A PORTSMOUTH function band were in for a shock when they turned up at a booking for a birthday bash.

The Voltaires arrived at the venue, a beautiful manor house in the outskirts of Reading, only to find that they’d been booked to play for DIY SOS host Nick Knowles’ lavish 60th birthday party.

Guitarist and band manager Ben Mowatt said: ‘We’re a covers band which does weddings and private functions all over the country.

‘We only formed just before the pandemic, but over the last year or so we’ve been doing really well and our popularity’s been growing mainly via word of mouth. Things have just been going from strength to strength.

Portsmouth covers band The Voltaires with Nick Knowles (fourth from left), at the TV presenter's 60th birthday. Picture by Stuart Paul

placeholder image — Portsmouth covers band The Voltaires with Nick Knowles (fourth from left), at the TV presenter's 60th birthday. Picture by Stuart Paul

‘We were booked to do this hush-hush gig – we didn’t know who it was for, the only name we had was for his girlfriend who had booked it. Apparently they came across the band on the internet.

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‘When we got there and found out who it was for, it was a bit of a shock – we had no idea!’

Aside from the feelgood DIY show, Knowles is also known for fronting the game show Who Dares Wins and various other BBC programmes.

Portsmouth covers band The Voltaires performing at Nick Knowles' 60th birthday. Picture by Stuart Paul

‘It was a really great event and there were some other well known faces there such as Angellica Bell, Nicki Chapman, Michael Underwood, most of the members of the DIY SOS team, a couple of rugby stars and two members of Love Island.

‘Some of his friends gave some speeches, then he gave a speech. He was a really nice guy. And everyone enjoyed what we were doing, it was a great night.

‘It was really nice to hear stories told about him by his old friends. It felt really special to be there.’

The band was formed by veterans of the local scene.

Frontman Craig Sutton is one of the triplets from Leigh Park who played as The Noise Next Door, a pop-punk band who enjoyed a string of hit singles in the noughties.

Ben played in Drivin’ South and The Darling Age – the latter toured with such big names as Supergrass, The Libertines and Boy Kill Boy.

For more information about the band go to facebook.com/thevoltairesband.