Stereophonics singer Kelly Jones’ love of ‘party city’ Aberdeen began when drinking shots in the Vodka Bar in the nineties.
More than two decades on Kelly still views the Granite City as a ‘go-to’ location for a memorable night out.
Such is Kelly and his band-mates’ affection for Aberdeen they always make sure it is on a British tour – so they can party.
For Stereophonics ‘it always feels like a Friday night’ in the Granite City and Kelly can’t wait to experience it again.
Kelly is relishing a return to Aberdeen when headlining the P&J Arena on Sunday March 20 to promote thier new album Oochya!
Kelly, 47, said: “Aberdeen was a great party city for us when we were younger and we had some great nights there.
“Even now it doesn’t matter what day of the week it is, it always feels like a Friday night in Aberdeen.
“We used to drink in the Vodka Bar, all the different flavoured vodkas.
“I remember the garlic vodka, that was awful. Garlic was one step too far.
“Aberdeen was one of the first cities we went to in 1996 and we still love going up there.
“It’s still one of our go-to cities and one we put at the top of every tour so we can go out, have a curry and a few pints.”
Scouring the shops of Aberdeen
Stereophonics will make a welcome return to the Granite City next month as part of an extensive UK tour.
New album Ooycha! is released on March 4 and is expected to top the charts.
Stereophonics have already racked up seven No.1 albums and sales in excess of 8.5million in the UK alone.
For Kelly, the Granite City also has more to offer than just a great night out.
He said: “The gigs in Aberdeen have always been great and the people are amazing.
“When we first started going up to Aberdeen we would go round second-hand shops to buy flannel shirts and stuff like that.
“Neil Adams (Scottish press officer) used to take us around Aberdeen in his little Peugeot 306 to check out those different shops.”
A much welcome return to touring
Stereophonics concert at P&J Live will be a welcome return to large arena venues for the band after the touring circuit went into cold storage during the coronavirus lockdown.
The band played a series of intimate shows in December to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their multi-platinum album, Just Enough Education to Perform.
Kelly is promising Aberdeen fans a memorable performance.
He said: “Aberdeen will be amazing as we have a great show with 12 albums worth of songs and classics to pick from.
“We are going to put on a great show and people are going to have a fantastic time.
“Preparations for the upcoming tour are going very well.
“We have been working out the setlist and stage design.
“Now we can’t wait to get out there and finally play again almost two years after the last time.
“For the recent shows in the small theatres it was great to be back with the boys.
“It was a bit strange to be playing in front of an audience again as we hadn’t experienced that for quite a while.
“We loved it.”
Performing live a relief for stress
Upcoming release Oochya! follows Stereophonics’ previous album Kind which topped the UK album charts in 2019.
It outsold the nearest competitor Kanye West by over 10,000 copies in that first week.
After almost two years away from touring Kelly is relishing reconnecting with the band’s fans.
For the singer-songwriter playing live is his release from stress.
That was denied for an extended period during the pandemic.
He said: “As a musician, you realise there’s a lot of energy and outlet when you are singing and performing.
“A lot of stress and things that you are used to getting rid of comes out in that way.
“It was a bit strange for the first year (of the pandemic) to get used to the fact we weren’t moving.
“We had always been travelling around, playing.
“I kept busy with family and then in the second year we got into the creative stuff again with making music.
“It has been a strange time in the industry, whether they are truck drivers, bus drivers, caterers or lighting guys.
“I didn’t write anything specifically about the pandemic.
“However, obviously there are feelings, emotions and reflections that come through in your music.
“For the first year or so I didn’t do much music.
“Then I started to tinker about in the studio one day a week a lot of stuff started to happen pretty quickly.”
Rescheduled Cardiff concert
The Welsh rockers were also set to perform a mammoth homecoming show on December 18 last year at the Cardiff Principality Stadium.
Special guests were set to be Tom Jones and Catfish And The Bottlemen.
The show was cancelled due to rising cases of the Omicron variant and has now been rescheduled for 17 and 18 June.
Kelly said: “The whole idea of that show was to give people an uplift.
“It was cancelled due to the fact there’s aroof on the stadium and you can’t monitor all those people wearing masks.
“It’s postponed until June so we will have a good summer.
“The show is going to be a great time when it does finally happen.”
How to book tickets to see Stereophonics in Aberdeen
Stereophonics will play P&J Live in Aberdeen on Sunday March 20. Tickets are still available and can be purchased here.