The Continuing Story Tour
Merseyside legend Ian Prowse is a singer/songwriter who wears his heart on his sleeve and writes straight from the cuff. He plays guitar and is frontman of Amsterdam, previously of indie cult band Pele.
Raised on the rallying cry of protest songs. Influenced by the Celtic sounds that make Liverpool so unique. And inspired by the songwriting craftsmanship of Paul Weller, Mike Scott and Bruce Springsteen, it was no surprise, at the start of the 90s, when the rest of Britain was swaggering along to the baggy sound of The Stone Roses, Ian put together a band that marched to their own beat.
The result was Pele, a five piece alternative rock ‘n’ pop band with an infusion of Celtic sounds, and a live show that became stuff of legend. They released 2 studio albums, 1 live album and 6 singles that lit up the bottom end of the UK charts, but literally exploded like fireworks all over the world.
The band split in 1996. Three years later Ian formed Amsterdam, it was to take another 5 years until they were signed to an independent label. During this time the band struck up a friendship with Elvis Costello, which saw them playing as his band on the Jonathan Ross Show, supporting his live shows and eventually recording a duet of ‘Don’t throw your love away’, originally a hit by the Searchers.
Amsterdam had a top 40 UK hit with their first single ‘The Journey’ but it’s their song ‘Does this train stop on Merseyside?’ that cemented Ian’s place in the hearts of DJs, songwriters and music fans alike. Radio 1 DJ John Peel was reduced to tears every time he put it on, openly crying live on air because of its connection with Liverpool, the city he loved. Irish legend Christy Moore then took the song on in 2009 making it the centrepiece of his album ‘Listen’.
After releasing a best of album ‘Does This Train Stop On Merseyside: The Very Best Of Ian Prowse’ and two more solo albums ‘Who Loves Ya Baby’ and ‘Companeros’, Ian then spent his time remastering and re-releasing his first two classic Pele albums ‘Fireworks’ and ‘The Sport of Kings’ to celebrate their 25th anniversaries. Much to the joy of his many fans, he has taken these albums back on the road, both with his band and on his own all over Europe.
In between these shows, Ian and producer Tony Kiley have been working on ‘Here I Lie’, a new album of songs that tackle life, love, loss, death and Liverpool. Ian says “We’ve spent the last couple of years taking my first two (re releleased) Pele albums all over Europe to celebrate their 25th anniversaries. We only wanted to make a new album if the songs not only stood shoulder to shoulder with our history but were better than we’d ever done before.”
Since being released in April 2019 on Kitchen Disco Records, ‘Here I Lie’ has racked up an impressive array of reviews from across the media and contemporaries like Elvis Costello, Baz Warne from The Stranglers, Miles Hunt of The Wonder Stuff and Irish legend Damien Dempsey.
2020 see the release of career spanning album The Story Of Ian Prowse, Ian & band will be special guests of Elvis Costello & The Imposters on their Spring 'Jut Trust' UK tour before Ian sets off and a solo tour taking in the highways & byways of the UK & his beloved Ireland.
The lockdown year of 2020 saw Ian play over 30 Friday night live on line shows to an audience of thousands, many of which cited it as getting them through the troubled times.
An acoustic support set comes from Setting Sons
£12.50 ticket - https://www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk/ents/event/15194/