Karol, Ariana and You: The Best Tours In The Second Half of 2026
Wednesday, 01 July 2026
Written by Stereoboard
Summer is here! You want to be outside, among people, sipping something cold while it's hot. You also want some tunes, right? Luckily for you, we’ve pulled together details of some of the most hotly-anticipated tours set to hit the UK and Ireland in the second half of 2026 to give you just that and more, with some arena crackers to come once the leaves turn.
July
The month begins with an ending as Harry Styles wraps up his huge Wembley Stadium residency, but downtime isn’t high on the list of priorities for the folks running the home of English football. A couple of weeks later, Bruno Mars kicks off his own six night stand at the venue as part of The Romantic Tour, supporting the album of the same name. Beginning with a couple of shows at Slane Castle outside Dublin, meanwhile, the UK and Ireland leg of country megastar Luke Combs’ My Kinda Saturday Night Tour will also take in two gigs at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh before winding its way south for a further three nights at, you guessed it, Wembley Stadium.
Across town, meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will host Karol G’s Viajando Por El Mundo Tropitour, building on the rave reviews and buzz the Colombian pop icon garnered for her recent Coachella headline set. On the heavier side of things, nu-metal’s cultural renaissance will continue as System of a Down take over the same venue for a brace of enormous shows alongside rock icons Queens of the Stone Age and Acid Bath, the reformed sludge-metal pioneers with a recently-minted TikTok following.
Also in July: Bon Jovi, Biffy Clyro, Def Leppard, James Taylor, Wolf Alice, Alabama Shakes, Kasabian, Kings of Leon, Charlie Puth, Robyn, 10cc, Sunny Day Real Estate, En Vogue
August
Anyone else for a multi-night stand at Wembley Stadium? You sir at the back, with the mask, fancy it? Yes? Great! In almost any other year The Weeknd’s After Hours Til Dawn Stadium Tour would be a gargantuan outlier. In 2026, it serves to underline of the insane star wattage currently buzzing through the pop world, with European touring behind 2025's ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow’ album now taking in two nights at Manchester’s Etihad Stadium in June before reconvening in London this August for five nights at Wembley Stadium and two shows at Dublin’s Croke Park.
One of the summer’s biggest releases, meanwhile, is set to be Ariana Grande’s ‘Petal’, the follow up to 2024’s mega-hit ‘Eternal Sunshine’, which gives her upcoming tour its name. Following an enormous North American trek, she’ll cross the pond for the small matter of 10 (yes, 10) nights at the O2 Arena in London. Madness. Starting at the same venue towards the end of the month is A$AP Rocky’s long-awaited Don’t Be Dumb World Tour, which will bounce from London to Dublin, Glasgow and Manchester while also hitting mainland Europe.
Also in August: Turnstile, Lenny Kravitz, Calvin Harris, Summer Walker, Hollywood Vampires, Jack White, Earl Sweatshirt, The Black Keys
September
Time to dial up some nostalgia. Very few boybands have done it better than Westlife and this month marks the start of a marathon tour marking 25 years in the game. Demand for this one has been crazy for a while and it’ll kick off at fever pitch with the not-so-small matter of 13 nights at the 3Arena in Dublin before shows in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, London, Brighton, Bournemouth, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester and Belfast, where Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne and Kian Egan have seven gigs in the diary at the SSE Arena.
Niall Horan, another Irish boyband icon, is also getting amongst it following the release of his new solo album ‘Dinner Party’, which will come served with two nights at the O2 Arena in London plus dates in Birmingham, Newcastle, Manchester, Glasgow, Sheffield and London.
Dialling up the sounds of the mid-2000s for another run are the reformed Pussycat Dolls, with Nicole Scherzinger, Kimberly Wyatt and Ashley Roberts marking the 20th anniversary of their 2005 debut ‘PCD’ with a UK and Ireland arena jaunt. With Lil’ Kim in tow, they’ll play shows in Birmingham, Nottingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Dublin, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester and London. Don’t cha think you should snag tickets?
Also in September: Evanescence, Katseye, Daniel Caesar, Hilary Duff, Melanie Martinez, Spiritbox, The Neighbourhood, First Aid Kit, Judas Priest, Anastacia,
October
J. Cole’s ‘The Fall Off’ was a sprawling thing: a double LP with more than 20 songs, breaking 100 minutes in length. Fittingly, the tour of the same name is similarly ambitious, with dozens of shows spanning multiple continents. Following a huge North American run throughout the summer that continues into the early autumn, the European leg features two shows at the O2 Arena in London plus further engagements at Dublin’s 3Arena, Birmingham’s Utilita Arena, Glasgow’s OVO Hydro, Manchester’s Co-op Live and Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena between October 19 and November 2.
Also in October you’ll find The Strokes back at it, with the indie icons bringing a dose of New York swagger to the O2 Arena in London, Newcastle’s Utilita Arena, Manchester’s Co-op Live and Dublin’s 3Arena in support of ‘Reality Waits’, their first LP in six years. Korn are also striking while the iron is hot (and the jeans are baggy) by plotting an arena tour of their own in the company of Architects, no strangers to rooms of this size themselves. The nu-metal titans are poised to swing through Leeds’ First Direct Arena, the Utilita Arena in Birmingham, the Utilita Arena in Newcastle, Manchester’s AO Arena, Dublin’s 3Arena and the O2 Arena in London. Boom-da-da-mmm-dum-na-ee-ma, indeed.
Also in October: Brandi Carlile, Johnny Marr, Manic Street Preachers and Suede, Simple Plan, Skindred, Arlo Parks, Steven Wilson, Courtney Barnett, Jill Scott, Europe, Bill Callahan
November
It’s getting colder, the nights are drawing in, you’re firmly in a layering phase. Forget stick season, it’s Noah Kahan season. Having made the leap to playing stadiums over the past couple of years, the Vermont folk-pop star’s latest tour is a wide-ranging arena odyssey, with multi-night runs at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro, the AO Arena in Manchester, London’s O2 Arena and Dublin’s 3Arena ushering in its European run, following summer North American dates and a trip to Australia and New Zealand.
Towards the end of the month there’s an opportunity to celebrate one of the UK’s most idiosyncratic rock bands as Placebo head out for an anniversary arena tour celebrating 30 years since the release of their self-titled debut. Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal will play songs from that iconic LP plus cuts from its 1998 follow-up ‘Without You I'm Nothing’ at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena, Glasgow’s OVO Hydro, Dublin’s 3Arena, Manchester’s Co-op Live, London’s OVO Arena Wembley and Cardiff’s Utilita Arena.
Also in November: Jessie Ware, Enter Shikari, Courteeners, Shinedown, Deep Purple, Jungle, Ocean Colour Scene, Bloc Party and Interpol, Myles Smith, Squeeze, Skye Newman, Cody Johnson, Papa Roach, The Kid Laroi, Bicep, Yard Act
December
Christmas is coming, so you’ll want something suitably festive as the soundtrack for your mind drifting towards Buck’s fizz and eating a Chocolate Orange whole. Enter The Darkness, owners of the rare modern(ish) Christmas classic, whose Band of Brothers Arena Tour will see them scaling fresh heights after more than two decades in the game.
The retro-rockers aren’t one trick ponies, though, with their jaunt through Glasgow’s OVO Hydro, Leeds’ First Direct Bank Arena, Manchester’s AO Arena, the Utilita Arenas in Birmingham and Cardiff, Brighton Centre and the O2 Arena in London powered chiefly by the success of last year’s ‘Dreams On Toast’ album, which hit number two in the UK charts. Support will come from country-rockers Brothers Osborne and pop-rock veterans A, bands with their own sets of brothers to add weight to the tour’s punny name. Expect joy, frivolity and tight trousers.
Also in December: UB40 feat Ali Campbell, Sex Pistols feat Frank Carter, Bleachers, Hard-Fi, Pete Tong presents Ibiza Classics, Portugal. The Man, Elmiene, Kodaline, Shed Seven, The Pogues, Ladytron
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