Later this month the former lead singer of The Verve will take to the stage at the Robin Park Arena for the first time in 26 years.
And no sooner had details of the two concerts been finalized than he was keen to be re-acquainted with his favorite sweets and asking the William Santus company on Dorning Street if there was any chance of their fashioning a commemorative tin.
They were delighted to oblige and further flattered to discover that when he was a teenager, Richard was so big a fan of Uncle Joe’s that he had a T-shirt designed very similar to the iconic tins, only with the singer taking center and supping a cup of tea to promote his 2002 album Human Conditions.
John Winnard, co-director of William Santus and Co, said: “We are dead proud of Richard Ashcroft as a Wiganer, delighted that he’s coming back to perform here after all these years and also delighted that he asked us to do the tin.
"We loved his picture a la Uncle Joe’s too. His agent Steve Kutner told us that Richard loves our Mint Balls, hence the special edition tin request."
John said he had always liked the Verve’s music and since the homecoming was announced he had listened to a lot of Richard’s songs and come to appreciate them all anew.
Richard will be performing at Robin Park on both July 20 and 21. Tickets long ago sold out for his Saturday gig but are still available for the Sunday.
The special Uncle Joe’s tins will be sold via the William Santus website www.uncle-joes.com and will also be available on merchandise stands at the arena for his concerts.
Richard Ashcroft was born at Billinge Hospital and attended Up Holland High School and Winstanley College, where The Verve was formed and he took his first steps on the road to stardom.
They played their first gig at a friend’s 18th birthday party at the Honeysuckle pub, on Pool Street, Wigan, in August 1990 and never looked back. They famously played to tens of thousands of music fans at Haigh Hall in 1998.
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| Richard Ashcroft holds a tin of Uncle Joe's Mint Balls, 1997 |
- Source: Wigan Today
- Limited edition collector's tin product page on Uncle Joe's website
- Kudos: Jesse
