MEMBERS of The Waterboys have come and gone, but one thing has always stayed the same and that's founding member, Mike Scott.

He led the folk-rock group through its various line-ups and changing sounds from 1981 until 1993.

It started as a 'big music' (their own term) rock group, then moved to Ireland where they took on a more folky, lyrical sound.

The group scored their biggest hit in 1991, with a re-issue of their 1985 single the melodic The Whole of the Moon which rocketed up to number three in the charts.

The person who inspired that song is something that has been argued over by fans. Mike has often said that the character is a composite of many people.

Some have said it was about midget musical maestro Prince, though Mike has denied this.

He once mentioned that the author CS Lewis was 'in there somewhere'.

The name The Waterboys came from a line in a song on Lou Reed's Berlin album.

"I just liked the sound of the word," says Mike.

The band recently reformed with a new line up with Mike Scott (guitar/vocals), Richard Naiff (keyboards), Jeremy Stacey (drums), David Caitlin-Birch (bass) and Seamus Beeghan (Keyboards/guitar).

Their newest CD Universal Hall was released in June this year.

26th October, Portsmouth Guildhall. Performance: 8pm. Tickets: £18.50. Box office: 023 9282 4355.