Videos Videos Videos

There are lots of videos from our  last show in Toronto up at http://www.thewholigans.com/
and there a few more to go up in the next few days, including the full show,1 in B&W
and 1 in colour.

Update August 24th




 

Here is the full Toronto show in b&w ,1 hour +



Please leave your comments on youtube,good bad or indifferent.....thanks.


Many more and current updates on our site http://www.thewholigans.com/
Barry

Toronto in July

Win tickets for our Toronto show July 14th by entering here http://www.q107.com/ConcertsandEvents/SummerBash/Index.aspx
or
listen live to win several times a day until the show.
http://player.q107.com/

& don't forget we are in New Jersey August 4th
http://www.landistheater.com/shows.cfm?show=154

The times they are a changin

I can't really pinpoint nor go into detail nor describe sufficently, but sometimes things happen,
that make you go       'Hmmmmmm?'

So..... Orft I wanda ,to discover the source of   'Hmmmmmm'




My brain needs soothing, so I must go and take care of that before........

Toronto show

Due to reasons beyond our control ,our Toronto show scheduled for July 7th has been moved
to July 14th.

http://thewholigans.com/myweb/index.php?type=article&menuID=44

Toronto July 7th

Q107's 'Summer Bash' -Saturday July 7th at http://www.sound-academy.com/
                             
                                                                              -
Q presents a 'British Invasion' night with tributes to The Who
(The Wholigans) http://www.thewholigans.com/
& The Rolling Stones (The Blushing Brides)
+1 more act tba (they are 'Fab') ;)
Also the Q house band w/Michael White

To win tickets, listen to Q107 in June

                                                                http://www.q107.com/

Nuuuuuuu Joiseeee

Vineland New Jersey
Saturday August 4th
Landis Theatre
http://www.landistheater.com/shows.cfm?show=154
......
The Wholigans 30th Anniversary 1982-2012      .......                 
......
  http://thewholigans.com/

Wholigans WHistOry    .......            See Al of The Wholigans videos here

WHO ARE THE WHOLIGANS             

The Wholigans televised concert

The Wholigans have played a few televised concerts over the years at an event in Tampa called ’Friday Extra’
City of Tampa Tv have had this sitting on the shelf for a while , but they just put this 1 hour long show up yesterday.
As it ‘just’ went up, it is titled wrong and doesn’t have a set list, so here it is:
Who Are You (we don’t start till 3 minutes in)
The Seeker…..
I Can’t Explain….
.Substitute
Happy Jack
Summertime Blues
Shakin All Over
Pinball Wizard
Baba O’Riley
Magic Bus
Won’t Get Fooled Again

Encore: My Generation (a *special* version)

http://youtu.be/phEFRG6FX6o

If you like it or hate it (either or) please comment on youtube ,thanks,
Barry

The Wholigans in Canada

 SATURDAY JULY 7TH 2012

                  SUMMER BASH                     
Toronto’s Canadas best rock Q107 & The Sound Academy present …..
a British Invasion night ,with
The Wholigans….a tribute to The Who on their 30th Anniversary 1982-2012
& also on the show are veterans of the Canadian tribute scene  with a tribute to The Rolling Stones
http://www.reverbnation.com/theblushingbrides



Stay tuned to Q107 to win tickets.

http://www.sound-academy.com/inside/

I'M A WHOLIGAN ,WHO ARE YOU.

The Wholigans at the rock n roll hall of fame ?

An interesting article about tribute bands at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
--
"Orchestras are huge tribute bands,we just happen to be a 4 piece orchestra.
The Who made history, let us revive it ,and let you relive it.".....Barry Wholigan
LA Times 2010 archives 

Wholigan books

Somehow and someway The Wholigans have found themselves written into 2 books in the last few years, which is really really cool and unexpected, but we're not complaining.

                                 Click on the book cover for more info & to purchase
-

A Toronto Wholigan Anne Marie Klein has written a novel entitled
‘Behind Blue Eyes’…part one ‘Love Reign O’er Me’
The Wholigans are very happy to be  a part of this book.
This scene takes place in the 70's in a bar downtown Toronto that we actually played called DJ’s  (you can see the ticket here) 
DJ’s is long  gone though.

________

Here's parts of the book.........

“How’s it going Sarah?” he asked as she put her hand forward to be stamped.
“Great you?” She watched Ian pay the cover charge.
“Same old, same old” he said “I gotta warn you, it’s packed in there, and at least a hundred degrees”
“Thanks for the heads up” She turned back one last time.”Who’s playing tonight? “
“The Wholigans” he said “and they sound great.”

<>snip<>

….they returned to their seats and continued to talk until the performance began. The top- billed band, The Wholigans, as their name suggested, were a tribute group covering songs by The Who. Ian enjoyed listening and watching the band, his head filling with his own ideas and possibilities for the future. When the set ended, the crowd clapped and cheered appreciatively and people finished their last drink before heading towards the exit.
----------------

https://www.facebook.com/behindblueeyesnovels

 ____________________________

Here's the other book (we are proud to be mentioned several times) by Tom Wright close friend of Pete's.
http://www.tomwrightphotography.com/

“Had I not met Tom Wright” Townshend muses in his foreward to Wrights first book ‘Roadwork-Rock & Roll Turned Inside Out’ “The Who would never have become successful”

                                    Click on the book cover for more info & to purchase
_

“If it weren’t for Tom, we wouldn’t have The Who. True story. Ask Pete Townshend,It is there in black and white.”  http://www.intlmusicsnobs.com/post/1092823416/tom-wright-roadwork

Roadwork ..the story of
 http://www.northernexpress.com/michigan/article-2605-tom-wrightlss-roadwork.html

 We played at the opening of Tom's photography exhibit in Traverse Michigan (a 3 song set) to commemorate the first 3 songs The Who ever played in the USA for Tom.
Here is 'My Generation' at the Dennos Museum http://youtu.be/GIKVyZht6ZE
and here's the aftershow gig at 'Streeters' where we played 'Run Run Run' for only the 2nd time in our lives, the first time was at the first show for Tom during rehearsal and we SUCKED and Tom said to us "Can play something you know?"   OUCH !...so we did.
So here it is. http://youtu.be/175snm1u5mw

                           

                                       Wholiganism 101 515
        Once a Wholigan, Always a Wholigan

                                     http://www.thewholigans.com/

        

Wholiganism 101

March 26th

Wholiganism 101 on the front page at http://www.thewholigans.com/

Nowadays it's the old man has got all the money

......& a young man ain't got nothin in the world these days !


The years have past me by and I'm still waiting to have all that "old man money"
Until then I'll just keep singing this song.


ps: mute the player on the top left of this page before playing these videos.


1989


2006


2009

        I'M A WHOLIGAN
WHO THE F**K ARE YOU !

30 years of Wholiganism !!! ......1982-2012

         
We are celebrating our 30th Anniversary
                1982-2012
Watch for shows later this year in Northern USA & CANADA (Summer & Fall)...
ALSO stay tuned ,there will be a *competition running April/May
You can win t-shirts,posters,stickers +2 tickets to any Wholigans show in your neighborhood.Watch FB
or our website for details http://thewholigans.com/


             Photo taken in the studio recording a 30 second tv ad in 1984

     Steve McKenna            Paul Holman        Barry Quinn        Gerard Popma
               
                              Wholigan Whistory

* Sorry but the competition is only open to USA & Canadian residents only. No cash value applied on prizes.

Behind Blue Eyes

The Wholigans are part of a new book by
Anne Marie Klein

   

We even have Wholigans in the literary world ,and one such Wholigan is Anne Marie Klein who wrote a book entitled
'Behind Blue Eyes' .....part 1 'Love Reign O'er me'
The Wholigans are proud to be a part of this book, and we wish Anne continued success.

If you are a WHO fan (and you must be to have read this far)
                                            BUY THIS BOOK

Based on the song made famous by The Who, Behind Blue Eyes is a new series of rock and roll novels set in the music world of Toronto and London in the late 70s. The first book, Behind Blue Eyes: Love Reign O’er Me, is now available in paperback form from Lulu.com at this link: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/annemarieklein

The second novel, Behind Blue Eyes: Love Ain’t For Keeping, will be released through Lulu.com in April 2012, and e-books will soon be available for both books. Check back for further updates as we develop our e-books and Web site, behindblueeyes.ca in the near future.

The Story of ANVILThe Wholigans

I just watched The story of Anvil for the 2nd or 3rd time,and you could basically photoshop The Wholigans faces into those scenarios and it would tell our tale 100% exactly the same.
it's a film you should see, as it shows  the trials and tribulations of a road dog 'overnight' success story .............that was 30 years in the making.
Fans just see the band on stage for 2hours and think that it's all a 'rock star' lifestyle,when quite frankly it's far from it.
There are the rock star 'benefits' along the way,don't get me wrong, but  'The Anvil's' of this world have worked their asses off to get to that point.

We both started in the city of Toronto at pretty much the same time (give or take) 1980-81-82
It was and is certainly a long long tough hard road, and we would be proud to shake hands with Anvil,share a few beers and talk about when times were less than great, and also the great moments.

Sometimes at the early gigs it would only take 2 or 3 people in the audience to make the night by singing every song with you ,and then they walk away with a smile and with the satisfaction of reliving their youth....... or experiencing it for the first time.
Every now & then 2 hours of escapism is all you need from lifes daily ills.

If it wasn't for those 2-3 people man,............you kept us (musicians as a whole) going.........thankyou.

Over our 29 year tenure both Anvil & The Wholigans have many a tale to tell, and have played to major & miniscule crowds,but overall their story is our story............only difference is ,they (Hollywood) didn't make a movie about us (yet) and nor have we been rediscovered and have found new life.

Don't get me wrong ,it's been great  :) and it's not over yet, but the tour bus is slowing down and some would say it's come to a dead stop or at least it's time for an oil change and to clean the engine out.

But with story's like Anvil's,who knows what the future holds for The Wholigans                             
 
     'Once a Wholigan,Always a Wholigan'

AQO: Anvil and my band in 81 (not The Wholigans) but a metal covers band called 'Trojan' shared side by side rehearsal rooms at Jane & Finch called 'music media' (rented by the month after month after month (you get the picture)

Everytime Anvil would play they would bring in the entire pa system + an entire light rig, and they would practise as loud as possible, and more often than not blow the power out of a 20 room or so rehearsal studio.

It also despite being somewhat soundproofed ,it was hard to hear what we we were trying to practise....but we did.

Anyway, bottom line is, Anvil and ourselves went down similar paths playing 'the gasworks', the knob hill,Nags head north,Tony's East and Tony's west,The Rondun and all over Canada and I mean ALL OVER !
It wasn't till the 2000's before we hit Europe  (thanks to the internet , which was not around in the 80's and we had to rely on flyers and phone calls to get a gig )

All the scenarios you see in The Anvil film happened to us , most of it was unbelievable and you had to be there,

no money ,

no gigs,

broken down vans

cancelled shows

Getting fired or deducted $ for being too loud (see here)

no hotels,

no food & it goes on and on and on.

Stupid thing is, here I am at 52 and I'll gladly get back on the road, and do it all over again.

I'd just have to run it by the wife and make sure a few bills are paid. ;)

Seriously though,if and when the call comes in, I'm out that door ! 

*SLAM!

My wife says the bill collectors don't allow you to pay bills with adrenalin though :( ...shame really as I'd be rich were that the case.

I love the high you get from a magic audience ,& to playthe fucking great music that has been bestowed on us by the almighty WHO that we are allowed to play at unfathomable volume!

But until The Wholigans movie gets a big financial backer or a jammy lottery win,I guess we'll play when possible,and pray for the impossible.
The ride has been and is bumpy,but worth all the bruises.

I'M A WHOLIGAN,WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!'

We are

The Wholigans 

The worlds very FIRST WHO tribute & are the longest running since 1982  & the fans 'pick' to play as the headlining act for ..THE WHO conventions, of which there have been quite a few.

The conventions were in...
2003 Hamburg ,Germany at the Schlachthof

2003  London UK at the Astoria/Mean Fiddler

2006 Bush Hall in Shepherds Bush w/Roger Daltrey & Simon Townshend & Casbah Club


2010 at Dingwalls in London UK ,with 'Thunderclap Newman' & Josh Townshend

NYC USA  did have a mini 'convention' called 'Wholopalooza'...in 2002.......and we did play that as well.

Rumour has it in 2013 there will be another 'convention', with WHO playing WHO ? ..WHO KNOWS ?

Till we meet again Wholigans, 'Turn everything louder than everything else'

                                              

                               Barry 


     'Once a Wholigan,Always a Wholigan'
                              http://www.thewholigans.com/

Wholigan WHistOry

The Wholigans you tube channel  http://www.youtube.com/user/TheWholigans

Play All The Wholigans 143 video’s.....and counting

The Wholigans on Facebook

Back2BackBack2Back2BackVideos

,

WHO

Playing in NYC with my friends.


& for my Scottish friends

Friday Extra (Updated Oct 6th 2nd set added)

1st and 2nd set now up




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bwFTVUYv_U&noredirect=1

Tampay Bay's CTTV have started a youtube channel and plan to put up a few of our yearly concerts at Lowry Parks 'Friday Extra Concert Series' from 2002.2003 and 2005.
Stay tuned for more shows daily & we hope to add a 2011 or 12 show to that list


The band at that time was....
'Roger'....Barry
'Pete'.... .Christopher Bacon
'Keith'.....Chris Voll
'John'..... Ray Harris

This video is 40 minutes long, there is a 2 minute intro then the set is...
Baba O'Riley
The Real Me
Who are you
Love reign O'er me
Behind blue eyes
Long live rock
Won't get fooled again.

Also Tampa Bay area residents can see the full concerts on their local cable channel on Friday nights.
_________________________________


Update October 5th 6pm.set 2.............45 minutes long
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAYYE1EfsIw&feature=channel_video_title

Interview with lead singer Barry 
I Can't Explain
Substitute
Summertime Blues
Shakin all over
Magic Bus
Tommy:
Sparks
Pinball Wizard
See Me,Feel Me/Listening to you
My Generation



http://www.thewholigans.com/

See all 145 video's here 


-

In a Fog da-vita baby

Well, seeing as Wholigans gigs are becoming rarer and rarer to the point of non existance, I've decided I'd take Rogers advice with 'Use it or Lose it'
So to keep my voice in shape I've formed a local band called 'FOG' ......it's called that for now anyway.
We basically are getting together for shits n giggles,but you never know how that goes.

I just happened to mention the idea on FB and all of a sudden I get a call from a guy around the corner Rick,and within a few hours we had a guitarist,bass & drums.
The bands age range from 30's/40's through the old fart (that's me) at 52.
So we won't be a threat to Justin Bieber anytime soon :)


What the hell I figured 'why not', it's not like I'm busy.
So far I've been the one picking the songs but that will change soon enough.... I'm sure.

The list doesn't contain any of 'The Who' for obvious reasons, it leans more towards hard  rock/metal of the UK in the 60's/70's & the 80's (just)

The story so far .....


Four Old Geezers  walked into a studio...........

SO.........
heres what we stumbled through last night....*cough*...*Ahem...

1. 'What is & what should never be'..Led Zep
2. 'Children of the sea'.....................Black Sabbath w/Dio   (my fave)
3. 'War Pigs'.................................. .Black Sabbath w/ozzy
4. 'Stay with me'.............................Rod Stewart/The Faces
5. 'Shooting Star'.............................Bad Co
6. 'Voodoo Chile'.............................Hendrix
7. 'Still of the night'......................... Whitesnake
8. 'Slide it in'...................................Whitesnake
9.  'Black Dog,................................Led Zep
10. 'Rock Steady'..............................Bad Co
11. a little bit of....Ready for love'........Bad Co
12. 'Snortin whiskey'..........................Pat Travers
13. 'Highway Star'..............................Deep Purple

& and a half hast attempt at' Highway to hell'.ac/dc

Children of the sea' & 'rock steady' were the 'highlights' for me.
But we forgot to do 'NIB' by Sabbath and we talked a bit about throwing some 'Sex Pistols' in.

I'd like to see some Trower & Lizzy & UFO & Priest (unleashed in the east)  making the cut next time though.

It wasn't the greatest "rehearsal" but ok for 4 guys just saying 'hello' for the first time.

To be continued................( or not,Who knows;)

Rockys last fight

August 16th 2011

There comes a time when everyone in all walks of life must seriously look at where they are and where they have been and what they are headed for.
Rocky Balboa did indeed survive to come back and fight one more time, but even he (the character) and quite possibly Stallone himself recognized they had turned 'the corner'

I think I may have reached 'that corner',I'm not 100% sure, but I do know I have walked one step closer since my last gig.

Shit happens 'they' say, and 'they' are right, shit DOES happen,and I've had more than my fair share of shit, but also I've climbed the ladder and reached a certain spot on that ladder, it may not have been the top of the ladder ,but I climbed as far as I could and it was pretty good.

One thing I do know,damned if I'm headed to the bottom of that same ladder and find I don't have the energy to climb back up again.

So maybe and it's a pretty fucking serious 'maybe'.......maybe it's time to step off and enjoy what was .

Maybe.

Recently found

Wholigans,
Yesterday I was going through my 'stuff' and I found a copy of a show we did in Newcastle in 2004.
It was quite a surprise, and it is now up on youtube in 4 parts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzrkqrOgrfg
just follow the links within to see the other 3.

Also if you go The Wholigans facebook page you will also see 2 more video's from the 2008 UK tour.

Barry

ps: We'll see you in Georgia August 13th (see my blog beneath here)


Once a Wholigan, Always a Wholigan

http://www.thewholigans.com/

See All of The Wholigans video's here