BOLTON will be playing host to a true eccentric tonight when Julian Cope takes to the stage of the Albert Halls.

The former Teardrop Explodes frontman, who has been hailed as both a madman and a genius in his time, is looking forward to his Bolton performance as he recently visited a sacred stone circle in Turton Heights for his ongoing research into the subject of ancient stones.

The 43-year-old said: "The last tour I played was purely in the islands off Scotland and I'm sure the Bolton audience won't be as wantonly barbarious as in the Shetlands!

"The countryside around Bolton is amazing and I like playing in towns I've never played in before, so I'm really looking forward to it.

"I didn't want to do just obvious dates in big cities, so Bolton suits me fine."

It might amaze Julian's fans that despite his passion for playing live, he is a home loving soul at heart and desperately misses his young daughters.

"I've engineered the whole tour around seeing my children at regular intervals because I miss them too much otherwise," he said.

Julian is expecting a mixed age range of fans to be among the audience on this tour with pensioners and teenagers mixing together.

"It had never occurred to me until recently that I attract such a mixture of fans, but since I started writing all the books about ancient stones and religion, I've attracted a new set of fans.

"I actually know a lot of the fans because I've seen them so many times over the past 20 years.

"But some of them tend to disappear for a few years if they don't like a certain album and then they re-appear again with their kids in tow!'' he said.

Diehard Cope fans are in for a treat as the concert will include plenty of old favourites alongside more recent material.

The concert starts at 8pm and tickets, which cost £12.50 and £11 concessions, are available on the door or from the box office on 334400.