The Gig Cartel - Artist profiles: Average White Band

The Average White Band, one of the best soul and funk bands of all-time, have announced their farewell tour for April and May 2024.

The group will perform their biggest hits and fan favourites, such as ‘Let’s Go Round Again’, ‘Cut The Cake’, ‘Atlantic Avenue’ and US Number 1 ‘Pick Up The Pieces’ across the 17-date tour.

Formed in London in 1972, the six-piece band somewhat incongruously, given their Scottish roots, took the influences of their R&B heroes such as Marvin Gaye, James Brown and Stevie Wonder, and developed their own authentic sound which was eagerly adopted by black audiences in the US and elsewhere. The group’s consistently accomplished song-writing helped them to achieve several gold & platinum-selling albums and multiple Grammy nominations with the legendary Atlantic Records.
In addition to the band’s hit singles, many of their album tracks such as 'Schoolboy Crush' and 'Person to Person', amongst others, have been heavily sampled by the likes of the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, Ice Cube, A Tribe Called Quest and Arrested Development – so much so that the AWB are one of the top 15 sampled acts of all all-time.

Having remained a perennial fixture at top music venues across the world for over 50 years, the Average White Band’s farewell tour is the not-to-be-missed last chance for multiple generations of fans to experience the musical energy and trademark sound of one of the truly great soul bands.

Speaking about the farewell tour, founding member Alan Gorrie said, “AWB has been our life for the last 50-plus years and has brought unbelievable highs – and some lows – to us throughout that tumultuous half-century, touring the globe and seeing the millions of happy and friendly faces that have greeted us wherever we have performed.

“That it’s finally coming to an end is going to mean a highly emotional tour next year, but one which will mean we bow out at the top level, thanks in great part to the wonderful five American ‘soul brothers’ who have been our band members for the last many years, and who are some of the best soloists and singers you could find on the planet”. Onnie McIntyre says “Our guys never phone it in, they bring it all every night. The tour will be our way of saying goodbye and thank you to all the people who have supported us over the years. It’ll be wild - bring your dancing shoes”.

“No doubt the unbelievable success of Pick Up The Pieces and other Grammy-nominated classics helped get us there. We bucked our Scottish roots, took our cues from Marvin Gaye, Al Green and James Brown, and took ‘coals to Newcastle’ when we broke into the US and a huge multi-racial following there, to add to our loyal UK fans.

“We hope to see you all at next Spring’s concerts, and to help us see out our final fling on the British Highway, including Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall, London’s Royal Albert Hall, and any other ‘Royals’ you can think of. Please don’t miss it!!

“As a final tour of the United Kingdom, this will be a joyous (but bittersweet) trip through our roots, our history and our love affair with all of the UK since 1972, when we first stuck our toes in the waters of home-spun Soul and R&B, taking it to the rest of the world and to success we could hardly have imagined back then. Please join us in a final celebration of that journey, and to a last hurrah of epic proportions with your presence and your ever-ready appreciation!”