Co Down singer-songwriter Foy Vance has said returning to Belfast always feels like a "homecoming" as he prepares for his biggest headline gig at the SSE Arena.
The Bangor talent is set to perform to his home crowd on September 9 as part of his European tour, taking his latest album 'Signs of Life' on the road for the first time.
The 48-year-old spoke to Belfast Live about performing in Belfast, lockdown and Bangor's newfound city status playing havoc on his song titles after kicking off the tour in York on Tuesday.
Read more: Ryan McMullan releases statement as bulk of tour cancelled
Foy said: "It's been good - this is the tour that I had to postpone for an amalgamation of reasons so it's been great to get back out on the road and stand on stage and apologise.
"It was a lot of fun. You know those cars that you used to pull back and then they zoomed off - it feels like that car has been pulled back for so long that people were right out of the gate like whippets from the start of the night to the end and were ready to sing and get involved."
Released in September 2021, 'Signs of Life' is the second of Foy's albums to will be released on Ed Sheeran’s Gingerbread Man Records, following his 2016 album, 'The Wild Swan'.
Signs Of Life is the sound of a beloved singer-songwriter at the peak of his powers. It’s also the sound of a man – a husband, a father, a sinner, a drinker – belatedly coming to terms with his demons.
"I released The Wild Swan and as is the way of it, I started looking at other songs that could be ready for another album but I was sort of struggling because I didn't really want to go on tour again at the time and these songs that I was compiling for a new album were songs I wrote a long time ago and it didn't feel relevant," he explained.
"Then Armageddon happened and Covid hit and something about the stillness of that period and being in the studio on my own every day by default not design was an influence that made me really dig deep and look for signs of life because they were hard to see at that point.
"I'm excited about getting these songs in front of a crowd with a full new band. The Late Heavy are the band that opens and then Gareth Dunlop is on after and basically, every one of them are on stage by the end of the night."
Foy has no idea what taking to Northern Ireland's biggest stage will have in store for him but he can guarantee fans a well-deserved night out after the past two years.
He added: "It's a bit of a throwdown, a jamboree and a celebration so it going to be fun. As to what it will actually feel like to play that room, I have no idea - it could feel incredible or it could feel like playing an airport hanger."
On what it feels like to perform back home after touring the world, Foy said: "It is a homecoming. That is what it feels like.
"They are the people that packed me up and sent me on the boat and wished me luck - telling me to go and do something and make something and we will be here when you come back. And every time I do come back, there they are with their singing voices and warm hugs and handshakes.
"I am very much looking forward to getting back."
Foy recently got a little taster of what is to be expected at his SSE Arena gig when he took to the stage to perform with fellow Co Down musician Ryan McMullan as his headline show at CHSq 2022.
"I met Ryan about seven or eight years ago and I started working alongside him when he would play The Cloth Ear on a Friday night and now he's headlining Custom House Square - it's pretty impressive. It was a great show to be at and a great honour to be involved with it," he explained.
After taking on Belfast, Foy heads on to a number of other European cities including Paris and Berlin but the musician told Belfast Live he is going to take a different approach to life on the road this time around.
Foy continued: "I'm trying to look after myself better because I'm getting to that age now where I can't go party like I used to so I spend my days going on hikes and walking trails. I used to be a road dog for this, on the road for eight months of the year but lockdown has changed that.
"I never used to enjoy seeing the countries I was in because I would sit up to all hours so I'm trying to change it up this time and see the places that I am at as much as I possibly can."
In response to being asked how he feels about Bangor's new city status as one of the songs of his first album is called 'Bangor Town', Foy joked, "My lawyers are on the case already."
"We are going to get it changed back to Bangor town because I don't want to change my song - Bangor city just doesn't work as well or sing as nice."
Foy Vance takes to the SSE Arena stage on September 9 - a number of tickets are still available on Ticketmaster, see here.
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