Van Morrison to Headline Five-Night Residency at London’s New British Airways ARC

The Northern Irish legend will be the first artist to hold a residency at the 3,800-capacity venue when it opens in June.

Van Morrison will play five nights at the British Airways ARC at Olympia London this September, becoming the first artist to hold a residency at the brand-new 3,800-capacity venue. Shows are scheduled for September 23, 24, 27, 28, and 29, with all performances fully seated. Tickets go on sale at 9am BST on Friday, May 15. The venue itself opens on June 16.

First Residency at a Brand-New London Venue

The British Airways ARC is the centerpiece of a £1.3 billion redevelopment of Olympia London, operated by AEG. It opens on June 16, with Self Esteem performing a final show from her 2025 album A Complicated Woman. Morrison's September run will be the first residency the venue has hosted, a distinction that AEG Presents SVP UK Venues Lucy Noble was quick to highlight.

“We are thrilled to welcome Van Morrison as the very first artist to have a residency at our brand-new venue,” Noble said. “The shows are set to be incredible.”

Other acts already scheduled to perform at the ARC in its opening period include McFly, the Zac Brown Band, and Khalid.

Van Morrison's September 2026 London Dates

All five shows are fully seated, reflecting the more intimate character of the 3,800-capacity room.

• September 23 — British Airways ARC, Olympia London
• September 24 — British Airways ARC, Olympia London
• September 27 — British Airways ARC, Olympia London
• September 28 — British Airways ARC, Olympia London
• September 29 — British Airways ARC, Olympia London

Where Morrison Stands in 2026

The residency follows a busy stretch for the 80-year-old Belfast native. His most recent album, Somebody Tried to Sell Me a Bridge, released in January, finds him returning to blues territory through a mix of covers and original material, with source material drawn from artists including B.B. King and Buddy Guy.

In April, Morrison took home the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 Jazz FM Awards. This summer he is also set to appear at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in July, alongside a bill that includes RAYE, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, PinkPantheress, and Lewis Capaldi.

On a more personal note, Bob Dylan paid tribute to Morrison's influence last November by covering the deep cut ‘Going Down to Bangor' at his Belfast show, a nod to the pair's longstanding friendship.

The Intimacy Argument for Mid-Size Venues

The ARC's 3,800-seat capacity places it firmly in the mid-tier room category, a format that has been gaining traction among legacy artists who want to step back from arena-scale productions without retreating to club-level shows. Sammy Hagar made a similar calculation recently, downsizing his first UK tour in 30 years from arenas to the same British Airways ARC venue for three nights in July, citing the more personal experience such rooms offer.

For Morrison, who has spent decades navigating everything from intimate jazz clubs to festival main stages, the format suits both the material and the moment. A blues-focused album and a fully seated residency are a natural pairing.

What we know

• Van Morrison will play five nights at the British Airways ARC at Olympia London: September 23, 24, 27, 28, and 29.
• All shows will be fully seated.
• Tickets go on sale at 9am BST on Friday, May 15.
• Morrison will be the first artist to hold a residency at the British Airways ARC.
• The British Airways ARC has a capacity of 3,800 and is part of a £1.3 billion redevelopment of Olympia London, operated by AEG.
• The venue opens on June 16, with Self Esteem performing a show from her 2025 album A Complicated Woman.
• Morrison's most recent album, Somebody Tried to Sell Me a Bridge, was released in January and features blues covers of artists including B.B. King and Buddy Guy.
• Morrison received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 Jazz FM Awards.

The take

Van Morrison holding a five-night seated residency at a 3,800-capacity room is a telling artistic statement. For much of the past decade, the classic rock and roots world has watched legacy artists default to either massive arena tours or scaled-back theater runs, with little middle ground. The mid-size residency model threads that needle, offering the production values of a proper concert while preserving the sightlines and atmosphere that suit nuanced, blues-driven material. Morrison has always been a performer who rewards close listening, and a seated room of under 4,000 is closer to the jazz club environment where his instincts are sharpest. The timing relative to Somebody Tried to Sell Me a Bridge also matters. Blues cover albums from artists of Morrison's stature tend to be statements of identity rather than commercial pivots, and a residency format gives him room to stretch arrangements and vary the setlist night to night in ways a single-night arena date simply cannot accommodate. The British Airways ARC itself is worth watching as a venue concept. AEG's £1.3 billion Olympia redevelopment is betting that London's mid-tier live market is underserved, and landing Morrison as the first residency act lends the room immediate credibility with the older, more discerning audience that venue is clearly targeting. Sammy Hagar making the same move to the ARC for his July dates reinforces that the room is positioning itself as the go-to for legacy acts who want intimacy without sacrificing scale.

Why it matters

For classic rock and roots fans in the UK, this residency represents a rare opportunity to see one of the genre's most idiosyncratic performers in a room built for listening rather than spectacle. Morrison's catalog spans soul, jazz, blues, and Celtic folk, and a five-night run at a single venue historically allows for setlist variation that a one-off show cannot deliver. The ARC's debut as a serious mid-capacity London venue also signals a broader shift in how the live industry is thinking about the space between theaters and arenas, a gap that has long frustrated both artists and audiences.

What's next

Tickets for all five Van Morrison shows go on sale at 9am BST on Friday, May 15. The British Airways ARC itself opens on June 16 with Self Esteem. Morrison is also scheduled to appear at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in July before the London residency begins on September 23.

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