Nine Below Zero founding members Dennis Greaves and Mark Feltham will celebrate 50 years of making music together with a series of intimate acoustic shows across the UK in 2027.
Greaves and Feltham first began playing together in South East London in 1977, laying the foundations for a band that would become an important part of the British rhythm and blues scene. Five decades later, the pair will revisit that history in a stripped-back setting, performing an extended set combining songs from across the Nine Below Zero catalogue with stories and conversation.
The anniversary celebrations will also include two London appearances supporting The Fabulous Thunderbirds at Union Chapel in May, adding another chapter to a year built around the band’s long history.
Fifty years of Nine Below Zero
Nine Below Zero’s recording career began in formidable fashion with Live at the Marquee in 1980, an album that captured the energy of the band’s early live shows. Don’t Point Your Finger followed in 1981 before Third Degree arrived through A&M Records in 1982, complete with a cover photograph by David Bailey.
The band were also part of a particularly busy period for British rhythm and blues, touring with The Who and The Kinks in 1980 and 1981 and making television appearances on The Old Grey Whistle Test and The South Bank Show. Their cameo performance on The Young Ones later gave Nine Below Zero another memorable place in British popular culture.
Since reforming in the late 1980s, the band have continued recording and touring extensively, releasing numerous albums while maintaining the direct, energetic approach that first established their reputation.
Greaves and Feltham stripped back
The 2027 acoustic shows offer something different from a standard Nine Below Zero performance. Greaves and Feltham will reduce the music to its essentials, allowing more room for the songs themselves and for stories drawn from five decades on the road.
That format also puts Feltham’s harmonica playing firmly in the spotlight. Alongside his work with Nine Below Zero, he has recorded and performed with artists including Rory Gallagher, Oasis, Annie Lennox and Talk Talk, developing a reputation that stretches well beyond the blues circuit.
Greaves, meanwhile, remains the voice and guitar at the heart of Nine Below Zero. Together, the pair have been central to a catalogue that has survived changing musical fashions while keeping its roots in rhythm and blues.
Anniversary dates across the UK
The acoustic anniversary dates begin at Mycena House in London on 19 March before moving to Temperance in Leamington Spa for a matinee performance on 18 April. In May, Greaves and Feltham will join The Fabulous Thunderbirds for two shows at London’s Union Chapel before continuing to Glasgow and Wrexham.
Nine Below Zero 50th anniversary dates
Friday 19th March 2027
Mycena House, 90 Mycenae Rd, London, SE3 7SE
Tickets
Sunday 18th April 2027 (Matinee)
Temperance, 33 Bath St, Leamington Spa CV31 3AF
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Saturday 15th May 2027 (Supporting The Fabulous Thunderbirds)
Union Chapel, 19b Compton Terrace, London N1 2UN
Tickets
Sunday 16th May 2027 (Supporting The Fabulous Thunderbirds)
Union Chapel, 19b Compton Terrace, London N1 2UN
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Saturday 29th May 2027
Cathcart Castle Golf Club, Mearns Rd, Giffnock, Clarkston, Glasgow G76 7YL
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Friday 11th June 2027
Goin’ Up The Country, Church Road, Worthenbury, Wrexham, LL13 0AW
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Website: ninebelowzero.com
