The Exile Tour is the second concert tour by British band Hurts in support of their second album Exile. On 11 December 2012, Theo Hutchcraft posted an image on Twitter which announced the first 14 dates of the tour. Autumn 2013 dates were published by Hutchcraft on Twitter on 26 August 2013. The tour started on 5 October in Ukraine and will end on 22 November in Luxembourg, with 21 dates in total. In February and March 2014 Hurts took a part in Art on Ice Tour. Hurts was accompanied by the Youth Classics orchestra at the six shows in Zürich in February and March.

Background

At the beginning of the show, Hutchcraft appears on the scene wearing a hooded parka and leather gloves. He takes the parka off after the first song. As in the previous Happiness Tour, he throws white roses into the crowd. During "The Road", he breaks the microphone stand. Adam Anderson performs most of the songs while sitting at the synthesizer, but during "Exile", "Miracle", "Evelyn", and "The Road", "Mercy", "Help", "Cupid" and acoustic version of "Blood Tears & Gold" he stands up and plays the guitar. For the encore, they perform their song "Stay" at the first leg of tour. The light design team has a trailer with scenery and 20,000 lights for each show. Unlike the previous tour, where dramatically dressed dancers followed the duo on stage, this tour focuses on the performance itself. Dancers appeared on stage at most of the many summer festivals since Rock im Park in Germany on 7 June.

On 25 October Hurts get new stage lighting equipment.

Hurts used red and white confetti at the end of the song called "Help" at their show at Troxy in London, 26 October 2013.

Instruments for performances: synthesizers; guitars "Manson", "Gretsch", "Fender Telecaster", "Fender Stratocaster", "Fender Precision Bass", effects unit "TC Electronic", "Mesa Boogie"; drums "Sonor", "Paiste"; saxophone, clarinet, viola, violins, cello.

Reception Reviewers unanimously admit there is more drama in the new shows, agreeing that the emotional connection between the band and the crowd is stronger than ever.

Opening acts Say Lou Lou (select dates in February, March, November 2013) Uniqplan (Warsaw, 20 March 2013) Make My Heart Explode (Prague, 28 March 2013) Bahroma (Kyiv, 5 October 2013) Pawws (UK, 25–26 October 2013) Golden Parazyth (Tallinn, 3 November 2013; Riga, 4 November 2013; Vilnius, 6 November 2013) XXANAXX (Warsaw, 7 November 2013) Glasvegas (Germany, 10–15 November 2013) Pegasus (Germany, 10–15 November 2013; Bern, 18 November 2013; Brussels 20 November 2013; Utrecht, 21 November 2013)

Setlist The tour's setlist generally consists of half of the songs from Happiness and half from Exile.

Tour dates

DateCityCountryVenue/EventEurope, Asia, Leg #17 February 2013LondonUnited KingdomHeaven9 February 2013BerlinGermanyPostbahnhof14 March 2013CologneEssigfabrik15 March 2013MunichTheatrefabrik16 March 2013HamburgUebel & Gefährlich18 March 2013StockholmSwedenDebaser Medis20 March 2013WarsawPolandPalladium23 March 2013ZürichSwitzerlandKaufleuten25 March 2013MilanItalyMagazzini Generali27 March 2013ViennaAustriaArena28 March 2013PragueCzech RepublicLucerna Music Bar30 March 2013AmsterdamNetherlandsMelkweg The Max1 April 2013ManchesterUnited KingdomManchester Academy 22 April 2013GlasgowThe Garage19 April 2013BratislavaSlovakiaElectronic Beats Festival25 April 2013BeijingChinaCAFA24 May 2013HanoverGermanyNDR 2 Plaza Festival7 June 2013NurembergRock im Park Festival8 June 2013Rock am Ring Festival23 June 2013ViennaAustriaDanube Island Festival29 June 2013SomersetUnited KingdomGlastonbury Festival2 July 2013MinskBelarusMOST Festival4 July 2013SopronHungaryVOLT Festival5 July 2013TurkuFinlandRuisrock Festival6 July 2013MoscowRussiaSubbotnik Festival12 July 2013DnipropetrovskUkraineThe Best City.ua Festival14 July 2013KinrossUnited KingdomT In The Park Festival18 July 2013BenicàssimSpainFIB Festival20 July 2013BernSwitzerlandGurtenfestival21 July 2013LondonUnited KingdomLovebox Festival26 July 2013NiigataJapanFuji Rock Festival28 July 2013AnsanKoreaJisan Valley Rock Festival2 August 2013MinskBelarusStalin Line 15 August 2013HasseltBelgiumPukkelpop Festival16 August 2013BiddinghuizenNetherlandsLowlands Festival17 August 2013Sankt PöltenAustriaFM4 Frequency Festival31 August 2013County LaoisIrelandElectric Picnic Festival7 September 2013IstanbulTurkeyRock'n Coke Festival21 September 2013PoznańPolandLech breweryLeg #25 October 2013KyivUkrainePalace of Sports7 October 2013OdesaPalace of Sports9 October 2013KharkivPalace of Sports11 October 2013BucharestRomaniaRomexpo25 October 2013ManchesterUnited KingdomThe O2 Apollo Manchester26 October 2013LondonTroxy2 November 2013HelsinkiFinlandHelsinki Ice Hall3 November 2013TallinnEstoniaSaku Arena4 November 2013RigaLatviaArena Riga6 November 2013VilniusLithuaniaSiemens Arena7 November 2013WarsawPolandTorwar Hall8 November 2013PragueCzech RepublicIncheba Hall10 November 2013BerlinGermanyVelodrom11 November 2013MunichZenith13 November 2013DüsseldorfMitsubishi Electric Halle14 November 2013FrankfurtJahrhunderthalle15 November 2013HamburgSporthalle17 November 2013ViennaAustriaGasometer18 November 2013BernSwitzerlandFesthalle20 November 2013BrusselsBelgiumAB21 November 2013UtrechtNetherlandsVredenburg22 November 2013LuxembourgLuxembourgSonic Visions FestivalLeg #327 February 2014ZurichSwitzerlandHallenstadion28 February 20144 March 2014LausanneCIG de Malley5 March 20147 March 2014DavosVaillant Arena8 March 201411 March 2014HelsinkiFinlandHartwall Areena13 March 2014StockholmSwedenEricsson Globe ArenaLeg #414 June 2014WarsawPolandOrange Warsaw Festival5 July 2014SopronHungaryVOLT Festival11 July 2014TallinnEstoniaÕllesummer Festival13 July 2014Novi SadSerbiaExit Festival18 July 2014PoriFinlandPori Jazz Festival7 August 2014SchaffhausenSwitzerlandStars in Town Festival

Notes The show in Amsterdam was originally scheduled at the Old Hall, but it was moved to The Max. This performance is a part of Art on Ice Tour.

Cancelled dates 18 October 2013Glasgow, United KingdomO2 Academy GlasgowPerformance was cancelled before going on sale.28 October 2013Copenhagen, DenmarkPumpehusetPerformance in Scandinavia was cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.29 October 2013Oslo, NorwayRockefeller Music HallPerformance in Scandinavia was cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.31 October 2013Malmö, SwedenKBPerformance in Scandinavia was cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.27 July 2014Schönwalde-Glien, GermanyGreenville FestivalThe festival was canceled due to low ticket sales.

Personnel

Main Matt Vines, Neil Reeves – management/tour management Rick Smith – production management Rob Sinclair - lighting and stage design Matt Arthur – lighting director Chris Freeman – backline Lee Birchall – backline Adam Pendse – FOH engineer Paul Roberts – choreographer Caroline Royce, Emily Rumbles – dancers

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Band

Hurts Theo Hutchcraft – vocals Adam Anderson – keyboards, guitar

Musicians Lael Goldberg – bass, backing vocals Pete Watson – keyboards, piano, backing vocals Paul Walsham – drums Amy May – saxophone, clarinet, viola, backing vocals Paloma Deike, Penny Anscow – violin, backing vocals Rhian Porter – cello

References