Music concert debut for Headingley Cricket Ground

Organisers hope the appearance of seminal English ska band Madness will bowl over concert goers and attract a full capacity crowd to the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC) on Friday, September 18.

Fresh off the road from their sell-out 2014 arena tour, Madness will be the guests in the Leeds suburb as part of what the band is billing as “the UK’s greatest ever live open air tour”.

Headingley will be one of the final stops on the tour, which starts in May and takes in 19 shows at sporting venues around the country, including racecourses, cricket grounds, rugby and football stadiums.

Andy Dawson, YCCC’s commercial director, said it is a “once in a lifetime opportunity to see one of the greatest bands in the world play the historic Headingley Cricket Ground”, adding: “This will be the first time that Headingley Cricket Ground has staged a music concert. We are delighted to be welcoming Madness and the Grandslam Tour to Leeds. We are expecting the concert to be very popular and anticipate a sell-out crowd of in excess of 14,000.”

Madness will be performing pop classics such as ‘House of Fun’, ‘Baggy Trousers’ and ‘My Girl’, as well as performing some of their new songs, the first new recordings the group has made in three years.

Corporate hospitality packages are available now and tickets for general admission, priced £35 go on sale on Friday, February 20.