TRADITIONAL IRISH FOLK band The Wolfe Tones have announced a headline show at Dublin’s 3Arena to take place in October of next year.
The announcement comes hot on the heels of a major performance by the band at Electric Picnic last weekend. Playing in the festival’s Electric Arena tent on Sunday night, the band attracted a crowd of over 10,000, which organisers have said is a record-breaking figure for a non-main stage act in the festival’s 19-year history.
Footage of the performance – including chants by the crowd of “Up the ‘Ra” – has since gone viral and led to much public discourse. Brian Warfield, the band’s lead singer, chief songwriter and founder, appeared on Liveline yesterday and clashed with Joe Duffy over the lyrical content and Irish rebel sentiment at the core of many of the band’s songs.
During the segment, Duffy said he was sick of hearing the song Celtic Symphony, deriding it as “brutal, old rubbish”.
The Wolfe Tones have experienced something of a revival in recent years, having made headlines in late 2022 when the Ireland Women’s National Team celebrated qualification for the Women’s World Cup by singing along to their song Celtic Symphony, followed by a chant of “Ooh, ah, up the ‘Ra”. The song went one to reach number one in the Irish music charts in the aftermath of the controversy.
In early 2020, the band’s rendition of folk rebel song Come Out Ye Black And Tans also reached number one on the Irish charts, following backlash against the Government’s plans to hold a commemorative event for the Royal Irish Constabulary as part of the Decade of Centenaries.
Next year’s gig, which is marketed as a 60th anniversary show for the band – currently comprised of Warfield, fellow founder Noel Nagle, and Tommy Byrne – will take place on Saturday, 12 October, 2024. Tickets starting from €46.20 will go on sale this Friday at 9am.
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