Adrian Edmondson and the Bad Shepherds in Stevenage

ONE of British comedy’s most famous faces will appear in Stevenage tomorrow (Friday) to showcase his stripped down versions of new-wave classics.

Adrian Edmondson, star of Bottom and The Young Ones, will appear with his band The Bad Shepherds at the Gordon Craig Theatre as part of a nationwide tour.

The group has produced two folk albums of 70s punk covers and recorded blistering versions of Sounds of the Suburbs, I Fought the Law and Down in the Tube Station at Midnight.

Adrian says the often rowdy tracks stand up as acoustic numbers due to their lyrical strength.

He said: “There’s a lot of songs I thought wouldn’t work because I’m an old man and I can’t sing songs about being a teenager, but most punk songs are really emotive, they have powerful lyrics and a lot of meaning.

“A lot of people come to the gigs who haven’t really heard the lyrics before.”

The Bad Shepherds formed a number of years ago when the TV star picked up a mandolin and jammed a couple of Clash songs with a mate, who advised him to find some “hot folk musicians” to help in his quest to re-interpret the soundtrack of his youth.

He said: “I have always been jealous of musicians because there’s a judging that goes on in comedy for every laugh.

“Every joke gets judged if it gets a laugh in seconds, whereas a singer gets two minutes to perform a song.”

Despite having worked with so many top musicians, including The Who and Elvis Costello, there was only one man Adrian would like to share a stage with.

“Lou Reed. We would play the whole of Transformer.”

Tickets for the show, priced at �19.50, are on sale now from the Lytton Way venue’s box office on 01438 363200 or www.gordon-craig.co.uk