Scouting For Girls come to town

Buy photos » Evesham's Rapture Entertainment music store went Scouting For Girls crazy when the trio made a special visit to the town. Pictures by Nigel Slater.

HUNDREDS of excited youngsters flocked to an Evesham music store as chart-toppers Scouting For Girls made a special visit to the Vale.

The She's So Lovely stars consisting Roy Stride, Greg Churchouse and Peter Ellard were the special guests at Evesham's Rapture Entertainment yesterday (Thursday) where they performed live and held a signing session for more than 200 fans.

The band's visit to the town came in the same week as their third album titled 'The Light Between Us' hit shop shelves all over the country.

In 2010, the trio's debut album titled namesake Scouting For Girls reached the top of UK Album Chart and two years later in 2010 their track 'This Ain't a Love Song' made number one in the Official UK Singles Chart.

The group begin a tour across the UK next month and vocalist Roy Stride said the band were delighted to see so many fans come to the store to meet them.

"This has been our first visit to Evesham and its been an amazing crowd," he told the Observer. "Before we came to the store we had a pint in the Royal Oak and had a walkaround which was really good fun.

"These events mean a lot to us because we get to see the people who are willing to hang around for two hours and its a chance for us to actually talk to them which is great and the only time we can do that.

"I don't why, but we seem to do really well in the Midlands and we have a great following here. A lot of people come to see us around here."

And the band heaped the praise on Evesham's independent store which is one of a very few in the whole of Worcestershire.

"Local record shops are so valuable not just for the bands but for the community as well and it's such a lucky thing for a town to have," Roy added. "It's amazing to see stores like these doing so well when economic times are difficult."

Rapture Entertainment store manager Natalie Boyles said the day had been a huge success. "It went absolutely brilliantly, it was great to see so many excited faces," she said.

Scouting For Girls' visit follows other big name guests to have visited the store in recent times such as fellow chart-toppers McFly in March last year and Alex Day in April.

And the special guest appearances do not stop there at the Riverside Centre store with American singer/songwriter Jesca Hoop performing live and meeting fans on Wednesday, September 19 from 1pm.

For more information visit the store's official Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RaptureEvesham or call the store on 01386 760302.

SCOUTING For Girls' visit will live long in the memory for one Vale youngster after he played his guitar in front of the band.

Ten-year-old Alex Deacon from Badsey decided to bring his new electric guitar to the event and when meeting the band the youngster could not resist the opportunity to strut his stuff in front of the chart-toppers.

Alex, a massive Scouting For Girls fan, then had his guitar signed by the band making it a day to remember for him and his mum Clare.

The delighted youngster told the Observer: "I had wanted an electric guitar for ages and when I knew I was going to see Scouting For Girls I really wanted them to sign it. It was a pretty cool experience to play my guitar in front of them."

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