AN ACCLAIMED west Dorset band will play a last warm-up gig in their home town - before setting off on a European tour.

Lyme Regis band Papa Le Gal will take to the stage at the Marine Theatre tomorrow night, before setting off on a tour that will see them rock The Kremlin.

The dance-inciting Afrobeat funk band, hailed by critics as one of the most exciting groups to have come out of the south west in years, will perform in Lyme in preparation for a nine nation tour across the continent.

Papa Le Gal will be playing to their biggest audiences so far - up to 5,000 people a night - in the tour on which they will support Deep Purple rock icon Ian Gillan.

The band will perform at the Kremlin Palace in Moscow in November.

Papa Le Gal will be playing arenas in the capital cities of Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary, Ukraine, Belarus and Poland, together with The Kremlin show and a concert in St Petersburg.

The band – Grace Gillan, Olli Dixon, Jacques Verhaeren and Greg Walters – will be releasing a new single next month.

The new song, Good Times, will get its first public performance at the Marine Theatre show, where Papa will be supported by local jazz-funk masters Slinky Machine and reggae fusion stars Zuri Aura, from Exeter.

Grace said: “We’re hugely excited to be touring northern Europe and to be playing some really big gigs.

“We’re sure the Russians will love a bit of Papa.

“We’re also thrilled to be back in the Marine Theatre for the tour warm-up show on Friday.

“It’s the first time we’ve ever hosted a three-band bill and this is without doubt going be a night overflowing with worldly musical goodness to get your blood pumping and say ‘let’s party’.”

Tickets for the Marine Theatre show are available online from the band’s website papalegalofficial.com and can be picked up in person from Fuego in Coombe Street, Lyme Regis.