BOY and girl bands may be all the rage, but New College music students are getting back to pop's roots.

The 1950s and 1960s will be recreated when student musicians and dancers perform the music of black America - the sounds which influenced The Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Their revue, Blues and Soul Caf, will feature the music of soul stars such as Otis Redding and Sam Cooke, and the Chicago blues of Muddy Waters.

The show will be held in the college's Garland Theatre, Framwellgate Moor, Durham, from tomorrow until Saturday, at 8pm.

Youngsters from the college's music and performing arts department will be staging the show, along with colleagues from hairdressing, media and catering.

College customer services manager Paul Ryder said: "The students are trying to recreate the atmosphere of a Chicago nightclub in the 1950s and 1960s.

"They have done all the choreography and musical arrangements themselves. I have been to the rehearsals and they are tremendous.''

Tickets cost £4, or £2.50 concessions, and are available by calling 0191-375 4344.