News

Florence Rawlings Supporting Tom Jones On European Tour

• 30th Sep 2009

UP-AND-COMING UK soul star Florence Rawlings is celebrating after being asked to support Welsh legend Tom Jones on his European tour.

The 20-year-old Londoner, whose debut album A Fool In Love is out now, is opening up for the million-selling superstar on the 33-date jaunt, which kicked off in Helsinki on Sunday.

On hearing the thrilling news that she was to perform on the continental tour – her biggest yet to date – hotly-tipped Florence promptly crashed her car.

“I’d just found out that I’d been asked to support Tom Jones on his tour and was driving to see a friend,” she said. “I was so excited and distracted that I drove into the back of a bus and wrote my car off!”

Florence has already enjoyed some high-profile gigs during her young career, including performances at the Isle of Wight Festival, O2 Wireless, Stuttgart Jazz Festival, Guilfest and opening for Booker T in Shepherds Bush.

But this tour, with its 300,000-plus audience, will be her largest yet and, the accident notwithstanding, Florence’s sheer delight is immense – as is her family’s.

“I’ve never been this excited, ever,” she said. “My cousins in Scotland have all his records and were so impressed when I told them. They are going to come and see me at the Glasgow SECC so that will be a really special show.”

“On my 21st birthday I was performing in Malmo in front of 15,000 people,” she said. “What an amazing birthday present!”

Described as a ‘blue-eyed soul singer set for big things’ by Mojo, Florence will be performing songs from debut effort A Fool In Love, a collection of originals and well-chosen covers that ‘showcases Flo as a highly impressive UK soulster’, according to the Daily Mirror.

The tour dates (UK shows in bold) are as follows:

Fri 9 Oct Cardiff CIA
Sat 10 Oct Cardiff CIA
Sun 11 Oct Cardiff CIA
Tue 13 Oct Newcastle Metro Radio Arena
Wed 14 Oct Glasgow Secc
Fri 16 Oct Manchester Evening News Arena
Sat 17 Oct Liverpool Echo Arena
Sun 18 Oct Birmingham LG Arena
Tue 20 Oct Bournemouth BIC
Fri 23 Oct Brighton Centre
Sat 24 Oct London Wembley Arena
Mon 26 Oct Dublin O2 Arena
Tue 27 Oct Belfast Odyssey Arena