The Dirty Strangers' Chichester gig will kick-start a Rolling Stones summer

They intended their December gig at the venue to be a tribute to their very own keyboard player Scott Mulvey who died in October.

Sadly, however, it was cancelled as Covid raged again just before Christmas.

But now they are back in business, with a rearranged gig at the Chichester Inn on Saturday, April 2 at 8pm (tickets £15 advance, £20 on the door, from the Chichester Inn or Time Machine Records).

Scotty will be very much in their thoughts, though Chichester musician Alan Clayton – a friend to The Rolling Stones for 40 years – certainly isn’t intending it to be a sombre occasion.

With the Stones announcing summer dates, Alan reckons it’s time to get the rock ‘n’ roll party started – and that’s exactly what they are going to do.

“The idea is to celebrate rock ‘n’ roll like we always used to and also the fact that we’ve got a new guitarist John Rollason. When I first worked with Keith Richards, John was our guitarist back then but like anything, you have your ups and downs and during the down parts we didn’t split up, we didn’t fall out with each other, he didn’t leave and we didn’t sack him but it just kind of drifted apart. We just stopped playing together.

“But we got John back after Scotty died. I met John through Scotty’s funeral. This is our first gig without Scotty and it will be dedicated to him. Scotty had introduced me to John and then John ended up being in the band. We got back together to celebrate Scotty’s life and John ended up coming back to the band again. It’s funny how things work out. We lost Scotty and John came back.”

Alan first got to know Keith Richards through his friend Joe Seabrook who was Keith’s bodyguard: “He introduced me to Keith and 40 years later I am still his friend.

“I moved down to Chichester two or three years ago. The thing was that our house in London I bought 40 years ago and was worth a lot of money 40 years later. We decided to cash in and move down and move away from the city.”

Keith said ‘Stay at my spare place at Redlands, at West Wittering: “We lived in the bungalow next door to Redlands until we found a place. In that seven months we found the place where we now live in Chichester. It’s a lovely place. We have got the sea. We have got everything there.”

And now there is the prospect of Rolling Stones gigs this summer: “I have known the Stones for 40 years. I would never presume but I’m pretty sure I will see them.

“And I think it is great that they’ve continued despite losing Charlie. I’ve seen videos of them and I knew that Steve Jordan is fantastic. He really is but I think you’ve just got to admire them for carrying on. I’m sure Charlie would have wanted them to carry on. Steve is not Charlie and he never will be. He is different but they are great and why should they ever retire? Why would you stop doing something that you love doing and that millions of people love you for?”

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