Freeze-A Live presents UB40 AT Liverpool Cathedral

Image: UB40

Freeze has been all about reclaiming the most unlikely of spaces in clubland, but their capacity to surprise has taken an even more head-scratchingly brilliant turn with their new live project. Their next curveball manoeuvre involves one of their old venues, Liverpool Cathedral, but completely new ground musically as they welcome UB40 to the space.

The legendary Birmingham band defined British reggae in the early eighties, then going onto become international megastars with a slew of covers crafted in their inimitable style. ‘Red Red Wine’, ‘I got you babe’, ‘(I can’t help) Falling in love with you’ and our (and Ali G’s) favourite ‘Rat in mi Kitchen’ were all bonafide pop classics of the eighties and nineties, ensuring UB40 as household names around the globe.

Infamously named after the dole form the group’s members signed on, their mixture of reggae, ska and soul saw them develop a fervent local following in their native West Midlands. Upon hearing the band, Pretenders lead singer Chrissie Hynde (who would duet with them on ‘I got you babe’) got them to open up for them, setting the band’s rise to prominence in full motion.

The group remain an irresistible live force, the professionalism of over thirty years of performing combining with a very real zest for music that has never dimmed. There’s a slender link to clubland that ensures it’s not a complete departure - group member Earl Falconer runs legendary dubstep imprint Circus Records alongside Flux Pavilion and Doctor P.