The British band Ben Howard, currently in the midst of a Summer tour around Europe, are coming to Canada and the US this Fall, and will be making a stop at the Fox Theater in Oakland on November 12th. The tour comes off the June 16th release of the band’s fifth studio album, Is It?.

Ben Howard, the lead singer and guitarist of his eponymous band, began learning guitar and writing songs at an early age during his childhood in Devon, in southwestern England. His early collection of EPs (Games in the Dark, These Waters, and Old Pine EP), released between 2008 and 2011, not only caught the ears of music fans across England and around the world, but also of those at Island Records, who in 2011 signed Howard to a four-album deal.

His debut album, Every Kingdom, along with a prolific touring schedule, helped Howard to build up a loyal fan base. The band’s subsequent albums have been sites for continued sonic exploration, as Howard began to play more with delayed guitars, synthesizers, drum machines, and now on Is It?, with sampling (thanks in part to Bullion, the album’s producer). As Mickey Smith, the band’s bassist, said in a 2019 interview with Looking Sideways’ Matt Barr, “The sounds are constantly evolving, Ben’s pushing himself all the time, creatively exploring… you can’t just stay doing the same thing, if you’re working creatively… you kind of would lose where that feeling comes from, if you’re not able to move and change with it, and push yourself to grow and follow where that spirit leads you.” What has felt consistent throughout the decade-plus of albums, EPs, and live playing, has been Howard and the band’s honesty to express where they’re at, and their willingness to put their emotions on the table through their music.

Now on their fifth album (recorded over ten days at Le Manoir de Léon studios in France), touring with a crew who has largely played together around the world (Mickey Smith on bass and synths, India Burns on cello, Nat Mason on guitar, Kyle Keegan on drums, and R.D. Thomas on synths), Howard seems to be playing in a realm of gratitude. Having suffered two transient ischemic attacks, also known as mini-strokes, in the spring of 2022, during which he lost his ability to speak for an hour each time, on this record, Howard found himself “writing about life, love and the savouring of it,” as he told The Guardian. He went on to say, “I’ve written records about apathy and depression and heavy subjects. This is not that, it’s more an outpouring of affection for people and places.”

The concert on November 12th at Fox Theater will be the third-to-last show of the North America leg of their tour, and will hear the band at a cohesive and symbiotic level that can come after months of regularly playing live together.

Tickets are available here on Ticketmaster.
Location: Fox TheaterAddress: 1807 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, CA 94612

Date: November 12th, 2023
Doors Open: 6:30 p.m.
Age: All Ages