So over the past three years fierce panda has been cuddling up with Northern Irish noiseniks ASH. Amidst the piledriving delights of the 'Race The Night' and 'Ad Astra' albums and a slew of fantabulous live soirees the trio have been making a mockery of their stalwart status with a fizzingly youthful vigour.

But stalwarts they most certainly are, as many of you will recall from those halycon days of the mid-'90s. More to the point, originally released in 1996, '1977' was the #1 platinum-selling debut album that launched Ash from teenage upstarts to Britpop-era icons. Three decades on, on October 16th, BMG is releasing a 30th Anniversary Edition celebrating the album that defined a generation with its breakneck energy, razor-sharp hooks and unforgettable anthems including ‘Girl From Mars,’, ‘Goldfinger’, ‘Kung Fu’ and ‘Oh Yeah’.

The band are also announcing a global 1977 tour kicking off in September, with stops across Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and Europe - with Japanese dates to be announced shortly - before wrapping up in the UK and Ireland in December - fulsome dates below.

The 30th Anniversary Edition will be available on 2LP EcoRecord Green & Black ‘InkPlosion’ vinyl in a Gatefold Sleeve, 2CD Digisleeve plus booklet, and digitally.

The digital and 2CD edition features on Disc 1 the original album in full - 12 tracks of high-voltage power-pop that still sound as urgent and melodic as ever, such as ‘Lose Control’ and ‘Darkside Lightside’. It also includes four additional tracks: the long-lost, near-mythical track ‘Bittersweet Blue’, ‘Oh Yeah (2026 version), ‘Girl From Mars (Demo 2026 Mix) and ‘Gone The Dream (Acoustic 2026 Mix)’.

Disc 2 captures a special live set from STABAL Studios in 2021, where the band perform 1977 in full, along with fan favourites from the era, including 'Oh Yeah’ released as the first track from the performance, plus 'Coasting', 'Sneaker', 'American Devil', and 'Silver Surfer'.

The 2LP presents the original album across LP1 with a specially curated collection of B-sides on LP2, that highlight the depth and creativity of the 1977 era. Standout tracks include ‘Day Of The Triffids’, ‘Luther Ingo’s Star Cruiser’, ‘Astra Conversations With Toulouse Lautrec’, ‘Cantina Band’, ‘Sneaker’, ‘T Rex’ and more.

ASH - GLOBAL TOUR DATES 2026

14th June - Download festival (UK)
19th June - Isle of Wight festival (UK)
30th July - Y Not Festival, Pikehall, Derbyshire (UK)
31st July - Kendal Calling, Hackthorpe (UK)
4th Sept - Rosemount, Perth (AUS)
5th Sept - Freo Social, Fremantle (AUS)
8th Sept - Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide (AUS)
10th Sept - The Tivoli, Brisbane (AUS)
11th Sept - Northcote Theatre, Melbourne (AUS)
12th Sept - Metro Theatre, Sydney (AUS)
14th Sept - Tuning Fork, Aukland (NZ)
15th Sept - San Fran, Wellington (NZ)
21st Sept - Hard Rock Cafe, Singapore (SG)
23rd Sept - Hong Kong Portal, Hong Kong (HK)
10th Nov - De Helling, Utrecht (NL)
11th Nov - Gebaude 9, Cologne (DE)
12th Nov - Hole44, Berlin (DE)
15th Nov - Effenaar (Small Room), Eindhoven (NL)
1st Dec - Arena, Torquay (UK)
2nd Dec - O2 Guildhall, Southampton (UK)
4th Dec - Tramshed, Cardiff (UK)
5th Dec - UEA, Norwich (UK)
6th Dec - Rock City, Nottingham (UK)
8th Dec - Albert Hall, Manchester (UK)
9th Dec - Olympia, Dublin (IE)
10th Dec - Ulster Hall, Belfast (UK)
12th Dec - Boilershop, Newcastle (UK)
13th Dec - Barrowlands, Glasgow (UK)
15th Dec - O2 Institute, Birmingham (UK)
16th Dec - O2 Academy, Leeds (UK)
17th Dec - Roundhouse, London (UK)