The Urban Hymns Tour was a concert tour by British Britpop

Britpop

Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...

 band The Verve

The Verve

The Verve were an English rock band formed in 1989 in Wigan by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboardist Simon Tong later became a member. Beginning with a psychedelic sound indebted to shoegazing and space...

 from August 1997 until August 1998, in support of their album Urban Hymns

Urban Hymns

Urban Hymns is the third album by English rock band The Verve, released on 29 September 1997 on Hut Recordings. It earned nearly unanimous critical praise upon its release, and went on to become the band's best-selling release and one of the biggest selling albums of the year...

. The tour consisted of 6 legs, containing 51 shows in total.

Haigh Hall show

The Haigh Hall show in Wigan, UK, was the bands homecoming gig, as they had not played in their home city since 1992 on the Gravity Grave Tour. The band were supported by John Martyn, Beck

Beck

Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...

 (who was playing his only UK date of that year) and Eumir Deodato. The show was a complete sell out and became one of the band's most famous performances.

Slane Castle show

The final gig on the tour was the annual Slane Concert

Slane Concert

Slane Concert is a concert held most years since 1981 in the grounds of Slane Castle near Slane, County Meath, in Ireland. The castle is owned by Henry Conyngham, 8th Marquess Conyngham, who was the Earl of Mountcharles until 2009. Slane lies between Navan and Drogheda, about 45 km northwest...

, which The Verve headlined. They were backed by David Gray

David Gray (musician)

David Gray is an English singer-songwriter. He released his first studio album in 1993 and received worldwide attention after the release of White Ladder six years later...

, James

James (band)

James are a British rock band from Manchester, England. They formed in 1982 and were active throughout the 1980s, but most successful during the 1990s. Their hit singles include "Come Home", "Sit Down", and "She's a Star" as well as their American College Radio hit "Laid"...

, Robbie Williams

Robbie Williams

Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...

 and the Manic Street Preachers

Manic Street Preachers

Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Richey Edwards and Sean Moore. The band are part of the Cardiff music scene, and were at their most prominent during the 1990s...

. The show was almost at full capacity, with over 80,000 fans purchasing tickets. It proved to be the band's last gig until their 2007 reunion. The show ended with a 15 minute jam of "Bitter Sweet Symphony

Bitter Sweet Symphony

"Bitter Sweet Symphony" is a song by English alternative rock band The Verve, the lead track on their third album, Urban Hymns. It is based on music from an Andrew Loog Oldham adaptation of a Rolling Stones song, "The Last Time". It was released on 16 June 1997 by Hut Recordings as the first single...

".

Tour legs

Date	City	Country	Venue
United Kingdom and Ireland
09/08/1997	Sheffield Sheffield Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...	England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...	The Leadmill
10/08/1997	Glasgow Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...	Scotland Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...	Barrowlands
11/08/1997	Manchester Manchester Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...	England	The Academy
13/08/1997	Wolverhampton Wolverhampton Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...		Civic Hall Wolverhampton Civic Hall Wolverhampton Civic Hall is a music venue in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It has been one of the most important live music venues in the county for several decades. It is part of a complex also including Wulfrun Hall and the newer Little Civic...
14/08/1997	London London London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...		Hammersmith Palais Hammersmith Palais The Hammersmith Palais de Danse, later simply the Hammersmith Palais, was a ballroom and entertainment venue in London that operated from 1919 until 2007...
22/08/1997	Dublin	Ireland Republic of Ireland Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...	SFX Centre
24/08/1997	Reading Reading, Berkshire Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....	England	Reading Festival
25/09/1997	London		Earls Court Exhibition Centre Earls Court Exhibition Centre The Earls Court Exhibition Centre is an exhibition centre, conference and event venue located in west London, United Kingdom in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea . It is the largest exhibition venue in central London. It is served by two underground stations, Earl's Court and West...
26/09/1997
27/09/1997
North America
01/11/1997	Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...	United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...	The Roxy
03/11/1997	Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....		9:30 Club 9:30 Club Foo Fighters Promise to come back to D.C. and play the 9:30 ClubNightclub 9:30 is a nightclub and concert venue in Washington, D.C. Originally located at 930 F Street, NW, Washington, D.C., in the 1970s it was called the "Atlantis Club", and hosted primarily rock, New Wave, and punk bands...
05/11/1997	New York City, New York		Irving Plaza Irving Plaza Irving Plaza is a 1,200-person ballroom-style music venue at 17 Irving Place and East 15th Street in the Union Square neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
06/11/1997
08/11/1997	Boston, Massachusetts		Avalon Ballroom
10/11/1997	Detroit, Michigan Detroit, Michigan Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...		Saint Andrew's Hall
11/11/1997	Toronto Toronto Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...	Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...	Phoenix Concert Theatre Phoenix Concert Theatre The Phoenix Concert Theatre, is located at 410 Sherbourne St, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.It replaced The Diamond - an earlier club that operated on the same premises in the 1980's.It is of eclectic grandeur, encompassing three distinct environments...
13/11/1997	Chicago, Illinois	United States	The Vic Theatre
15/11/1997	Seattle, Washington Seattle, Washington Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...		Showbox
17/11/1997	Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, California Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...		Mayan Theatre
18/11/1997
20/11/1997	San Francisco, California San Francisco, California San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...		The Warfield The Warfield The Warfield, also known as The Warfield Theater, is a 2,300 seat music venue located at 982 Market Street, San Francisco, California. It was built as a vaudeville theater, and opened as the Loews Warfield on May 13, 1922.-History:...
30/11/1997	Fairfax, Virginia Fairfax, Virginia The City of Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City is nevertheless the county seat....		George Mason University George Mason University George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...
United Kingdom and Ireland
10/01/1998	Glasgow	Scotland	Barrowlands
11/01/1998
13/01/1998	Manchester	England	Apollo Manchester Apollo O2 Apollo Manchester is a concert venue in Manchester, England. Locally known as The Apollo, it is a listed building, with a capacity of 3,500 ....
14/01/1998
16/01/1998	London		Brixton Academy
17/01/1998
09/02/1998
19/05/1998	Dublin	Ireland	Point Theatre Point Theatre The Point Theatre was a concert and events venue in Ireland, that ran from 1988–2007, enjoyed by in excess of 2 million people. It was located on the North Wall Quay of the River Liffey, amongst the Dublin Docklands...
20/05/1998
24/05/1998	Wigan Wigan Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...	England	Haigh Hall
Western Europe
01/06/1998	Landgraaf Landgraaf Landgraaf is a municipality in southeastern Limburg.- Special information :A pop music festival called Pinkpop is held annually on the Pentecost weekend in the vicinity of Landgraaf....	Netherlands Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...	Pinkpop Festival
02/06/1998	Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...	France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...	Zenith Zenith The zenith is an imaginary point directly "above" a particular location, on the imaginary celestial sphere. "Above" means in the vertical direction opposite to the apparent gravitational force at that location. The opposite direction, i.e...
03/06/1998	Grenoble Grenoble Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...		Summen
06/06/1998	Munich Munich Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...	Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...	Circuskrone
07/06/1998	Düsseldorf Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...		Phillipshalle
North America
28/07/1998	Chicago, Illinois	United States	Aragon Ballroom Aragon Ballroom (Chicago) The Aragon Ballroom is the name of a ballroom in Chicago, Illinois.Located on West Lawrence Avenue approximately five miles north of downtown in the Uptown neighborhood, it was built in 1926 and designed in the Moorish architectural style with the interior resembling a Spanish village and named...
29/07/1998	Detroit, Michigan		The Palace at Auburn Hills
31/07/1998	Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...	Canada	Copps Coliseum Copps Coliseum Copps Coliseum is a sports and entertainment arena, on the corner of Bay Street North and York Boulevard, in Hamilton, Ontario. Depending on event, the Copps Coliseum has a capacity of up to 19,000.It is named after the former Hamilton mayor, Victor K...
01/08/1998	Montreal, Quebec		Molson Centre
03/08/1998	Boston, Massachusetts	United States	Harbor Lights
05/08/1998	New York City, New York		Hammerstein Ballroom Hammerstein Ballroom The Hammerstein Ballroom is a two-tiered, 12,000 square feet ballroom located within the Manhattan Center Studios on 311 West 34th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States of America. It is known for its elegant appearance and excellent acoustical design...
06/08/1998
09/08/1998	Houston, Texas Houston, Texas Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...		Aerial Theatre
11/08/1998	Denver, Colorado Denver, Colorado The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...		Mammoth Center
14/08/1998	Anaheim, California Anaheim, California Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...		Arrowhead Pond Arrowhead Pond The Honda Center, previously known as the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim and colloquially called The Pond or The Ponda, is an indoor arena in Anaheim, California. The arena is home to the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks and was home of the former National Lacrosse League's Anaheim Storm, which...
15/08/1998	San Francisco, California		Bill Graham Civic Auditorium Bill Graham Civic Auditorium The Bill Graham Civic Auditorium is a multi-purpose arena in San Francisco, California, currently named after promoter Bill Graham...
17/08/1998	Seattle, Washington Seattle, Washington Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...		Mercer Arena Mercer Arena Mercer Arena, previously known as the Exposition Building, the Civic Ice Arena and Seattle Center Arena, is a performing arts venue located at the corner of Mercer Street Fourth Avenue North in Seattle, Washington. It was built in 1912 next door to the Seattle Civic Auditorium , as part of the $1...
United Kingdom and Ireland
22/08/1998	Chelmsford Chelmsford Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, England and the principal settlement of the borough of Chelmsford. It is located in the London commuter belt, approximately northeast of Charing Cross, London, and approximately the same distance from the once provincial Roman capital at Colchester...	England	V98
23/08/1998	Leeds Leeds Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...		V98
29/08/1998*	Co. Meath	Ireland	Slane Castle Slane Castle Slane Castle is located in the town of Slane, within the Boyne Valley of County Meath, Ireland. The castle has been the family home of the Conyngham Marquessate since the 18th century....

• The show in County Meath
  County Meath
  County Meath is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Mide . Meath County Council is the local authority for the county...
  
  , Ireland
  Ireland
  Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
  
  , was the band's last ever gig until their reunion in 2007.

Live set

The set list

Set list

A set list, or setlist, is a document that lists the songs that a band or musical artist intends to play, or has played, during a specific concert performance...

 was chosen from a selection of these:

• "A New Decade"
• "This Is Music
  This Is Music
  "This Is Music" was the first single released from The Verve's second album, A Northern Soul. The aptly named song is full of varied lyrical images. The song charted at #35 in the United Kingdom...
  
  "
• "Life's An Ocean"
• "Man Called Sun"
• "Sonnet
  Sonnet (song)
  "Sonnet" is a song by Britpop band The Verve and is featured on their third album, Urban Hymns. It was released 2 March 1998 as the final single from the album . The song has the same instrumental layout as "The Drugs Don't Work", consisting of acoustic and electric guitars backed up with a string...
  
  "
• "One Day"
• "Catching the Butterfly"
• "Slide Away"
• "Neon Wilderness"
• "Weeping Willow"
• "The Rolling People"
• "On Your Own
  On Your Own (The Verve song)
  "On Your Own" is a song by British rock band The Verve, and is featured on their second album, A Northern Soul. It was released 12 June 1995 as the second single from the album charting at #28 in the UK Singles Chart .-Lyrics:...
  
  "
• "The Drugs Don't Work
  The Drugs Don't Work
  "The Drugs Don't Work" is a song by the British rock band, The Verve and is featured on their third album, Urban Hymns. It was released on September 1, 1997 as the second single from the album, charting at number 1 in the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's most successful single in the UK...
  
  "
• "Space and Time"
• "A Northern Soul"
• "Stormy Clouds"
• "Stormy Clouds (Reprise)"
• "Bitter Sweet Symphony
  Bitter Sweet Symphony
  "Bitter Sweet Symphony" is a song by English alternative rock band The Verve, the lead track on their third album, Urban Hymns. It is based on music from an Andrew Loog Oldham adaptation of a Rolling Stones song, "The Last Time". It was released on 16 June 1997 by Hut Recordings as the first single...
  
  "
• "History
  History (The Verve song)
  "History" is a song by English rock band The Verve, and is featured on their second album, A Northern Soul. It was released 18 September 1995 as the third and final single from the album, charting at #24 in the UK Singles Chart...
  
  "
• "Lucky Man"
• "This Time"
• "Come On"
• "Velvet Morning"
• "See You in the Next One (Have a Good Time)"
• "Lord I Guess I'll Never Know"
• "So Sister"