Legends of Irish Music and Song, THE FUREYS in concert. Tuesday 8th March Millfield Theatre, Enfield

When The Fureys make their eagerly awaited first visit to the stage of the Millfield Theatre, Enfield on Tuesday March 8th they will treat their audience to one of popular music's richest legacies. 
They are one of Ireland's all-time most acclaimed and influential folk and traditional bands. Fureys classics like I Will Love You, When You Were Sweet 16, Red Rose Café, Leaving Nancy, From Clare to Here and The Green Fields of France have become the soundtrack to the lives of fans all over the world.  
The Fureys' indelible musical footprint is rivalled only by their vast collection of personal stories of their musical experiences and friendships, gathered by Eddie and George Furey along an amazing 44-year journey which shows no signs of reaching a final destination. 
The Furey brothers were still trying to make it as folk singers in the late Sixties when Eddie Furey shared flats with then fellow folk stars-in-waiting, Billy Connolly and Gerry Rafferty (of Baker Street fame). 
Eddie recalls:"It was quite a group to be living under the same roof and we had great fun. I bet the neighbours never slept with all the singing and drinking."  So impressed were they by the quality of Gerry Rafferty's songwriting at that time that they recorded his song, Her Father Didn't Like Me Anyway - now a Fureys classic. 
Eddie and George Furey are particularly proud of their UK chart success with songs like I Will Love You and When You Were Sweet Sixteen, which in turn helped bring Irish folk and traditional music to a completely new audience. The band made their Top of the Pops debut in 1981. They ran into a problem when the show's producers insisted that their own backing tape be replaced by a tape recorded by in-house musicians. The Fureys weren't prepared to have music that wasn't their own played to TV's watching millions. George had a solution: "When they weren't looking, I replaced their tape with ours. No one knew I had switched them."  
The Fureys will jump at any chance to play... not just on stage. Stories of the band striking up spur of the moment music sessions with fellow music stars who happen to be around are legendary. Joe Dolan, Philomena Begley, Tom O'Connor, Chris Rea, the Chieftains, Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton, Liam Clancy, Sean Maguire and Phil Coulter are just a few of those who have joined The Fureys for their spontaneous sessions, each one with a story begging to be told. 
Coronation Street, Royle Family, Keeping Up Appearances and Heartbeat star, the late Geoffrey Hughes, had a keen interest in Irish music and would play the Bodhran with the band. He once joined the guys for a legendary all-night session in the Europa Hotel, Belfast after starring in the Christmas pantomime at the Grand Opera House next door. The Fureys also struck up an unlikely music session with Kool and The Gang, Midge Ure (Ultravox) and other music co-stars backstage during an episode of Top of the Pops. There was a BBC strike and all of the show's artists found themselves at a loose end. Alas, there are no recordings of how this fusion of styles came across. 
Eddie Furey recalls how "many musicians have told us we influenced them after hearing a record from their grandparents' collection". One such musician was Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics. Dave started out as a stage hand working in a theatre in Newcastle and credited Eddie with teaching him his first chords on the guitar. Eddie would return the compliment by joining Dave on stage in Paris for a jam during the latter's wedding to Bananarama's Siobhan Fahey. 

Tickets are available from https://www.millfieldtheatre.co.uk/whats-on/the-fureys/  or by calling 020 8807 6680

The Fureys video trailer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NffjeAiL-8U