UB40 just kicked off the U.S. leg of their UB45 summer tour, celebrating their 45th anniversary. For drummer and original member Jimmy Brown, there are few things better than getting to play for an American audience.

Jimmy tells ABC Audio he loves that U.S. audiences “make noise,” explaining, “There’s nothing worse than an overly sophisticated audience that sat back and says, ‘Go on, entertain me.’ In America …. they want to roll up their sleeves and they want to get involved, you know, which I think is a really great thing.”

For Jimmy, the goal of every show is to get people up and moving to their songs. “I want everybody to be singing at the top of their [lungs] and dancing,” he says. “We don’t like seats. Even if you’re at the age now where you want to sit down, it’s not going to happen.”

Lead singer Matt Doyle, who has been with the band since 2021, also loves American audiences, calling them the “funniest bunch of people I’ve ever met.” He adds, “It was always been my dream to come to the States so I’m very thankful that it’s happening.”

And after 45 years with the band, Jimmy can’t help but appreciate that he still gets to play to fans of UB40 music.

“Every tour for us is something special because who knows when the next one is going to be,” he says. “So you have to appreciate what you’re doing right now rather than think, ‘Oh next time we’ll do this, next time we’ll do that.’ You put everything into the one you’re doing.”