Indie band bags dream gig supporting Sir Tom Jones

Indie-rockers The Lottery Winners will be the support act for Sir Tom Jones at three of the legendary singer’s open-air stadium gigs across the country this month.

The four-piece, from Leigh, will step out on stage in front of thousands of music fans in Peterborough, Bristol and Colchester, starting on Thursday night.

And the band, which has enjoyed huge success in recent times including signing to a major label, admit to being blown away by the offer to open for the man responsible for hits such as Delilah who has sold more than 100 million records.

The Lottery Winners’ frontman Thom Rylance said: “It’s crazy. This is by far the biggest gig we’ve ever been offered. It’s a massive opportunity for us.

“When the email came through I thought it was a joke, a wind-up. I replied saying we’d obviously love to support Tom Jones and got the gig and the poster through.

“This is the first time we’ve ever done something where my grandma has rung me and knew what it meant. Sir Tom Jones just crosses every generation.

“He must be one of the most famous singers on the planet and to be playing stadiums with him is just insane.

“I know the capacity for the gigs are about 15,000 people per night and they are almost sold out. I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like or what I’m going to say. This is the first gig in a long time I’ve been really quite nervous for.”

Thom says the iconic vocalist, who has also recently been on the nation’s TV screens as a coach on music reality show The Voice, asked for The Lottery Winners to play before he takes to the stage and describes the idea of someone so prominent listening to his band’s songs as “incomprehensible”.

The Lottery Winners will open for Sir Tom on Thursday at Peterborough Weston Homes Stadium, at The Bristol County Ground on Saturday July 13 and at Colchester’s Castle Park on Sunday July 21.

The announcement is just the latest in a string of high-profile developments for The Lottery Winners, who have just returned from playing the iconic Glastonbury Festival for the first time.

The group also received a video message from The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr on social media.

Thom said: “Glastonbury was amazing, the best gig we’ve done so far. So many people were there singing and dancing. They couldn’t all get to the stage because it was so busy.

“It was a real landmark gig for us.

“We’ve also had the message from Johnny Marr wishing us luck. All these legends now know who we are.”

The Lottery Winners are also headlining a night at The Bread Shed in Manchester on September 28.

For more information about the band, visit www.facebook.com/thelotterywinners