The Lincolnite has caught up with a Sleaford man who became the lead singer of T. Rex in the 90s and 00s – a week after he showed the band his Marc Bolan impression during a reunion gig he went to as a fan.

Rob Benson, a 60-year-old musician originally from Lincoln, had always been a big fan of notorious glam rockers T. Rex when he decided to watch Mickey Finn’s band in Northampton in 1998. Little did he know, that evening would change his life forever.

T. Rex are one of the most famous bands to ever emerge from the United Kingdom, with four number one singles in the 1970s and over 50 million album copies sold worldwide.

The centrepiece and foundation of the band was lead singer Marc Bolan, who founded T. Rex in 1967 and was the star of the show before his sudden death in a car crash in 1977.

The band split soon after losing its key cog, and it wasn’t until some 20 years later T. Rex decided to Get It On again.

In September 1997, to celebrate what would have been Marc Bolan’s 50th birthday, the former band members were invited to a reunion by their former tour manager Mick Gray.

It was the spark they all needed, and they decided to tour again under the name Mickey Finn’s T-Rex, due to the obvious lack of Bolan.

A year on from that, Finn and co. were playing a gig at the Chicago Rock cafe, a show which Rob Benson, living in Sleaford at this time, attended.

The band toured as Mickey Finn’s T-Rex when they returned in 1998.

“I was there as a fan”, he told The Lincolnite. “I did enjoy the gig, but I couldn’t help but feel there was something missing, the spirit of Marc Bolan was absent.

“I met the band after the gig and told them I could sing just like Marc, and they told me to send over a demo tape. They liked what they heard and invited me to rehearsals in the Isle of Wight.

“A week later I was performing at the Porsche festival in Germany in front of thousands of people, live on TV, as the lead singer of T. Rex. I didn’t know where to look. It was mad.”

Rob had gone from watching his heroes from the crowd to standing on stage performing with them in stadiums across the world, he was now a bonafide rock star. The largest crowd he performed to was 70,000 in a stadium in Germany.

“I was living a rock and roll dream, leather clad jackets and all.”

He continued: “It was utterly terrifying to start with, but Mickey and the rest of the guys were very helpful, we just built a chemistry up there on stage and eventually things were coming together great and I got more confident up there.

“I was truly thrown in at the deep end but I loved it. After that first show the stage manager walked into our room and said ‘great show guys’ then pointed at me and told me I looked like a scared rabbit! It was a very humbling experience.”

Rob saw the sights of stardom and got to hang around with countless celebrities during his time with the band, even befriending popular band Slade, but at that time it didn’t get much more famous than Oasis, the crown jewel of 90s Britpop.

Rob’s vocal resemblance to Marc Bolan caught the ears of not just his band members, but everyone who saw them perform.

“We did a festival in Copenhagen and were on the bill with Oasis, I got to spend the night partying with Liam Gallagher.

“Here I am, just an ordinary guy plunged into the world of show business, it was incredible.”

The good times kept rolling despite the death of the legendary conga player Mickey Finn in 2003, and Rob remained with the band until 2010, before he was replaced by current lead vocalist Jay Spargo.

Rob had the time of his life performing with T. Rex, a far cry from his previous work performing in pubs across Lincolnshire.

Rob now lives in Derbyshire, and before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he performed a couple of shows a year in Germany with The Classic Rock All-Stars, comprising of famous musicians from the 60s and 70s.

Reflecting on his whirlwind time, in the band he grew up adoring, Rob concluded: “98% of the time I spent in the band was just hanging about, meeting people, I got really close with the band members which felt normal at the time.

“I knew the songs off by heart, I was a huge fan, and here I was touring the world with them. It’s certainly one that’s been helpful to have on the CV!”

A pair of anti-vaxxers have decided to temporarily stop sharing conspiracy theories on Facebook and stage a protest at a roundabout in Lincoln instead.

The duo were spotted on the Riseholme roundabout on the A15 on Friday afternoon, armed with misinformation signs that appear to suggest England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty has an “evil agenda”.

The protest signs appeared to be against child vaccinations, which suggests that the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation were against young people being jabbed, despite a statement in July saying the Pfizer dose had been authorised for use in people aged 12 and over.

They seem to be at loggerheads with Lincolnshire’s own Jonathan Van-Tam, none other than England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, who urged people this week to “trust professionals, not Instagram” as fake propaganda posted on social media is being attributed to vaccine hesitancy.

Another sign held up spouts rhetoric about heart problems from the COVID-19 vaccine, while a third notice shows children with masks on and reads: “Is this the future we want for our kids?”

For reference, in case you cannot make it to the Lincolnshire Showground for your vaccination, there will be a free shuttle bus service to take you to and from the jab site starting next week. Read more here.

Up to 86% of adults in Lincolnshire are double-jabbed, and over 25% of 12-15-year-olds.

Lincolnshire County Council’s Labour Group will call on the Conservative-led authority to rethink its policy of turning off street lights in built-up areas overnight.

The present situation, introduced in 2016, means that most street lights in Lincolnshire are turned off at midnight, as the council said in March this year that lighting has “no impact” on night-time crime levels.

This statement came after a petition signed by over 5,000 people demanded that street lights were kept on overnight following the death of Sarah Everard in London this year.

The response to Sarah Everard’s death was one of concern for women’s safety, to which the council responded by saying “women’s safety is about much more than street lights.”

A memorial for Sarah Everard in Lincoln on university campus. | Photo: The Lincolnite

More than half of Lincolnshire’s street lights were turned off in 2016 as the council looked to save £1.7 million, and despite the petition and concerns raised, just one parish council asked for lights to be switched back on in 12 months, according to the county’s highways chief.

Now Kev Clarke, Labour County Councillor for Boultham Division in Lincoln and member of Lincolnshire County Council Highways Scrutiny Committee, will be raising the issue at the next meeting on Monday, October 25.

He will be calling for a review of LCC’s street lighting policy, and asking for the council to consider the possibility of keeping the lights on overnight.

Councillor Clarke argues: “After recent sad events – attacks on females – a lot of people feel unsafe and anxious when walking home at night when the county is plunged into darkness at midnight.

“Lincoln is being promoted as a university city with young people leaving home for the first time and moving to Lincoln to study here and gain a first class education. Wonder if the parents were told that lights go off, if so they may look at other locations for their children.

“To boost our local economy we want to attract visitors to Lincoln to visit not only as day–trippers, but to stay over for longer periods to enjoy the benefits of the city and county – one of which is not the turning off of the lights.

“Labour County Councillors are not alone in this plea to Lincolnshire County Council to review the current street lighting policy particularly in Lincoln before it’s too late. Students at the University of Lincoln also want to see changes to the current policy.”

Lincolnshire fire crews have been back at the scene of a fire nearly a month on from the blaze starting in Long Bennington.

The fire at the waste centre on Fen Lane started in the early hours of September 21, spreading a large amount of smoke in the area.

Extra heavy plant machinery was brought in this week to spread out the remaining burning materials.

The fire which started a month ago is still being dealt with in a multi-agency response. | Photo: R.S. Mortiss

Newark & Sherwood District Council said this week that residents affected have received a letter from South Kesteven District Council. SKDC has also sent letters to local residents regarding the plans to tackle the fire.

Fire crews have dampened down around three quarters of one of the large piles of waste. | Photo: R.S. Mortiss

Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue have managed to spread out and damp down around three quarters of one of the large piles of waste. The Environment Agency is also involved as part of a multi-agency response.

Danny Moss, Area Manager at Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue, said: “We have developed our plans to tackle this fire in consultation with our partners. Extra heavy plant machinery has been brought in this week to spread out the remaining burning materials and speed up the process.

“Of course the site itself and any impacts from our firefighting will continue to be monitored by supporting partners to ensure we take any other action as needed.

“Following our initial work assisted by the heavy machinery we are making good progress and have managed to spread out and damp down approximately three quarters of one of the large piles of waste. Activities are being supported by partners with air monitoring in place and water run off being considered.

“We would like to thank local residents for their continued patience and support as realise that this has been and continues to be an inconvenience due to the conditions. We are committed to working with partners to minimise the impact for all.”

The site is located on Fen Lane in Long Bennington. | Photo: R.S. Mortiss

Two arrests were made after an excavator and a lorry were seized by the Environment Agency as lorry-loads of waste, including plastics, were being accepted onto the same site and burned illegally last year, according to Grantham Journal.

The fire involved shipping containers with recycling materials and two scrap vehicles.