Wattyboys are buzzing to be back on stage

A GIG which should have taken place two years ago will finally be staged this week.
The Wattyboys will celebrate St Patrick’s Day on Friday, March 18, at The Witham, Barnard Castle, with a high energy set including some Irish standards, such as Whiskey in the Jar and The Irish Rover, covers from the likes of The Waterboys and Christy Moore along with one or two songs written by the band’s late founder Dave Watson.
The band will also fit in a short ceilidh set as part of the evening.
The Wattyboys were formed more than 25 years by Mr Watson – who, before his death, was well known as the founder of the Warm Age Wood social enterprise, in Barnard Castle – and two of his sons, Tom and Ben, who were still at school at the time.
The brothers continue to play in the band, which also features Barney singer-songwriter Andy Yeadon on vocals, Paul Hughes, Simon Bainbridge and Owen Davies.
Mr Yeadon said there was a possibility that the band’s US-based singer Mel Cook could fly in from New Jersey for the gig.
In fact, it was for a show at Asbury Park, New Jersey, two-and-a-half years ago that the band last played together.
“We are pretty far flung these days – Mell in America and our flute player in Devon – but there is a core of us who have been rehearsing,” said Mr Yeadon.
“The thing with The Wattyboys is that it is always just on the brink of going wrong, but it never does.
“It creates this frenzy that the audience loves to let their hair down to.”
He added: “Since we lost Dave, I have ended up being lead singer, but I have not tried to replace Dave – that is just not do-able.
“He was really into Irish folk music. All respect to him, his energy and enthusiasm blitzed through. There was this ethos of just doing it.”
Mr Yeadon said the band were “absolutely buzzing” at the prospect of getting back on stage.
“It has been a long time since we played. We played in September 2019, that was when we went to New Jersey.
“We then planned to do St Patrick’s night in 2020 and here we are two years later,” he added.
Supporting The Wattyboys on Friday night will be Boldron’s Kirsty McLachlan, a singer-songwriter, musician and young leader with youth folk group Cream Tees, and the National Youth Folk Ensemble.
Her love of folk music developed through the Folkworks programme at the Sage Gateshead, where she secured a place in Folkestra.
Mr Yeadon said: “We felt Kirsty was a really good complement to The Wattyboys. I felt that what she writes is very much in the same vein as Dave.”
The show starts at 7.30pm and tickets are £12, £8 for U16s and £32 for a family of four.
Go to www.thewitham.org.uk for more details and to book.