African music set for Wigan's Old Courts gig

Paul Simon’s landmark album Graceland will be recreated more than 30 years after its release on stage in Wigan.

Leeds-based troubadour Gary Stewart and his seven-piece band will come together to perform songs at The Old Courts on Friday.

The audience can expect to hear the magical songs, with their captivating stories, distinctive harmonies and South African rhythms brought to life in front of them.

There will be no detail spared, from the layers of guitars and percussion, right down to the legendary bass solos and maybe even some token dance moves.

Let the singing, dancing and nostalgia take hold and pretend you’re basking under the hot summer sun.

Gary Stewart said: “We are thrilled to be coming to play the beautiful Old Courts in Wigan. It’s our first time playing with the band in this area and we can’t wait to play Paul Simon’s 1986 masterpiece to a new and (hopefully) appreciative audience.”

Rebecca Davenport, director at The Old Courts, said: “Gary Stewart’s band were recommended to us by someone who’d seen them at a festival last year and had described them as one of the best bands they’d ever seen live.

“They’re really talented musicians and we can’t wait to welcome them on to our stage, it should be a great night.”

Graceland became Simon’s most successful studio album and his highest-charting album in over a decade; it is estimated to have sold up to 16 million copies worldwide. It was lauded by critics, won the 1987 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, and is frequently cited as one of the best albums of all time.

The Graceland project was originally inspired by Simon’s listening to a cassette of the Boyoyo Boys instrumental “Gumboots.”

Much of the album was recorded in South Africa and features many South African musicians and groups and during recordings, Simon faced accusations that he had broken the cultural boycott imposed by the rest of the world against the apartheid regime in South Africa, which was in its final years at the time. He later became the first American artist to perform in post-apartheid South Africa.

The show will be held on Friday in The Grand Vault, with doors and the bar opening at 7.30pm.

Tickets cost £12 in advance, available from www.theoldcourts.com, or £14 at the door.