do it, and again, it’s our task is to come up with alternatives to selling records because that’s that ship has sailed. There has to be other ways of generating income from this amazing moment in history.

MM: Yeah, understood. It seems like people would turn up because the Bowie thing was very popular when it, as you said.

MU: It was a big enough event that kids read about it in history books now. Why wouldn’t that be of interest?

MM: Switching gears, and I hate to be that guy, but like it seems like every time we talk now somebody has passed away. And most recently, it was Ultravox bassist Chris Cross. I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you to share some thoughts about the man and the music he leaves behind.

MU: Chris and I were the big buddies in the band. We were really close. We directed the videos, and we would go for trips and work on lyrics together. We did photography together; we did graphics together. It was a real shock because he was a fit, healthy guy. He suffered an aneurysm. He laid down for nap and never woke up, which I suppose in a way is a form of God’s end.

It’s funny because as long as he was there, it always gave you the sense that the door was open to a potential Ultravox reunion. It was always a possibility if all four of us were here. And that has now well and truly gone. Chris was a lovely guy. He wasn’t the most amazing bass player in the world. He wasn’t Stanley Clarke, or he wasn’t Mark King, or he wasn’t Mick Karn. He was Chris. But he brought something to the band that was more than just music. He brought a stability. It’s no surprise that when the band finished, Chris became a therapist. He dealt with kids with problems because he was really good at balancing things and understanding people. He was the glue that held the band together.

I posted when he died, and I’m still really shook by it. It’s really difficult to comprehend that I can’t pick up the phone or pop round to see him anymore. He is dreadfully missed. It’s horrible enough when your contemporaries start going but also some even younger than me when you get to be this age. It puts things into perspective, which everyone says, but it really does. I’m grateful for every moment I’ve got and every moment for which I’m allowed to do those things I love.

Chris chose music as a hobby after the band split up. But he chose to go into working as a therapist, which was something that satisfied his itch. He felt really safe and happy there, doing as much good with words and emotions as we ever did with music.

Watch Ultravox perform “Sleepwalk” live in 1980 via YouTube:

MM: I didn’t know that about him. It’s wonderful to know that like he had that other career and another way to connect with people.

When I first had the opportunity to talk to you, you were hoping maybe to get one last hurrah in the USA for Ultravox. I bring it up because now in California, we have these great big ’80s festivals. Goldenvoice started Cruel World in 2022, and now we have Darker Waves. It seemed to me like it was too bad that these festivals got off the ground after the COVID pandemic. If they could have happened 10 years ago, maybe they would have been a good forum for Ultravox? And perhaps now still a good forum for you?

MU: I’ve been invited twice. I believe it was Cruel World, twice.

And they invited Ultravox! I had to tell the agent that just wouldn’t work. We couldn’t do a single show. The last time Ultravox toured, we rehearsed for six weeks and toured for three. It took a long time to get up to scratch and perform to a level that made us happy.

But they’ve invited me on a solo outing, which would be great. You would have to tie in with two or three other things in order to bring my band over to perform in it. Well, it sounds great. I see my friends doing it and I’m very jealous. Heaven 17 were just there, and that gets me to thinking, “I should be there!” But they’ve not bypassed me. I’m on a piece of paper somewhere for a list.

MM: I’ve been to Cruel World every year, and I must say every band brings their A game. It’s been brilliant.

MU: That is great because a lot of those guys are still out doing it. They’re not just reforming for the one concert. A lot of bands have been making the rounds of playing in ’80s festivals in the UK. We’ve had Rewinds and Let’s Rocks and that type of ’80s festival running for 20-odd years now. So, it’s just a bit of a pity that that America picked up on the concept a little later. In California, we always had KROQ and other stations that really supported the music in the ’80s. It’s a pity that it’s come a bit late for Ultravox.

MM: Can you update us on anything new that you were working on? There were a few albums, including another orchestrated album in the works?

MU: We started dabbling with orchestrated, and we did one track. But the reality is that it’s such a long-winded process and such an expensive process to do it well. It took me two years to do the first one and to find the right people — the right arranger, the right producer, the right people who understood what it was we were trying to do as opposed to someone who simply comes in and has no feeling for it.

We started working on a second one because we had a massive list of songs that both from Ultravox and myself — as well as some others — that would really suit that transformation. But we kind of ran out of steam doing it. The idea is still there, but it’s on the back burner. I’ve completed an album of instrumental material, which I’ve always loved. I indulged myself during lockdown and just jumped in with both feet and created this textural ambient melodic album, which I will release soon. And I’ve been working on another album, the follow-up to Fragile, which is now 10 years old. It is ridiculous to say that!

It’s more and more difficult to write things that I’m happy with. I’m not merely being pedantic about it. And I’m not being too picky. You just know it when you feel it. You get that kick inside, and you know you have your teeth into something. Those things are fewer and far between now. You also don’t want to do something too similar to what you did 10 years ago. Well, I want to do something else. I want to create something new. I’m my own worst enemy, but it’s 80% done. We are getting there!

MM: Well, perhaps next year?

MU: Yeah, I certainly hope so.

MM: I wanted to close on a fun question. When you’re on tour, you seem to enjoy your coffee! You’ve posted the occasional cup of coffee to social media. Do you have a place where you look forward to the coffee when you’re on tour? Do you have a favorite cup waiting for you in America?

MU: I’d love to say I do, but I don’t. I didn’t start drinking coffee until I was touring America about 10 years ago. Of course, whoever designs your country is crazy, because every city seems to be 300 or 400 miles apart. When you’re touring at my level, you’re driving those 300, 400 miles every day. I always loved the taste of coffee, but I hated actual coffee. Give me coffee ice cream, coffee chocolate, coffee cake, anything coffee — fabulous! But coffee always let me down. I started drinking coffee when I was driving around America, and then I’ve not stopped! I’m not a Starbucks guy. I just don’t get it. It always tastes burnt to me. It’s always too bitter or something. It’s really not pleasant. I’m quite happy going into truck stops and filling up my massive flagon with whatever roasts are available because there are usually so many. They can be wonderful places, and I just find that a bit fun.

MM: Do you have anything else you want to discuss before we end the chat?

MU: Yes. Music is a wonderful thing. The world’s in a dreadful state. People have been saying that for years and years, but it seems to be getting progressively worse.

But music is the antidote. Music is the one thing that takes you out of the quagmire. Maybe it’s just for an hour or two. You can throw on an album and strap on your headphones or get into your car and play something. Or go see a band. And it’s like a magic pill. It takes all that madness away. So, I’m looking forward to bringing that little magic pill to the people who will come and see me.

MM: Thanks again for your time, Midge. It’s always a pleasure.

MU: It’s absolutely a pleasure.

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Midge launches his 2024 USA tour on August 7!

Buy your tickets online now for Midge Ure at Rams Head on Stage.

Midge Ure
Rams Head on Stage
Tuesday, August 13
Doors @ 6:30pm
$48
21+