Simply Red tickets

The tour lasts just under a fortnight and swings between Yorkshire and the south and east of England. After the three Halifax nights, from Monday to Wednesday, the band heads south for London on the Friday and Margate on the Saturday, goes back north to Scarborough on Tuesday 17 August and then to Colchester on Wednesday 18 August, before the finale at Newmarket on Saturday 21 August.

Listed times vary far more than on an arena tour:

• 6pm: all three Piece Hall nights and Scarborough.
• 5pm: Dreamland Margate.
• 4pm: Colchester Castle Park.
• 3pm: Gunnersbury Park.
• 11.30am: Newmarket Racecourse, by far the earliest, where the resale listings include the Grandstand and Paddock Enclosure as well as general admission.

A listed time is not necessarily when Simply Red go on stage, so check the gate and stage times on your ticket and plan your journey around them, especially for the daytime starts. Most resale listings are for general admission; Scarborough is the exception, with seated areas at the Open Air Theatre as well as unreserved standing.

The Halifax run gives the widest spread on resale. At the last price check, its middle night, Tuesday 10 August, had the lowest starting price of the tour, while the Monday and the Wednesday started noticeably higher. Colchester and Margate were also near the bottom, and Gunnersbury Park in London, although still on sale officially, started highest of all.

Because most dates are general admission, the price differences come from the night rather than the section. Scarborough is the exception: unreserved standing starts lowest there, general seating next, and the Blue, Red and White Seating areas sit at the top, White highest. At Newmarket, general admission and the Grandstand and Paddock Enclosure started at the same level at the last price check.

Resale prices on Hellotickets are set by sellers and can be above face value, and the final price is shown before you pay. For London, Colchester and Newmarket, where the official sellers still had tickets at the last checks, compare with them first.

Live Nation UK is the official seller, with tickets through Ticketmaster UK, whose event pages carry the latest availability. At the official checks of 21 October, 31 October and 3 November:

• Sold out again on 3 November: Halifax on 9, 10 and 11 August, and Scarborough on 17 August. All four had shown as sold out on Live Nation UK on 21 October and were back on sale at Ticketmaster UK later in October, before Live Nation UK showed them sold out again.
• Low availability at Ticketmaster UK on 31 October: London Gunnersbury Park on 13 August, while Live Nation UK still showed 'Get tickets'.
• Get tickets: Colchester on 18 August and Newmarket on 21 August.
• Sold out: Margate on 14 August.

The band's own website says 'Tickets on sale now' and shows a 'Buy tickets' button for every show, even a sold-out one, so do not take that button as proof that a date is available. No Leigh Sports Village show appears on either Live Nation UK or the band's website, so check with the official seller before paying for a Leigh date.

When your date has sold out

For Halifax, Scarborough and Margate, sold out at the last check, seats listed on Hellotickets are the alternative. Hellotickets works with official channels and a network of secure, fully verified partners: “Every ticket is authenticated. If there's ever an issue, you're protected by our refund policy.” Tickets are sent as soon as Hellotickets receives them from the seller, sometimes up to 1–2 days before the event, so keep the order confirmation handy while you plan the trip.