Hard rock icons UFO are celebrating their 50th anniversary with a farewell tour and on Wednesday (February 27th) the band announced the initial dates for the North American leg of the trek.

The announced dates will begin on October 10th in Anaheim, Ca at The Grove and run until November 2nd in Uncasville, CT at Wolf's Den @ Mohegan Sun.

Phil Mogg, who turns 71 in April, explained the decision to retire, "This decision has been a long time coming, I've considered stepping down at the end of UFO's previous tours in 2016. I don't want to call this a farewell tour as I hate that word, but this year's gigs (2019) will represent my final tap-dancing appearances with the band.

"2019 marks UFO's 50th anniversary, so the timing feels right. There will be a final tour of the UK and we will also play some shows in selected other cities that the band has a strong connection with. But outside of the UK this won't be a long tour. Being out on the road isn't always tremendously luxurious and although the playing is as great as it ever was, the stuff that surrounds it becomes very tiresome. I always told myself that when I reached that stage I would step down, and that's what I'm going to do. This is the right time for me to quit."

"Maybe the best word to use is 'bittersweet'," he concludes. "But my time has arrived to be leaving UFO. And all that remains is to make sure that we have a great tour."

UFO Initial North American Farewell Tour Dates:
10/10: Anaheim, CA @ The Grove#
10/11: Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues#
10/24: Wabash, IN @ Honeywell Center
10/25: St. Charles, IL @ Arcada Theater
10/26: St. Charles, IL @ Arcada Theater
10/27: Chesterfield, MI @ Diesel
10/30: New York, NY @ Sony Hall
10/31: Staten Island, NY @ St George Theater*
11/1: Jim Thorpe, PA @ Penn's Peak*
11/2: Uncasville, CT @ Wolf's Den @ Mohegan Sun
# With Armored Saint
*With Blue Oyster Cult

The St Charles shows - Arcadia is a small, nice venue - but boy are the tickets expensive. Some shows stay in the bucket. Great band.

Glad I got to see them a couple of years ago. Was a surprisingly good time, especially for a band that was just a touch before my time.

As I've said time and again, UFO is such an underrated band. It just boggles my mind as to why they never made it big anywhere.

They should've been bigger, but they did have a Top 25 album in the US and two others just miss the Top 40.

Also had a few radio hits and they have been on numerous film soundtracks.

In the UK, they had several Top 10 albums and they are loved in Japan and Germany.

The reason they never got bigger in the US was simple-Schenker bailed on them just before their biggest tour in the US for Lights Out and fans were pissed and promoters were angry too.

All momentum was lost.

Same exact thing happened to Thin Lizzy the same year of 1977 when Brian Robertson got hurt in a barroom brawl and they had to cancel a tour, just after having cut a tour with Rainbow short when Lynott got hepatitis.

That shit just can't happen as you're building an audience in a place as big as the US where people move on quickly.

I've always heard of this band but never heard them. Any recommendations for a newbie to start out with?

Strangers In The Night.... one of the best live albums ever. Also, most of their best songs from the 70s are on it and are better than their studio versions for the most part.

They recently released it in an 8-disc box set. I highly recommend it, too. The original album is there along with all the shows where they recorded some of the versions on the original album.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08JB1MVTL/?tag=imwan-20

It's currently $37.58 and in stock. This went out of stock right after the release last fall. Jump on it and you won't regret it. Many in here will tell you the same thing.

Here's the thread on the release.........
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=112769

I forgot...........

I saw them a few years ago, and they still put on a very good show; I hadn't realized that Vinnie Moore was playing with them, and I wasn't overly familiar with their music before buying the ticket (aside from Doctor, Doctor, Rock Bottom, and Too Hot to Handle), but with Strangers in the Night as a solid starting point, it made for an enjoyable show.

If you like hard rock they're definitely worth checking out