UB40 lead guitarist Robin Campbell has played trademark hits like “Red, Red Wine” and “(I Can’t Help) Falling in Love with You” countless times. Still, nearly 50 years in, each strum feels like the first one.
“The reaction you get back from an audience, the feedback you get always makes it worthwhile,” Campbell said. “It’s when you play songs like ‘Red, Red Wine’ and thousands of people sing it back to you, you can’t beat that.”
UB40 expects the same reaction when it performs at the AVA Amphitheater on Sunday, Aug. 4.
“It happens globally,” he continued about the reaction. “It doesn’t matter where we are. We always get the same reaction. We’re trying to engage the audience and to have them singing and dancing along with us. That’s why we do it.”
There’s another reason for touring: The promotion of “UB45,” the band’s 45th anniversary album. The new single, “Forever True,” hit No. 1 on the UK iTunes single download chart, clocking in more than 200,000 YouTube views since its release. The track is the new official anthem of Birmingham City Football Club.
“UB45” features new songs and reworked classics with lead singer Matt Doyle, whom Campbell said, brought a new lease on life to the music.
“This new album has two halves,” he said. “One half of it is us re-recording classic, old, UB40 material with our new vocalist, Matt Doyle, who’s been with us now for three years.
“We’ve done that to really just show how well he fits in. How well our new lineup sounds, playing that old stuff. The other half of the album is brand-new material. And, and the feedback that we’ve had from fans is that it sounds like classic UB40.”
The English reggae-pop multicultural band also includes James Brown (drums), Earl Falconer (bass/vocals), Norman Hassan (percussion/vocals), Martin Meredith (keyboards/WX7/saxophone), Jahred Gordon (keyboards), Laurence Parry (trumpet/flugel/trombone) and Ian Thompson (saxophone).
Doyle joined the band in 2021, taking over for a retired Duncan Campbell after Doyle’s group, KIOKO, opened for UB40 at The Royal Albert Hall in 2018 — and then supported them on UB40’s subsequent UK tour and European tours.
Doyle’s lead vocals were first featured on the track “You Don’t Call Anymore” from UB40’s collaboration album “Bigga Baggariddim,” released in 2021; and 2022’s “Champion,” the official song of the 2022 Commonwealth Games, which also featured Gilly G and Dapz on the Map, two emcees also from Birmingham.
Looking back on UB40’s career, Campbell said he can’t wrap his head around the band’s legacy.
“I don’t quite know why we’re still here,” Campbell said.
“I’m constantly pinching myself that I still do this for a living. I love it. And we all do. We love doing what we do. And we’re a gang. We were a gang of friends who have been together since we were kids — literally kids. I’ve known most of the original members since they were about 10 years old, and Norman, our percussionist, I think I’ve known him since he was 6. We’ve literally grown up together and spent our entire adult life doing this crazy thing.”
Campbell said it isn’t difficult to stay passionate about music. He’s just following in his family’s footsteps.
“It’s a dream,” he said. “It’s what my father did, so it always seemed like an attainable thing to me. It was never a strange thing. But people did ask when he was going to get a proper job. For me, my parents were totally supportive and encouraging of us forming a band.
“We still get to do it. I love making music. I love making new music, but I also love taking it to an audience and getting their feedback, getting their stamp of approval. You can’t replace what you get from a live audience, what you get back from an audience, the sort of emotional relationship you have with a live audience.
“There’s nothing else I can think of that I could do that would give me the same feeling. It’s a wonderful life. We have to do a lot of traveling, but at the end of every journey, there’s a show. It’s well worth it for me.”
UB40
WHEN: 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 4
WHERE: AVA Amphitheater, Casino Del Sol, 5655 W. Valencia Road, Tucson
COST: Tickets start at $30
INFO: casinodelsol.com
