Rare return gig for Harding

But the singer and broadcaster, who first found fame in the 1970s when his single The Rochdale Cowboy was a 
surprise hit, was suffering a bad bout of laryngitis last time he visited and vowed to return to give his Lancaster fans a proper show.

He told the Evening Post: “When I did Lancaster last time, I only had half a voice!

“I had really bad laryngitis. But the audience were terrific and I thought, I want to go back and do the show properly. I want to go back and give them a real 100% go. So it’s the one gig that I’ve put in in two years that I’m going to go back to. And the Grand is a fantastic theatre.

“It’s a Frank Matcham theatre, a lovely old fashioned place.

“But Lancaster is just a great city. You’ve got the Dukes Playhouse which is terrific and a great rep theatre, I love it.

“And then you’ve got a lot of live music going on in the pubs too – and a lot of Irish sessions too. It’s a great place.”

The star, once described by Billy Connolly as “The funniest man in England”, stars in Me, A Guitar and Some Daft Stuff at the theatre from 7.30pm 
tomorrow.

He stopped performing live for around 15 years, concentrating on his BBC2 radio folk music show and indulging his love of fishing, walking and climbing, but returned after a friend talked him into playing Ingleton Folk Festival – and he realised how much he missed it.

Tickets are £16 or £15 on 01524 64695.