'It's been absolutely amazing': The Wolfe Tones announce ...
After drawing a record crowd at Electric Picnic over the summer and selling out multiple 3Arena gigs in Dublin, The Wolfe Tones have announced their plans to retire after 60 years of performing together.
The band, which comprises Brian Warfield, Tommy Byrne, and Noel Nagle, will mark six decades of making music with anniversary gigs in Dublin and Belfast next year featuring “special guests” before the trio call it a day.
Byrne said he and his fellow band members agreed on the decision, saying it was sparked by the prospect of a milestone birthday.
“I never thought that we would go on so long," Tommy Byrne told the Irish Sun.
"It’s been absolutely amazing, but I’m 80 next year and I think that would be a good time to stop.
“I brought this motion to Brian and Noel and they agreed. To go out on a high like this would be a great tribute to the band.”
Byrne said Warfield “would like to go on with The Wolfe Tones until he drops.” Warfield added: “I’d rather die on stage than in a nursing home, but I respect Tommy's decision. It's probably the right thing to do.
The Wolfe Tones will retire after 60 years.“I’ve seen other bands, I won't name, who were huge in America but ended up playing dingy pubs.
“I wouldn’t like The Wolfe Tones to go that way. I'll be 78 next year and Noel will be 79, so it's time.” Byrne said their EP gig was special but unlikely to happen again in his opinion due to their age.
“They'd hardly want to see us playing the Picnic in wheelchairs. I'm fit and healthy but all the travelling we do, does wear you down.
“We always agreed that if one of us passed away, we wouldn’t continue by getting in new Wolfe Tones to replace them.
"So we're doing the SSE Arena in Belfast next October then the two shows at the 3Arena Dublin and that's it."
In a career spanning from 1964 to the present day, the group is known for ballads like Grace and Celtic Symphony. From 1964 to 2001, Warfield’s brother Derek was also a band member. In the past, the Wolfe Tones have come under criticism in the past for pro-IRA chants from fans attending their gigs.
