MARION SAUVEBOIS chats to The Bootleg Beatles

THE Bootleg Beatles will take their audience on a trip down memory lane in a bid to fund crucial research into dementia.

The acclaimed tribute band will revive Beatlemania at the Gig to Remember at the Oasis on Saturday as part of a campaign to raise £10,000 for Alzheimer’s Research UK.

Over three decades the group have clocked up six Glastonbury performances, sell-out shows at the Royal Albert Hall and even a set at Buckingham Palace as part of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2012.

The Gig to Remember will see the band take to the stage alongside X Factor stars Duke Beatbox.

Adam Hastings, The Bootleg Beatles’ John Lennon, said: “Alzheimer’s is a devastating degenerative disease, having profound effects on both people with the disease and their whole families alike and we are delighted to help Alzheimer’s Research UK, in our small way, to raise funds and public awareness for the cause.”

The event is the brainchild of Amanda Franks, whose mother Cathy Davidson was diagnosed with Alzheimer ’s five years ago.

Now 64, Cathy is looked after in a care home, and her daughter is determined to do all she can to raise money for dementia research.

“When the diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s came it turned our lives upside down – we didn’t really know anything about the disease and didn’t realise it could affect someone so young,” said Amanda, of Oakhurst.

“I chose to support Alzheimer’s Research UK because it seemed bonkers that research into dementia is so underfunded.

“We want everyone to come together and have a good time, with the added benefit of helping the research experts at the same time.”

Tickets for the Gig to Remember at the Oasis on Saturday, November 8, cost £20. To book visit thegigtoremember.com.