Beatle George’s 80th birthday

The All Things Must Pass Orchestra – dedicated to the music of the late great George Harrison – celebrate their tenth anniversary in the year which would have seen “the quiet” Beatle’s 80th birthday.

Lead singer Alex E be rh ards et the band up in 2012 after listening to the George Harrison tribute concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

“I was watching a DVD of the Concert For George with this big number of musicians taking part and I just thought that I would love to play George Harrison's music but to do it with a big orchestra.

"I asked some friends that I knew from various jazz scenes and they were up for it straight away. "We had the first rehearsal in November 2012without any backing vocals and it was just great fun. It worked well and in 2013 we had the first little gig at a pub in Brighton. And then the following year we played at Henley-on Thames which is now very much a fixture for us. It was in Henley that George Harrison lived.”

The most gigs they have played any year was ten which also happened to be in the year in which Alex’s daughter was born – 2015. This year they are playing six, and the exciting thing for Alex is that included among those six is their first-ever date in Worthing, at the Worthing Pavilion: “I lived in Worthing for about ten years so it's really nice to be able to play there for the first time.”

The gigs coming up are Monday, May 22, Brighton Komedia (01273 647100); Thursday, May 25, Pavilion Theatre, Worthing (01903 206206); Friday, May 26, Spring Arts Centre, Havant (023 92472700).