Back Page For One Night Only!: Blue’s Simon Webbe curates his dream gig 

His energy is unmatched. I’d have him and Spliff Star - his back up guy, who’s been by his side since the beginning of this career - with no gimmicks, no screens, nothing like that. Just them two. When I saw him at Hammersmith Apollo, he just knew how to have the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand.

To open up, I’d probably have Bill Withers. When I did my solo albums, a lot of my songs were storytelling, and I got that from listening to Bill Withers on repeat when I was in school. Do you remember the Tetley tea advert? I’d sing ‘Lovely Day’ around the house and my mum would go ‘do you know who that is?’, and I’d say ‘yeah, it’s a jingle’. She told me it was Bill Withers, so the next day I went to school and one of my friends said ‘my dad’s got his CD’, and I borrowed that CD and never gave it back. And he’s got the longest note in music! I still try and practice it in my bedroom. I actually used to be able to hold it for just as long as him. Whether I was in tune or not, I don’t know…

I’d also basically have the UK grime scene, the movement: Wiley, Dizzee Rascal, Chipmunk… they’d all come on and do about 15 minutes each, back to back. I’d put them in their own rehearsal room and just let them hash it out, do it how they wanna do it. That scene is something I think Brits need to be very much proud of. We’ve had The Beatles, we’ve had the greats from the ‘60s and ‘70s, we’ve had a lot of British artists who are very influential over in the States; and to have a whole scene carved out by these kids who had nothing and just did it on pirate radio for fun… I’ve gotta take my hat off to that.

For me, it has to be in my hometown of Manchester, for sure. I’d want to keep it relatively intimate, so I’d do the Manchester Apollo.

One person who I think is Manchester’s finest is Mason Bay. You’ve got to check him out. Lyrically, I’d say he’s up there with Eminem; his stories are just unmatched. Then, I’d also bring the boys I grew up with - I went to my first ever concert, Wu-Tang Clan, with them. I’d like to reunite with my school friends as well, I haven’t seen them for 20 years. And obviously my boys from Blue! It’d be a lads night out, do you know what I mean?

It has to be Caribbean food: jerk chicken, plantain, oxtail. We’d also keep it British too, have some fish and chips and burgers. We’d obviously have the drum where the chicken would be barbecued, but then it’d be served as canapes - just nice little tasters, so you’re not too full to move. Caribbean food can send you to sleep, and I don’t want that! And drinks are flowing, all types of alcohol are there. For me personally, I’d just have a nice cold beer - a nice Dragon Stout, I’d say.

Backstage, I’d get all the artists together and do like a BTS thing. Old school hip hop meets grime; everybody would be trading bars. And then Bill would be playing guitar, dipping in and out with his soulful riffs.

Well, I’m a DJ, so obviously. The afterparty would definitely be no VIPs; having that one piece of velvet rope, that anyone can just move? Nah, no egos, nothing like that. Then I’d probably get up and perform. I basically grew up writing raps - that’s how I was able to write the songs for Blue - but I’ve never released any of my rap music. I’ve got a rap album called ‘The Dark Web’. It’s sort of something that’s on my bucket list, to put out a rap album - it’s up there with swimming the Channel.

We’d set up like an art gallery with all of my influences. So you’d walk through, and you’d see Michael Jackson, Dazz Band, Bill Withers, Wu-Tang, Boyz To Men, Stone Roses, Oasis, Dizzee Rascal… as you enter, you’re actually seeing into my brain, seeing what makes me who I am.

Blue’s new album, ‘Reflections’, is out 9th January.

Tags: Features, Blue, From The Magazine, November 2025