TONIGHT Las Vegas -- next stop the Derby Ward Labour Club!

The traditional club which seats little more than 300 people is at the centre of a live entertainment boom in Bolton which has seen some of the world's most famous "star turns" take to the stage.

A quick glance at the acts attracted to the club, on Deane Road, Bolton, shows visits from the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Madonna, Genesis and Phil Collins, Abba, the Beatles and Robbie Williams.

Or does it?

In fact, the line-up at the club's regular star nights are the next best thing. The acts are the best tribute bands money CAN buy -- and the policy to spend thousands on the series of lookalike entertainers is paying off.

The club, which not so long ago was struggling, now has full houses almost every six weeks for its star nights.

The club's growing reputation is now attracting acts which regularly appear in venues such as the Opera house in Manchester or Liverpool's Empire Theatre. And in October, the club plans to bring to Bolton the music of the Rolling Stones, via "the biggest tribute band in the world" -- The Rollin Stoned.

Mercury, the tribute to Queen, is also set to perform next week, on August 9, and there are plans for a Boney M tribute act.

A spokesman for the club explained: "We are the only club of our kind which has live backing. Light entertainment seemed to be dying on its feet, but we decided a while ago to try to start attracting the biggest acts we could.

"When we used to hold our star nights we would only attract about 100 people, now we are packing in about three times that.

"This is at a time when clubs like ours are struggling. Younger people want to go into town for a drink and are not interested in coming here, but we have seen a massive turnaround." The club regularly spends more than £1,000 to attract the top acts. But why tribute bands?

The spokesman explained: "We cannot afford the real thing. We enquired after Spandau Ballet, for example, and were told they charged £10,000 to appear.

"We go for the next best thing.

"I think the evenings are popular because people know what to expect. If we have a Queen tribute band on, they immediately know whether they are going to like the music or not.

"And we always go for the best -- we are bringing some massive acts to our club."

Tickets for the star nights are £5 and include the main act and a comedian. For further details, ring 531114.