Live: Davie Jones and the Manish Boys, ABC Cinema, Wigan

David Bowie’s first live shows outside the south of England took place on Tuesday 1 December 1964.

Davie Jones and the Manish Boys were the unbilled ‘guest stars’ on the final six shows of US singer Gene Pitney’s tour of the UK. They kicked off with two shows at the ABC Cinema in Wigan.

The band’s dates with Pitney were on consecutive nights from 1-6 December, and also took them to Hull, Edinburgh, Stockton-on-Tees, Newcastle, and Scarborough.

The Manish Boys replaced Bobby Shafto and The Roofraisers as the tour’s opening act. Also on the bill were Marianne Faithfull, the Kinks, the Mike Cotton Sound, Kim Weston, the Earl Van Dyke Band, and headliner Gene Pitney. The tour was promoted by Brian Epstein and the Arthur Howes Agency.

The Wigan shows were the band’s only tour date in the north west of England. Wigan’s ABC Cinema closed on 19 April 1997 and was demolished in 2005.