Comic revives his role from The Ship album

Peter Serafinowicz is to join musician Brian Eno for his first ever live tour.

The comedian – who is planning his own tour in the guise of his Brian Butterfield alter-ego – will be performing in a live version of Eno’s 2016 album The Ship at London’s Southbank Centre and  other prestigious venues across Europe.

Serafinowicz featured on the album which was  inspired by the sinking of the Titanic and was Eno's first to contain vocals in more than a decade.

l Festival Hall date is part of his first live tour in his five-decade solo career and also his first appearance with an orchestra, as he will  be joined by Baltic Sea Philharmonic.

Eno said: ‘The album The Ship is an unusual piece in that it uses voice but doesn’t particularly rely on the song form. It’s an atmosphere with occasional characters drifting through it, characters lost in the vague space made by the music. 

‘There’s a sense of wartime in the background, and a sense of inevitability. There is also a sense of scale which suits an orchestra, and a sense of many people working together. 

‘I wanted an orchestra which played music the way I would like to play music: from the heart rather than just from the score. I wanted the players to be young and fresh and enthusiastic. When I first saw the Baltic Sea Philharmonic I found all that…and then noticed they were named after a sea. That sealed it!’

Eno has only ever played a handful of solo shows in his career, the last time in 2021 at the Acropolis in Athens with his brother Roger. 

The Ships tour kicks off at Venice’s opera house, Teatro la Fenice,  and alos take in the Berliner Philharmonie, Berlin, La Seine Musicale in Paris, TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht before finishing at the Southbank Centre with his only UK date. 

Adem Holness, head of contemporary music at the Southbank Centre, said of Eno: ‘His influence transcends genre and borders and this rare opportunity to see him live, and with an orchestra, will truly be one to cherish.’ 

Tickets for the London concert on Monday October 30 will go on general sale at 10m on Thursday.

Published: 5 Jun 2023