Lewis Capaldi announces anxiety-friendly UK tour dates
Last updated 28th Apr 2020
Lewis Capaldi has announced a UK-wide arena tour taking in Glasgow, Manchester and London with some proceeds going towards an anxiety hotline for those hoping to attend.
The chart-topping Scottish singer-songwriter, 22, will also visit Dublin and Cardiff between March 2 and March 12 next year.
50p added to each ticket sale will go towards creating the email hotline for people experiencing anxiety or emotional difficulties.
The LIVELIVE initiative will fund teams who will be trained in assisting with panic, anxiety or any other concerns fans may have.
They will meet fans at the door, escort them to their seats and help those who want to leave quickly to avoid crowds.
Capaldi, who suffers from anxiety and has cut gigs short after experiencing panic attacks, said he wanted to have more people who suffer anxiety at his shows.
He said: "I always get tonnes of messages from people online who have said they want to come to my shows but can't because they're struggling massively with anxiety or are just generally afraid they will have a panic attack during the show.
"I really wanted to put something in place to help those people feel comfortable and offer them support to allow them to experience the shows.
"I just hate to feel that anyone's anxiety is making them miss out on anything they want to do and LIVELIVE is my attempt at helping make these shows enjoyable for as many of those people who have been supporting this journey for me.''
The run of shows will be his first following an upcoming November tour, as well as summer support dates with Ed Sheeran and The Killers.
Capaldi's single Someone You Loved from his forthcoming debut album Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent recently scored its seventh week at number one.
The track is the third longest-running number one single for a Scottish act behind Wet Wet Wet's Love Is All Around with 15 weeks and Calvin Harris's One Kiss ft Dua Lipa with eight weeks.
Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent will be released on May 17.