Sid Calderbank & The Lancashire Wallopers/Pete Coe

Event information

A native speaker of Lancashire Dialect, Sid Calderbank has been collecting songs and stories from Lancashire for over 40 years. Expect songs, novelties, and everything in between! By special arrangement Sid will be joined for one night only by The Lancashire Wallopers. The team was originally formed in 1981 by students of the legendary clog dancer and music hall entertainer Sam Sherry. The purpose of their formation was a one-off performance at the National Gathering at Cecil Sharp House of the bargees social dance taught to them by Bill Gibbons. Their outfits are inspired by the clothing traditionally worn by canal bargees.

The Wallopers' present repertoire includes routines based on most of the steps that Sam Sherry taught, steps danced by other celebrated clog dancers and dance routines in the style of the music hall as performed by The Five Sherry Brothers. The skilled dancing is taken to another level through the creative skills of the team's two accomplished musicians. Sam had interests in both the traditional styles of clog dancing and the music hall styles which are assumed to have developed, at least in part, from the former. The Wallopers continue that combination of interests and this is reflected in their diverse repertoire. Expect clog dances, music hall routines, and more.

Pete Coe has been a professional musician since 1971, playing at festivals concerts, clubs, dances & schools throughout Britain, Europe, Asia, New Zealand & USA . During the ‘70s he toured and recorded with Chris Coe, was a member of the legendary New Victory Band & with Nic Jones, Tony Rose and again, Chris Coe, he was a member of Bandoggs. In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s he toured and recorded with Red Shift but since 1985 he’s mainly worked as a soloist & earned an enviable reputation.
His strong, distinctive voice is enhanced by his instrumental versatility, the ringing strings of his bouzouki, the sweet chords of his mountain dulcimer, the plaintive frailing banjo & the pulsing reeds of his melodeon. He’s also a country dance caller, creator & band musician. He sings, plays & step dances, sometimes all at once!