Fisherman’s Friends
Victoria Theatre Halifax, February 5 2023 Britain’s oldest boy band, Fisherman’s Friends with a combined age of 401 (and threequarters) have announced a concert at the Victoria Theatre Halifax on Sunday, February 5, 2023.
They have nine albums to their name, two feature films, a stage musical, a book, a TV documentary, they’ve played for royalty and to tens of thousands of fans in sell-out tours year in year out… No, it’s not The Beatles, it’s not Slade, Take That or One Direction – it’s The Fisherman’s Friends!
“We can’t wait to get out and about and sing live for our supper again – we love it,” says extravagantly moustachioed founding member and bass man Jon Cleave.
A decade ago, The Fisherman’s Friends were persuaded to sign a million-pound record deal that saw their album Port Isaac’s Fisherman’s Friends go Gold as they became the first ever traditional folk act to land a UK top ten album.
And thanks to the small film with a big heart that shares their name, the story of the original Cornish ‘buoy band’ is known around the world – bound by shared experience, for more than 30 years they have gathered on the Platt on the harbour in their native Port Isaac to sing the songs of the sea, songs that in some cases have been handed down for hundreds of years, songs that connect them to generations of Cornish fishermen that have come before them.
The film’s sequel Fisherman’s Friends 2 is released this June (2022). The story follows the group from the highs of starring on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury, through the lows of struggling to make a follow-up album.
James Purefoy, David Hayman, Maggie Steed and Dave Johns are among those returning from the first film, with Imelda May making her acting debut as singer Aubrey Flynn and a guest appearance from broadcaster Chris Evans.
The Fisherman’s Friends are lobster fisherman Jeremy Brown, writer/ shopkeeper Jon Cleave, smallholder and engineer John ‘Lefty’ Lethbridge, builder John McDonnell (a Yorkshireman who visited Port Isaac more than 30 years ago and never left), Padstow fisherman Jason Nicholas, filmmaker Toby Lobb and the new boy, former ambulance driver Pete Hicks. www.victoriatheatre.co.uk
Illegal Eagles
Victoria Theatre Halifax, March 18
The Illegal Eagles make a welcome return to the Victoria Theatre Halifax on Friday 18 March to celebrate over 50 years since the formation of the legendary West Coast Country Rock band The Eagles.
This critically acclaimed show features the very best from the Eagles’ catalogue of classics including ’Hotel California’, ‘Desperado’, ‘Take It Easy’, ‘New Kid In Town’, ‘Life In The Fast Lane’ and many more.
The latest all-star line-up of the show, produced as ever by Phil Aldridge, features Tony Kiley (formerly from 80’s sensation
The Blow Monkeys) on drums, BAFTA Award winner Christian Phillips on vocals and guitars, Trevor Newnham (Dr Hook) vocals and bass, Greg Webb vocals and guitars, Mike Baker vocals and guitars and Garreth Hicklin vocals and guitars. Garreth,
Greg, Trevor, Mike and Christian effortlessly capture the vocal style and delivery of Henley, Walsh,
Fry, Schmidt and Meisner and are masters of their respective instruments. www.victoriatheatre.co.uk