The notorious Fun Lovin’ Criminals performed at the Hard Rock Cafe, The Printworks Manchester last night for the Bombay Teen Charity.
FUN Lovin’ Criminals front man Huey Morgan says he has life-long friends from Manchester. The band have played here many times and returned for a special charity gig last night.
In fact Huey says he’d have no objection to being ‘Lord Morgan of Manchester’, to help sort out youth crime, if it was ever needed.
‘Manchester is like a sister city to New York, where I grew up. We’ve got lots of stories to tell about our trips here and we kicked off our 2010 tour in the city. I like the vibe and music.’
In their younger days they got picked up by police several times, but fortunately ‘they always let us go’.
Now Huey says he’d do anything to help young people out.
‘There’ll always be trouble, but I hate seeing kids hanging around on street corners. It’s strange but I’d like to stop them getting up to the kind of trouble we did when we were younger. Accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.’
Perhaps that’s inspired by his new role as a father. The 43 year old has a 7 month old son called Beaumont, whose nickname is Bam Bam.
‘I’m going to encourage my boy to read. I think it ignites young people’s imagination. I’m a big reader and books can take people out of themselves, when there’s nowhere else to go. Give them some inspiration,’ he says.
‘I will do my best to keep him right, but if he has a big question I will tell him; Google it.’
Huey has had his own shows on BBC Radio 2, 6 Music and various telly roles. The band still get together for various music gigs every year and will be doing the festivals this summer.
Charity is now something they’re adopting. They played at Hard Rock Cafe last night in aid of Bombay Teen Challenge. All the proceeds go to help Indian orphans and homeless young people.
‘I wept when I saw children on the streets and the way they were living in such shocking conditions, thinking that was normal.
‘I asked myself what can we do, what can the band do? I think it’s great if people come to our gigs and donate money’.
‘I felt I couldn’t really say no, when you look at how privileged we are’.
Fans flocked to Hard Rock Cafe, The Printworks to see their heroes and to raise money for this worthwhile cause.
Fred Booth Centre Director for The Printworks was there, “The gig was amazing with a fantastic turn out despite the hot weather outside. This isn’t the first time we’ve welcomed the Fun Lovin Criminals to The Printworks but is the first time they’ve performed here – they rocked!”
The Fun Lovin’ Criminals are playing several UK dates and festivals this year see www.funlovincriminals.tv for more details.
Photos by Kacha Takukyan
