WITH only the versatile Nick Pynn giving him acoustic backing, Steve Harley returns to the Albert Halls in Bolton by popular demand on Saturday, May 1. The hugely successful, Stripped To The Bones, show is back on the road. Stripped of their original glam arrangements, songs like Sebastian and Tumbled Down have lost none of their force over the years. In fact, the uplugged and unmasked Cockney Rebel material shows brilliantly that the real quality of Harley's songwriting lies not in the Dylanesque lyrics, not in the then big string backing, but in the bright, often very sophisticated structure of the songs.

Always striving to surprise himself as much as his audience, Steve makes a conscious effort to add to his stage performances.

"We never play the same show two nights running. The first couple of numbers, maybe, just to settle in, then I'm off, calling the numbers out as I go," he told the BEN.

"I imagine I'm one of of the few artists - in rock and roll terms - of more mature years, who genuinely loves touring. And in order to tour, and to play shows of a reasonable size, you have to sell records, and in order to sell records, you have to make an album. So I have to write songs. It's a bit of a strange modus operandi - but it works for me."

Tickets available from the Albert Halls on Bolton 364333.

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