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CRAIG CHARLES IN PETERBOROUGH


Are you ready to get your groove on inside Peterborough Cathedral?


BBC 6 Music DJ Craig Charles is ready to line up the best funk and soul on Friday November 29.


The Red Dwarf and Coronation Street actor has been keeping us dancing with his Funk and Soul Show on Saturday nights but now he’s bringing his live show to Peterborough.


ESP Magazine caught up with Craig for a chat about his passion for great tunes and what we can expect from his appearance in the city…



Craig’s love of music came from his dad, a merchant seaman who came to Liverpool docks with “a pocketful of change and a bag full of records,” Craig tells ESP. While everyone else was listening to The Beatles Craig’s house was filled with the sounds of Aretha Franklin, Harry Belafonte, Marvin Gaye and Ray Charles.


"It just sticks with you,” says Craig. “I think my first memory is mum and dad dancing round the kitchen to Ray Charles I’ve Got a Woman.”


When BBC 6 Music started they asked Craig to do a show and were initially reluctant to let him do a funk and soul show, but it’s gone from strength to strength. The radio show has been taken out on the road with Craig performing at venues of all types up and down the country with a broad following.



“It’s such cross generational music we play. You can be into death metal or surf punk but you’ll still have three favourite soul tunes! It’s the kind of music that touches everyone so I’ve been lucky in that way because the nights are great celebrations. They’re just parties really – feel good music, big beats, banging bass and booming brass.


“We deal in the golden era of black American music but I kind of mix it up for a modern dancefloor, play a lot of remixes, tighten up the beats to make them hit a little bit harder so an 18 year-old can get into it as well. A lot of the stuff when you listen to the original is a little bit slow for a dancefloor so we just put a bit of a wiggle on it, but they’re all songs you’ll know, I just play them in a way you perhaps haven’t heard before.”




Joining Craig on the night are The Kubricks, a band famed for their high energy ska and reggae-infused sounds and Zkeletonz with their unique brand of ‘post-pop’ music and DJ Sam Flanagan will keep the dance floor packed.



Supporting the main acts are local heroes Mark Goodliff (Shock, Attic), Pat Unwin ( Dig Deep, Beats on the Barge), Host/MC Mr Rayan Gee (Shades Of Rhythm) and Jim Norton/Zed Malik from Eclectic Ballroom, the guys who’ve brought this event to Peterborough.


Craig admits he doesn’t quite know what to expect from this gig at Peterborough Cathedral – he’s not visited before and the closest he’s come to this type of venue is a couple of repurposed churches, but he’s looking forward to it.


“I want people to come along because it’s a party celebration of music and dance and fun. Seeing the smiles on people’s faces when I play – it’s worth its weight in gold. My radio show is a bit of a shop window but it’s nice to take it round the country to see the whites of people’s eyes, the sweat on their brow… and some of the shapes people pull!



“When I first started out it was men of a certain age, all in Ben Sherman’s, but then they started to bring their wives and then it just got younger and younger. The one thing I’ve noticed is that people want shows earlier; years ago they used to stay out a lot later. But that’s no bad thing; it means I get home earlier as well.”


While he might not have visited the Cathedral, he has been to Peterborough before and laughs – “I did a thing called Truckfest once when I was in Coronation Street. They drove me round in the back of a truck. It was a most unusual experience!”


Craig says every gig is different and he loves to mix it up so we can all expect a lively night.

“I don’t know what I’m going to play, it depends on how I’m feeling and how the audience are reacting. I just mix it up and make it different ever night.”


Tickets are selling fast for Craig’s appearance on November 29 so don’t miss out. If you want to keep the night going longer there’s an After Party at The Queen’s Head in the city centre from 11.30pm till 3am.


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