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!
Britain’s oldest boy band, combined age 401 (and three-quarters) have announced a string of dates for 2022/2023. General sale Friday 4th March 10am via www.gigsandtours.com
“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 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.
Based on the first film, Fisherman’s Friends:The Musical Fisherman, broke all box office records when it premiered at Hall For Cornwall last year. It is set to tour the nation’s theatres from 1st September 2022, opening in Plymouth, before visiting Birmingham, Cheltenham, Salford, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Dublin, Cardiff, Bath and Leeds.
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.
Tour Dates as follows:
Fri 21 Oct 2022 Motherwell Concert Hall
Sat 22 Oct 2022 Aberdeen Music Hall
Sun 23 Oct 2022 Caird Hall Dundee
Thu 03 Nov 2022 Torquay Princess Theatre
Fri 04 Nov 2022 Swansea Brangwyn Hall
Sat 05 Nov 2022 Truro venue TBA
Thu 01 Dec 2022 Peterborough Cresset
Fri 02 Dec 2022 Bexhill De La Warr Pavilion
Sat 03 Dec 2022 Harpenden Eric Morecambe Centre
Sun 04 Dec 2022 Bury St. Edmunds The Apex
Thu 02 Feb 2023 Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre
Fri 03 Feb 2023 Cambridge Corn Exchange
Sat 04 Feb 2023 Gateshead Sage
Sun 05 Feb 2023 Halifax Victoria Theatre
Thu 02 Mar 2023 Weston-Super-Mare Playhouse
Fri 03 Mar 2023 Leicester De Montfort Hall
Sat 04 Mar 2023 Reading Hexagon
Sun 05 Mar 2023 Portsmouth Guildhall
Thu 13 Apr 2023 Chesterfield Winding Wheel
Fri 14 Apr 2023 Birmingham Symphony Hall
Sat 15 Apr 2023 Folkestone Leas Cliff Hall
Sun 16 Apr 2023 Barnstaple Queens Theatre
Thu 04 May 2023 Milton Keynes Stables
Fri 05 May 2023 Warrington Parr Hall
Sat 06 May 2023 York Barbican
Sun 07 May 2023 Buxton Opera House
For further information please visit: https://thefishermansfriends.com
