Smiths star launches massive Manchester gig

The Smiths' Andy Rourke has announced details of next year’s Versus Cancer gig.

The bassist organises an annual concert in hometown Manchester to raise money for the local Christie Hospital and Genesis Centre, with previous shows featuring the likes of Noel Gallagher, Ian Brown and Paul Weller.

This year’s concert will take place on February 23 at the MEN Arena, with the line-up to be confirmed soon.

“This year’s gig is going to be talked about for years to come. We’ve got some of the biggest bands of the moment lined up as well as some legendary acts that haven’t performed live for a long time,” explained Rourke of the 2008 event.

In the meantime, the bassist has also launched a “join the line-up” campaign to get fans and musicians to wear a special pin badge in the run to this year’s event.

“Basically, we’ve always been about loads of people getting together to make a stand and do something special,” said Rourke of the new effort, “and this year we wanted everyone to be able to be a part of it.”

For more information about the badges, plus ticket details for Versus Cancer 08 go to Versuscancer.org.