The Wolfetones 50th Anniversary Tour Tickets

‘Some of my earliest memories are hearing my Mum playing the Wolfe Tones. Who knows, that may have turned me on to music in the first place’ - NOEL GALLAGHER

Formed in Kilrush, County Clare, Eire in August 1963, this quartet (originally known as the Wolfe Tones Ballad Group) has been a rebellious presence in the folk music scene since their inception. Their greatest success has been among the Irish diaspora in the USA, but their fanbase extends from Eire to Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Australia.

The Wolfe Tones are a trio who comprises of Tommy Byrne (b. 1944, Dublin, Eire; lead vocals, guitar and songwriter) Brian Warfield (b. 1946, Dublin, Eire; vocals, five-string banjo, harp, whistles, uillean pipes), and Noel Nagle (b. 1945, Dublin, Eire; whistles, uillean pipes).

This trio had grown up in the Dublin working class suburb of Inchicore, where the folk music seeds were sown both by their families and by their regular attendance at music sessions in their local traditional music club, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann. They took their name from eighteenth-century Irish Nationalist patriot, Wolfe Tone, one of the leaders of the 1798 Irish Rebellion.

From the moment of their inception, the band forged their reputation for highly charged political folk singing. From their debut single, "The Spanish Lady", in 1964, they rapidly rose in the folk firmament, playing in the USA's Carnegie Hall by 1976. In 1973 they had their first number 1 single in the Irish charts with "The Helicopter Song" followed by "The Streets Of New York" in 1981 which stayed at the top of the Irish charts for seven weeks.

The Wolfe Tones have enjoyed unprecedented success for a band in their genre. It’s hard to believe but in their native Ireland they have sold more records than fellow patriots U2. What’s more their signature ‘A Nation Once Again’ was voted the #1 track in the world by the  BBC World Service poll, piping the likes of Elvis, The Beatles, Bob Marley and Bob Dylon to the title.

Their performances are stuff of legends. Their ballads have brought a tear to the eye of appreciative audiences around the world for a spectacular 50  years from the Albert Hall in London to the in New York, Los Angeles, Kansas and Philadelphia. They have been awarded with the key to the city and had a flag flown over the Capitol building in Washington DC in their honor. Need we say more.

Their upcoming Australian tour in January will be the very last time audiences down under will have the privilege of witnessing the Wolfe Tones phenomena.