THE Wolfe Tones thrilled fans at the weekend with a secret show ‘in enemy territory’.
Punters queued around the block when word got out that the balladeers were performing at The Faltering Fullback pub in North London in a secret show to promote their last ever UK show.
Brian Warfield told The Irish Sun: “We couldn’t tell anyone about it beforehand but word spread around London very quickly.
“People were jumping into taxis and their cars to get down here in time and there was a queue around the block.
“The place was buzzing by the time we got on stage. We did an hour but we could have played all night.”
Electric Picnic boss Melvin Benn was among the 200 attendees squeezed into the boozer as the Tones belted out their hits in a sixty minute set.
Comedian Aisling Bea and Fontaines D.C were also among the audience in the tiny pub.
However, some fans online simply didn’t believe The Tones could have sneaked into what they dubbed “enemy territory” – the UK to play a pub gig after an estimated 30,000 watched the group at the Electric Picnic festival last year.
One tweeted: “Is this a joke?” while another replied: “No it’s not, get down here quick.”
Brian revealed how post gig he hooked with EP boss Melvin Benn to plan their Picnic show this summer.
Brian told us: “He was delighted about us coming back to The Picnic and we talked about making it as special as it was last year.
“At least everyone will be able to get in because we’re not in a tent, we’re on the main stage.”
The Tones claims that such was the enthusiasm for their set of classic ballads among fans at the Picnic, their tent “nearly took off” due to the singing of tens of thousands of young fans.
Incredibly, festival organisers originally had the Wolfe Tones booked to perform in much smaller ten with a 6,000 capacity but decided to upgrade them to the larger 14,000 Electric Arena just days before the festival.
The Wolfe Tone frontman Brian has also denied rumours that his band were the reason the EP was moved forward this year by organisers as the trad group were on a farewell tour.
EP boss Melvin Benn said the change is a one-off to attract “a specific artist” and the Picnic will revert to its usual time of year in 2025.
‘WE’D DROP EVERYTHING TO PLAY’
Brian told us: “It’s nothing to do with us. Melvin Benn was there to congratulate us when we came off stage last year.
“We’d drop everything to play the Picnic whenever they wanted us”.
The 78-year-old described their biggest show in the UK in London’s Finsbury Park on July 5, backed by The Undertones, as a warm up for Stradbally.
The band will take to the stage right before pop royalty Kylie Minogue brings down the curtain with a Sunday night smash that will leave 75,000 gig-goers spinning around.
Brian said: “We’re playing the Main stage on Sunday night with Kylie coming on after us.
“Given the reaction we had last year, I’d say it will be a tough call for Kylie following The Wolfe Tones with the Picnic crowd so worked up.
“So as Minogue is a solid Irish surname, we’d like to invite Kylie the to sing ‘Celtic Symphony’ with us as our closing number.
“It would definitely be a crowd pleaser and the Irish women’s soccer team sing it in their dressing room, so her fans would know it too.”
