Arctic Monkeys team up with Big Issue to produce unique tour programme to raise money for the homeless

Arctic Monkeys have teamed up with The Big Issue to produce the official tour programme for their first UK stadium tour. In support of new album ‘The Car’, the band will play 15 dates across the UK and Ireland over the next month, including two hometown gigs at Sheffield’s Hillsborough Park and three at London’s Emirates Stadium.

The tour begins on May 29 at Bristol’s Ashton Gate and the band have confirmed that they have collaborated with The Big Issue to create a unique 36 page programme. All proceeds from the sale of this limited edition collectors item will be donated to the homeless charity. The official statement from The Big Issue says: “The 36 page programme with a long lasting and collectible heavy cover, features brand-new never before seen images of the band on the road plus an in-depth interview with the band’s beating heart, drummer Matt Helders.”

In the exclusive new interview for the tour programme, Helders reveals what life on the road is like after spending two decades performing as a band and explains why

the home leg of The Car Tour is “like a victory lap”. When asked about the reasoning behind the collaboration Helders told The Big Issue: “The obvious reason is the good work you do… but it’s not just that. It is good journalism as well as being a good cause.”

It is not the first time that the Sheffield-based rock band have shown their support for the charity. Last year, The Big Issue got the global exclusive interview with frontman Alex Turner as Arctic Monkeys announced their seventh album, The Car.

Arctic Monkeys currently have two albums in the top 40 biggest selling albums of the year, ‘AM’ and ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’ and have been delighting fans at sell-out venues across Europe. The band, fronted by Alex Turner, will be performing to fans in Coventry, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Norwich, Sheffield, Swansea, Southampton, London, Dublin and Glasgow. They will also be headlining at Glastonbury alongside Elton John, Gun N’ Roses and Lizzo on the Pyramid Stage.