GEORDIE actor and singer Jimmy Nail, comedians John Thompson and Gavin Webster, soul sensation Ruby Turner, operatic voice of sport Sean Ruane and Strictly Come Dancing winner Jill Halfpenny are to join a line-up of rock and comedy greats taking part in this year’s Teenage Cancer Trust Bandstand event at The Sage Gateshead. The performers have agreed to appear alongside The Who frontman Roger Daltrey and comic Vic Reeves, who will be compering the event on September 22. Organisers are hoping that even more big names will be joining the line-up, following the massive success of last year’s gig. TCT Bandstand 2007 is raising funds to support youngsters with cancer across the North East and to help build a new unit at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary. The six-bed ward is expected to open in late 2008. Last year TCT staged its first large-scale music event outside London and the sell-out Bandstand 2006 gig – which featured Jools Holland, Paul Weller, Ross Noble and Johnny Vegas – at the Sage raised more than £50,000 for the new unit planned for the RVI. Daltrey is a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust and has been the driving force behind the TCT concerts at the Royal Albert Hall for the last seven years, helping the charity to raise millions of pounds to create specialist wards for young people with cancer. The singer said: “Teenage Cancer Trust units give our teenagers the moral support to help fight this terrible disease. “We need more of them so every teenager in the UK can have access to one.” Tickets for Bandstand are priced at £60 and £40 and are available now from: www.teeenagecancertrust.org /bandsatnd www.ticketmaster.co.uk www.thesagegateshead.co.uk or by calling (0191) 443 4661. A DVD from Bandstand 2006 featuring Paul Weller, Jools Holland, Johnny Vegas and many more, is available now for £12.99 from the Teenage Cancer Trust website. | 
