Next two years may be the toughest of my life, but I’m a fighter, says Wolfe Tones’ Brian Warfield
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MUSICIAN Brian Warfield says the next two years are likely to be the toughest of his life as he battles with a brain disorder.
And The Wolfe Tones star has booked the band’s biggest Irish concert ever at the 3Arena in 2024 as “a reason to stay around” while he awaits news of a vital brain scan.
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Brian Warfield of the Wolfe Tones faces a tough futureCredit: Garrett White – The Sun 
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Brian Warfield has revealed he has booked the Wolfe Tones for their biggest Irish concert ever at the 3Arena in 2024Credit: Collect image through journalist 
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The Wolfe Tones perform in Ostrava, Czech Republic, March 23, 2013Credit: Alamy
The 76-year-old was selected for revolutionary ultrasound treatment which could cure a condition he is suffering from called essential tremor, which has left his right arm shaking and unable to play the banjo.
But doctors won’t send Brian for the UK treatment unless they’re sure his condition had not worsened to such an extent that the procedure wouldn’t work.
They asked him to undergo a brain scan in Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin, on December 19.
Brian told The Irish Sun: “I’m still waiting back for news from the scan.
“What gives me hope is that the VHI has agreed to pay for this new treatment, which they call revolutionary, in the UK.
“If the news is good about my brain scan, then this can be the end of my shaky hand. If the news is bad, well, I’ll keep fighting this thing. I hope to find out soon.”
And to take his mind off things, Brian has booked the 3Arena in 2024 for what will be the The Wolfe Tones’s biggest Irish concert ever — to celebrate 60 years together.
Brian explained: “It’s a reason to be around. To get me through the next two years which might be the toughest of my life.
“We have never played the 3Arena and the idea of making it that far, and going out on that big stage to play our songs is mind-blowing.
“I hope I can make it with the rest of the band.”
Balladeer Brian joked that he’ll put the entire Irish women’s soccer team on the guest list for his show.
He said: “Sure, they’re great singers those girls and seem to know the words of all my songs.”
The FAI had to shell out for a €20,000 fine from Uefa after the ladies chanted ‘Ooh, ah, up the ’Ra’ in their dressing room after they qualified for the World Cup.
But controversy over the row saw The Wolfe Tones’ Celtic Symphony — which includes the lyrics chanted by the squad — shooting to No1 on the Irish charts and No2 in the UK.
Brian said: “Usually bands go on tour to promote a record but this all happened when we were sitting at home in our 70s.
“They didn’t deserve a fine for singing that song, and the FAI are gobses for paying it.”
As a gesture of support, Brian has revealed he is sending the team his own limited-edition Wolfe Tones Rebel Irish Whiskey.
But it could cost the musician a fortune, as the booze, which features Brian on the cap, costs €69 a bottle — with the musician getting a ten per cent discount from distributors.
The star explained: “We get a commission on each bottle sold but we can’t sell it at gigs, and we have to buy them ourselves with a little discount thrown in.”
However fans have been lapping up the whiskey, even sending it to unionist politicians such as DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson.
Brian laughs: “I’d say Jeffrey must have been surprised getting a bottle of Wolfe Tones Rebel Irish Whiskey into his office. I wouldn’t have sent it.
“I’m not sure what Jeffrey ever did for the Wolfe Tones career.”
But someone who will be getting a bottle of the spirit is Alan Partridge actor Steve Coogan.
He provided the band with a massive boost in 2019 when he performed two of the Tones’s best known ballads, Come Out Ye Black and Tans and The Men Behind the Wire on TV show This Time.
Steve later said: “It was fun to get a rebel song on the BBC.”
The skit with Steve as farmer Martin Brennan, sent the Tones to No1 in Ireland and the UK.
Brian said: “Yes, Steve will be getting a bottle.
“It has a smoky taste that might give him an edge if he is singing my songs again.”
While currently struggling with his health dilemma, Brian revealed that late songwriter Shay Healy, who battled Parkinson’s for decades before his death in 2021, aged 78, has been a massive inspiration.
Brian said: “I knew Shay from his earliest days and I loved the way he kept creating right up to the end, in a very noble way.”
Glued to the recent World Cup, Brian admitted he missed all the England games after suffering a strange incident watching the team playing in the Euros in 2021.
Brian quipped: “They were playing Denmark. I went to shout, ‘Come on England’ but nothing came out.
“My mouth opened with no sound. It was truly, incredible, the weirdest sort of phenomenon.
“The kind of thing you’d see on Arthur C Clarke’s Mysterious World. I may have to seek scientific advice about it.”
Named after Irish revolutionary Theobald Wolfe Tone, The Wolfe Tones got together in 1963 to sing patriotic ballads and rebel songs in the style of vocal groups including The Dubliners and the Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem.
Over a 59-year career they picked up a following worldwide. But they had a split in 2001 when original singer Derek Warfield announced he was going solo — later forming The Young Wolfe Tones.
Speaking about the split, Brian said: “There is the odd bit of contact between us but Derek is kept busy and we’re busy too.”
A highlight of their career came in 2002 when their version of A Nation Once Again topped a poll of the most popular songs on the BBC World Service. Some 7,000 tracks from 153 countries were nominated.
Brian said: “Sometime before the poll ended, the producer called me to say that the BBC had got a flood of votes and e-mails from all over the world — from small islands in the Pacific Ocean to small villages in Africa and Asia, the USA, Canada, South America and Australia — which had all voted for the Wolfies.
“No8 was a song by Cher called I Believe and at No10 was Queen’s 1975 hit Bohemian Rhapsody — while Cliff Richard was No11 with We Don’t Talk Anymore.”
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Brian has revealed he is sending the team his own limited-edition Wolfe Tones Rebel Irish Whiskey 
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Brian Warfield from the Irish rebel band “The Wolfe Tones” play the Feile an PhobailCredit: Alamy