The Black Country born punk band Big Special have announced a massive UK/EU tour with dates in August 2025 and February 2026. The Birmingham duo Joe Hicklin (vocals) and Calum Maloney (percussion) have sold most tickets in their home turf already from pre-sale.
The tour will hit some impressive venues with their biggest ever show at London Roundhouse. Along with them will be standout openers Liz Lawrence, Good Health Good Wealth and GANS. Good Health Good Wealth posted their excitement to join Big Special having supported them a week prior to the announcement.
The headline spot has come from a surge in popularity and growth for the band since their debut album ‘POSTINDUSTRIAL HOMETOWN BLUES’ in 2024. In an interview with Dork Magazine after its release, they found themselves struck by their newfound fame, stating: “We never thought we’d get out of the Birmingham scene, to be honest […] people in the South understanding what we’re on about just never occurred to me.”
The band’s roots have been important to the culmination of their sound and discography. Hicklin explains this with his lyrical inspiration from the poet Liz Berry. Hicklin says: “She’s a poet from the Black Country who writes in our dialect, and it made me think about using that a bit more.”
‘POSTINDUSTRIAL HOMETOWN BLUES’ is a soulful punk declaration from working class born voices featuring 15 raucous and vulnerable tracks.
Big Special are making their mark in the media with political rawness. Their song ‘Shithouse’ has recently featured in the latest season of hit speculative-fiction Netflix series Black Mirror. Known for its showcase of the underbelly of society, the show was a fitting place to home their stark, hard-hitting single.
In an interview with Buzzmag, the band shared their thoughts on being labelled as a working class band and the trend of claiming these identities in the music industry. They share their experience, explaining “you’d have the awkward ‘Yeah I’m from Birmingham’ thing. Now, the funny flip is that when we meet other bands, they’re really embarrassed to tell us they’re from Surrey…”. Moloney goes on to say: “We never set out to be a working-class band. We’re just a band that’s giving an honest reflection of our lives.”
Big Special’s live performances are standout punk experiences that embrace authenticity with the band performing vulnerable tracks without glamour or gimmicks. The band have posted videos from their live gigs on YouTube.
Big special has an incredible set of tours and performances ahead with tickets available here.
