Louie Louie: so good they named them twice!

LOUIE LOUIE line-up, from from Pedro Faria, Tom Pallett, Rita Faria and Oldham’s Paul Limer

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IT’S not going to be very often that this page features talented musicians from Portugal, but today is one of those times.

That’s because four-piece self-proclaimed “kickass rock ‘n’ roll” outfit Louie Louie is half Portuguese, a quarter Leicester and a quarter MOORSIDE!

The multi-influenced band has been together since last September, but has already crammed some hugely significant gigs on the CV - with plenty more exciting dates coming up.

The band — vocalist/rhythm guitarist Rita Faria from Lisbon, her brother Pedro on bass, lead guitarist Tom Pallett and Oldham’s Paul Limer on drums — is creating bigger ripples with every gig.

Named after a favourite second hand record store of Rita’s back at home in Lisbon, Louie Louie came together last year after the hugely confident singer had spent the previous two years building up a stock of tracks while at Manchester University.

Once armed with a bundle of tunes, Rita recruited fellow students Limer and Pallett and dragged her brother Pedro over from Portugal.

Louie Louie’s raw, loud sound and catchy choruses have since wooed audiences at Manchester’s Ruby Lounge, Night and Day, Roadhouse, Big Hands and Castle venues, as well as the 100 Club in London and arenas in Leeds and Liverpool, where they supported the Courteeners.

A sizeable following is already growing, and later this month Louie Louie will rock out Manchester’s Band on the Wall after being invited to support arguably Oldham’s finest current band, the Gramotones.

Louie Louie has made an enviable start, but all four members know there is still a lot of hard work to get through to realise dreams of national acclaim.

But they do have one factor in their favour: “I’m a girl,” said Rita without hesitation. “If you think about it, most of the other bands out there are full of men. We think my voice creates a good contrast in the music we make.

“There are lots of influences, but sound-wise we like stuff like the Verve and early Oasis. Performance-wise the Rolling Stones are probably my biggest influence, but there’s a big mix of everything I listen to - and that includes pop music.”

The band is sure to be playing for a sell-out crowd at Band on the Wall on June 26: they got the gig because Rita took it on herself to ask Gramotones’ pair Sid Cooper and Jake Fletcher if Louie Louie could have a slot in the show!

After the Band on the Wall, Louie Louie head off to play a festival in Portugal in July headlined by Lenny Kravitz. After that, who knows?

LISTEN to my exclusive audio interview with Louie Louie here: