WARRINGTON'S Winachi Tribe are to set to play their biggest headline show next month which could also lead to a huge homecoming at the Parr Hall.

The band are performing at Gorilla in Manchester on August 20 and also have a summer of festival appearances ahead to promote their upcoming debut album.

They will even be jetting off to Los Angeles next Friday to film a video for their first single, A Room With A Zoo.

Things have been moving fast for the band since they started working with manager Harry 'The Dog' Bridgen and changed their name from China White to Winachi Tribe.

Frontman Liam Croker, a former Bridgewater High pupil, said: "It's amazing. Our management is in LA. It’s run by a British guy but he’s lived in LA for the last 25 years and has been involved in the music scene over there.

"He’s worked with Black Grape and the Charlatans. We’ve been signed to Harry now for two years."

Harry hooked the six-piece up with Jim Spencer, of Eve Studios in Manchester, who is mixing their debut album which is set to be released in March and is also called A Room With A Zoo.

Jim engineered the latest New Order album and has worked with the likes of Liam Gallagher, Johnny Marr, The Charlatans and Paul Weller.

Liam, from Latchford, added: "It’s been a lot of hard work to get to this point. I always look at it like the Lord of the Rings films.

"Gandalf the Grey was China White and Gandalf the White is Winachi Tribe.

"All the hard work we did as China White basically gave us the pedestal to become Winachi Tribe.

"It’s like the stars have aligned…our management, our band, our music, our product – everything seems to have come together."

Manchester label Scruff of the Neck Records are also helping the lads promote their gig at Gorilla. Their sound is a mix of funk, rock, dance, acid house and hip hop.

"There’s been blood, sweat and tears for us to get to this point," said Liam, 33.

"It feels rewarding and it feels like the right time for us to be doing it. No one sounds like us and we don’t sound like anyone else and people are really warming to the fact there is a truly original band out there that are making it happen

"We’ve even got plans to play at the Parr Hall, maybe with another Warrington group, but we can’t say any more at the moment.

"It would be a great honour to do a Parr Hall show as we’ve been all over the place touring the UK and it would be good to come back and do a big hometown show. It would mean a lot to us."

Fans can also expect Winachi Tribe's debut album to as original as they are. Guests include Warrington's Wired For Sound choir, Rowetta from Happy Mondays and Kermit from Black Grape.

Liam added: "It’s a bit of a concept about the human race is becoming more like animals. And if you listen carefully we’ve managed to fit animals into each track.

"You can hear goats, wolves and monkeys flitting in and out of the tracks.

"At one point we were mixing A Room With A Zoo and I said: ‘Jim can you turn that elephant up?’

"He said: 'In 25 years of working in the music industry I’ve been asked a lot of things but I’ve never been asked to turn an elephant up…’

- Winachi Tribe will be putting on coaches from Warrington for their Gorilla gig. Details will be at facebook.com/thewinachitribe nearer the time

DAVID MORGAN