Punk vicar performs for his congregation

A clergyman who sings in a punk rock band has played his first gig for his new parishioners in Denbighshire. The Reverend Phil Chew, responsible for five churches around Llanarmon yn Ial, has sung with Revisit for many years.



The band has played regularly in north west England, but never before for his congregations in north Wales. The gig on Saturday night was at the Raven Inn, a community-run pub in Llanarmon yn Ial.

The Anglican priest, who took up his post in north east Wales just before Christmas, said there had been a lot of interest in his other career and that he was expecting a few of his regular churchgoers to attend the gig. Mr Chew fronts the band in a punked-up version of his vicar's vestments, but stressed that church authorities were happy with his musical career which wasn't incompatible with his Christian mission.


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"The songs we choose don't compromise where I'm coming from, although they may be close to the knuckle," he said. The band, whose other members include an optician and an engineer, have played regularly in north west England, including a gig at the top of Blackpool Tower.