Stereophonics Electrifies With Nostalgic Hits on Tour and a New Album

Stereophonics played a show at Sheffield Arena on Dec. 7. It was part of their 17-date Sky's Edge arena tour, which drew more than 200,000 fans from across the UK and Ireland. The Welsh rockers delivered songs spanning three decades, pulling from their 13th studio album, Make 'Em Laugh, Make 'Em Cry, Make 'Em Wait.

The album dropped in April via EMI Records. It climbed to number two on the charts — their best showing since 2009. Most tracks were recorded live in the studio.

Kelly Jones formed the group in 1992 with childhood friend Richard Jones in Cwmaman, a mining town in Wales. Drummer Stuart Cable joined them. Their debut album, Word Gets Around, appeared in 1997. Since then, they've notched nine straight albums in the British top five, sold over 10 million albums worldwide, and scored a number one single with "Dakota" in 2005.

The Sheffield show blazed through decades of hits. Fans heard classics like "Vegas Two Times", "I Wanna Get Lost With You", "Have a Nice Day", and "Superman".

"Dakota" closed the main set. The encore then brought "100MPH", "Traffic", "C'est La Vie", and one more run through "Dakota."

Sheffield holds a special meaning for the band. They played their first headline show at the old Sheffield Arena in 1997 after Word Gets Around came out. They returned in December 2008 to support their greatest-hits collection Decade in the Sun, then came back in February 2020 with the Kind campaign, one of the last big arena concerts before COVID-19 shut everything down.

Local performer Finn Forster warmed up the crowd with a 30-minute set. He played material from his EP Embers and singles "Broken Game" and "Pablo". Fans of all ages packed the venue, with families standing together.

The tour wraps up soon. This was the second-to-last date of their biggest UK and Irish arena run in years. Fans can visit Stereophonics.com for additional tour dates.