After one of the best summers for live music in our capital it’s time to look ahead to next year.
Following his headline Legends set at Electric Picnic this weekend, Pembrokeshire raised DAVID GRAY announces a brand-new summer run of UK & Ireland dates for 2026 including a date at TK Maxx presents Depot Live at Cardiff Castle.
Get this date in your diary, Saturday July 11th will mark the closing show of the UK and Ireland run of the 2026 dates on the Past & Present World Tour when Gray will be joined by special guests THE DIVINE COMEDY.
The Past & Present World Tour has already seen David sell out 68 shows across the USA, Australia, UK and Ireland in 2025, including landmark nights at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Glasgow’s SEC Armadillo, Manchester’s O2 Apollo and Dublin’s 3Arena. His Electric Picnic set marked another milestone in support of his widely praised new album Dear Life (out now via Laugh A Minute Records/Secretly Distribution).
David told us…..
“We’ve had the most amazing tour this year, from the opening night in Boston to the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, and then on to the Royal Albert Hall in London and the 3Arena in Dublin.
These have been some of the most memorable and magical shows of my entire career. We’ve pushed ourselves as a band but it’s been richly rewarding and SO MUCH FUN! When everyone is in such fine form it would seem wrong to stop the ball from rolling – so with that in mind I’m delighted to announce a string of further dates for the summer of 2026. Exciting times!”
David Gray’s story is unlike any other. He spent almost a decade striving to make a breakthrough, and when it happened it did so in the biggest way imaginable as White Ladder became one of the best-selling British albums of recent decades and established him as an arena-filling artist.
As the years have passed, his songcraft has only deepened – his natural ability to convey specific emotions, atmospheres, or, as heard on his acclaimed 2021 album Skellig, a sense of place, has positioned him firmly in the lineage of classic poetic singer-songwriters. While the likes of Ed Sheeran, Adele and Hozier have acknowledged his influence, David has continued to follow his own artistic path.
The response to David’s 13th album Dear Life has been extraordinary. Produced by Ben de Vries, critics have hailed it as “a brooding triumph” (Telegraph), “his most confessional and emotive work to date” (Clash), and “a slow-burner that catches fire” (Mojo). The album has also drawn comparisons to Gray’s multi-platinum White Ladder — “the sonic DNA of White Ladder is present here” (Rolling Stone) and “his poppiest and most successful album since White Ladder” (Music OMH). His artistry as a songwriter has also been singled out — “this 13th album confirms Gray’s not lost his touch” (Guardian) and “a soulful collection of richly poetic songs about love, change and mortality” (Independent).
The headlining show is presented as part of TK Maxx presents Depot Live at Cardiff Castle by promoters DEPOT Live and Cuffe and Taylor.
DEPOT Live promoter Nick Saunders said….
“We are thrilled to be welcoming David Gray to Cardiff next summer. The success of his world tour to date tells us this is going to be an incredible show and coupled with the sounds of The Divine Comedy, our audience is set to have a fantastic night.”
The announcement is the second for Depot Live at Cardiff Castle for 2026 with tickets to Alter Bridge’s Blackbird Festival already on sale.
Presale tickets are available at 10am Thursday via HERE and all tickets go on general sale at 10am Friday via HERE and TICKETMASTER
