Days we can catch Simon and Oscar duo’s Ocean Colour Scene hits

They were one of the most popular groups of the 1990s with such hits as The Riverboat Song and The Day We Caught The Train ... and now two of their number have joined forces for an intimate acoustic tour.

Ocean Colour Scene’s singer Simon Fowler and drummer cum bass player Oscar Harrison have announced an extensive acoustic tour this spring.

Billed as An Evening With Simon and Oscar of Ocean Colour Scene, the 25-date UK tour begins on April 29 and ends on June 2.

Following Ocean Colour Scene’s sell-out UK tour in 2021, Simon and Oscar will play relatively intimate seated venues, creating the perfect stages for acoustic performances of all their big hits and anthems, including The Riverboat Song, The Circle, Travellers Tune, Hundred Mile High City and The Day We Caught The Train.

Simon describes the acoustic shows as, “A real tonic - a great chance to look the audience in the eye and interact with them on a more personal basis than ever before”.

At the end of the ’80s when Ocean Colour Scene launched, lead singer and guitarist Simon was quoted as saying he thought the band had staying power, which was just as well because they didn’t know how to do anything except make music.

“Yes,” he laughs, “that was pretty much true.”

Even so could he ever have dreamed that, over three decades later, they’d still be making records, still delighting their hard core of fans, still doing what they do best?

“I think again yes would be the answer. We came together very quickly and established ourselves as the top band in Birmingham. It meant we identified with being successful early on.

“We also had the dedication to go and live in slums and bedsits if we went through a rough patch.”

Certainly, the music business is notoriously fickle.

“But I didn’t know that then. I was naïve which was probably a good thing. Anyway, you’re not cynical when you start out.’

Oscar echoes Simon’s words: “We did have our low points like any other band but we just stuck with it.

“Overall, we kept rising and rising.”

Full list of tour dates for An Evening With Simon and Oscar of Ocean Colour Scene ...

April 29 Dundee Fat Sam’s

April 30 Aberdeen Lemon Tree

May 1 Glasgow Òran Mór

May 2 Edinburgh Liquid Rooms

May 5 Stockton on Tees ARC

May 6 Newark The Palace

May 7 Stamford Corn Exchange

May 8 Sheffield City Hall

May 10 Whitley Bay Playhouse

May 11 Buxton Opera House

May 12 Corby The Core

May 13 Bridlington Spa

May 15 Southend Palace Theatre

May 16 Bury St Edmunds The Apex

May 17 London Union Chapel

May 19 Ilkley Kings Hall

May 20 Lytham St Annes Lowther Pavilion

May 21 Manchester RNCM

May 22 Burnley Mechanics

May 24 Bristol St Georges

May 26 Bexhill on Sea De La Warr Pavilion

May 27 Harpenden Public Halls

May 28 Shrewsbury Theatre Severn

May 29 Birmingham Town Hall

June 2 Cardiff The Globe

Tickets are available directly from venue box offices and Ticketmaster.