Gig Preview: Vinny Peculiar – The Curse of You Know Who
With Craig Sinclair
Staurday 17th Oct 26 – St Swithun’s Church, Worcester
There aren’t many singer-songwriters who can claim to have been a Glastonbury Acoustic Stage compere, founded their own band and built a career around some of the sharpest, funniest and most offbeat songwriting in the country. Vinny Peculiar, aka Alan Wilkes, is one of them.
He returns to Worcester for a full-band show at St Swithun’s Church, showcasing his latest release, The Curse of You Know Who, out now on Shadrack & Duxbury Records.
Wilkes has spent years developing a distinctly British brand of songwriting that sits somewhere between observational comedy, pop, poetry and melancholia. His songs can be witty, acerbic and occasionally downright surreal, but there’s usually something rather more human lurking beneath the humour.
The Irish Times memorably described him as “the missing link between Jarvis Cocker and Roger McGough” – a description that neatly captures his knack for combining literate lyrics, everyday observations and a healthy dose of northern wit.
His career has taken him across the UK, Europe and the US, with sixteen studio albums to his name, while his work with The Parlour Flames has added another strand to an already eclectic musical CV. His time as compere of Glastonbury’s Acoustic Stage has also cemented his reputation as an engaging and entertaining live performer.
For the Worcester date, Wilkes will be bringing a full band, giving the songs a chance to stretch beyond their singer-songwriter roots. Expect sharp lyrics, memorable melodies, humour and the occasional left turn, with material from The Curse of You Know Who sitting alongside songs from his extensive back catalogue.
Opening the evening is Liverpool songwriter Craig Sinclair, making this a night built around two distinctive voices rather than a standard support-and-headliner formula.
For anyone who likes their songwriting intelligent without taking itself too seriously, Vinny Peculiar’s return to Worcester should be well worth catching.