We travelled to the west coast of the US for the first time in many years, it's always difficult to go there because of the expense and the time element but I was really excited to be playing the west coast on this tour. The gig was in San Francisco on Sunday 27th Feb, it was sometime since we played there so we had people from all over the region. The response was unbelievable. The Tone Family direct decedents of Theobald Wolfe Tone were there in force, lovely people and indeed you can still see a strong resemblance of the great man that has carried through the generations.

 

The San Francisco gig was originally booked for Paddy's Day but I didn't realise that we lose a day going across the international date line and we would not have made the show in Melbourne, so it was rescheduled for Sunday the 27th.  We have played in the city many times before over the years. The first occasion way back in the sixties we played a bar called Harrington's owned by a man who became a legendary character in San Fran, Harry Harrington. I think all the Irish who ever emigrated to SF during his lifetime owed him something or other, whether it was money or the fact he set them up in a job. It is well known that he was owed millions when he died, he never turned anyone away. He was already a legend when we met him in 67/68, we were only young but he looked after us like a father, got us on TV, brought us to meet the Mayor, gave us gigs and was a great fan of our music. We will never forget you Harry Harrington!

 

Please have a look at the Tour guide and you will see the list of venues for The Wolfe Tones over the next few months.  So if we are not in your area, you can make plans to get to one near you. We are in Connolly's in NYC on the 12th, 15th and 16th of March, St Patrick's Eve!  We have played in this fantastic venue for many years and we have people from every corner of the world who congregate in NY for the great day. England, Scotland Wales, Canada, Argentina, all across the US and, of course, Ireland, representing all the great Irish communities. It's a great day for the Irish! What a great atmosphere, just fantastic. Be there and may I wish you all a very happy St Patrick's Day, it's one day of the year when all the Irish across the world are united in one great celebration. We will be in NY until we catch a flight for Melbourne, so we can wet the Shamrock for a while and then again while on the flight.  We stop in LA, so it's another opportunity and keep it going until we cross the international date line, it will be a long day. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

We're really looking forward to Australia, what a fantastic time we had last year. I know it will be even better this time, the show is called 'Shenanigans' and we will be supported by Mundy and Celtic Fire. Should be a great time in all four cities (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane & Perth) so, if you're in Australia, try to be there, it's going to be fab.

 

We were delighted to learn that The Wolfe Tones rendition of 'The Streets of New York' is still as popular as ever, as the song was Number 1 in the iTunes charts for Ireland in December!  Now it's off to Connolly's on the streets of New York we go for tonight's show ...