MUSIC: Wolfe Tones headline Westport Music Festival

There’s a Wolfe at the door…


Westport will resonate to the rousing songs of the Wolfe Tones on the opening night of the Westport Music Festival. Now in their fifth decade of making music, the band has witnessed many major world events – and they’re unrepentant about taking a stance.

Westport is gearing up for its annual Music Festival this weekend, and kicking off proceedings in style are the Wolfe Tones. One of the country’s most loved folk bands, the Wolfe Tones will be headlining a free open-air concert on the main stage this Thursday night.
The Wolfe Tones are now an incredible 45 years on the road. During this time, they have received almost every award and accolade that an Irish folk ballad group can hope to receive.  As a band they function on multi-levels: talented, creative, humorous, controversial, traditional and contemporary.
Their mission has been to keep the tradition of the Irish ballad alive and flourishing. Their love of performing is evident throughout the past five decades as they carried their music to the four corners of the world. Rumour has it their music has even been played on board a space shuttle!
One thing that will strike anyone who goes to a Wolfe Tones concert is the diversity of age groups in the audience – all are represented, from the very young to the young at heart.
When they first exploded onto the Irish folk scene, there were four band members, and while that number has now reduced to three – Noel Nagle, Tommy Byrne and Brian Warfield – the power of their performances remains as strong as ever.
Last year, when asked what the future holds for the Wolfe Tones, Brian replied: “We are 44 years on the road, so I don’t think we are going to see another 44, as much as we would want to! But we will continue for some time to come. Of course, we will be slowing down and doing less touring. But I don’t think ‘the Tones’ are ready to hang up their instruments yet.” 
Commenting on the band’s immense popularity, Noel said: “When we started in the early sixties, we never envisaged that we would be so successful and that we would be going for this length of time. It is remarkable when you think of it.”
Brian, meanwhile, attributes the band’s success to its broad appeal, which he said allowed the music to reach out to the the Irish Diaspora and ‘anyone who had an interest in Ireland and its history’.
When asked about the political nature of their songs, Brian responded in a way that betrays a discontent about how the band has been characterised in the press.
“Success always brings its critics” said Brian, “We were hugely successful when the troubles started, so songs that we were singing for years suddenly became more potent and significant.
“In 1969, when the civil rights movement started in Ireland, we decided to support the people in their struggle for civil rights, justice and equality by singing at concerts and so on. We had supported the civil rights movement in America and South Africa in the same way for years, so it was natural that when it started in Ireland we would support it there. Some people have used this fact that we supported ‘the struggle’ to ridicule and demonize us.”
However, Brian sticks to his guns: “We knew we were doing the right thing. The Tones were never ‘band-wagoners’. Some were off-and-on band wagons and sometimes some forgot which wagon they were on, but we stayed true over the 44 years, and we never faltered.
“We have recorded and have had many hits over the years about all aspects of Ireland for instance; emigration songs like ‘The Streets of New York’, ‘The Flight of the Earls’ and ‘My Heart is in Ireland’; love songs like ‘Irish Eyes’ and ‘ Slieve Na Mban’; Political or topical songs like ‘Helicopter Song’, ‘Rockon Rockall’, ‘The Punt’ and ‘Joe McDonnell’; county songs like ‘Farewell to Dublin’, ‘Tyrone’ and many others.
“We were never attacked for our love or emigration songs, but only for the songs of a topical or political nature. We always felt that major events in our lifetime – political or otherwise – warranted the attention of the ballad singer as it did for generations before us. So we kept true to the bardic tradition and told the story uncensored and in its entirety, as it should be.