Description

Legends of Irish music & song The FUREYS, renowned for their hit songs ‘I will love you’, ‘When you were sweet 16’, ‘The Green fields of France’, ‘The old man’, ‘Red rose café’, ‘From Clare to here’, ‘Her father didn’t like me anyway’, ‘Leaving Nancy’, ‘Steal away’ etc perform throughout Ireland, UK and Continental Europe every year.

The FUREYS have been entertaining audiences worldwide for 40 years, audiences that have included former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, Former Irish President Mary McAleese and the late Pope John Paul while Tony Blair has publicly stated his favourite peace song of all time is the FUREYS “Green Fields of France”. Recently Ireland President Michael D Higgins attended their concert in Dublin’s National Concert Hall.

The band was formed in 1978 literally by accident. George, Paul and Davey were playing in Denmark with their own band called the Buskers and Eddie and Finbar, while touring in Germany were involved in a road accident. When George and Paul got news of the accident they immediately travelled to Germany to be with their brothers. They then decided that they should all be playing together and this was the start of the FUREYS.

Inevitably changes have occurred over the years. Their brother Paul died suddenly in June 2002, Finbar left the band in December 1996 and Davey got a stroke in March 2014 which he is still recovering from. However George and Eddie have continued to delight audiences on their tours and have released a new CD to celebrate their 40th Anniversary called ‘The Fureys 40 Years on……to be continued’

The oldest of the brothers, Eddie Furey left home in 1966 and travelled to Scotland at the time of the great folk revival where he met and shared accommodation in Edinburgh with then unknown folk singers Billy Connolly, Gerry Rafferty, Tam Harvey and Alex Campbell, now all famous in their own right. Gerry wrote ‘Her father didn’t like me anyway’ for Eddie while they were together in 1972. BBC Radio 1 presenter, the late John Peel made it his single of the year. In 1969 with his brother Finbar, Eddie was the special guest for the Clancy Brothers throughout the USA and Canada. In 1973 he moved to mainland Europe where he toured for a number of years, building up a huge following particularly in Germany. Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics has credited Eddie with teaching him his first chords on guitar when they met up in the North East of England while Dave was still a teenager.

The FUREYS are responsible for some of the most stirring music ever to capture the public imagination. Their folk based music has received standing ovations in some of the biggest concert halls of the world and they credit their musical ability to their parents, Ted and Nora, who were well known musicians themselves. They encouraged their sons to play music from a very early age and there was live traditional music in their house almost nightly.

Their emotive songs stir many emotions….tears and laughter, sadness and joy.

A FUREYS concert is always a night to remember

Description

The Regent Centre is a thriving, independent, 1930s Art Deco Cinema, Theatre, Information Centre, Café and Gallery, set in the heart of Christchurch, Dorset.

The Regent opened on Boxing Day 1931 as the town’s cinema, showing The Taming of the Shrew with Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. The Regent retained this important role in the life of the Community for over forty years until July 1973, when it was closed as a cinema and then re-opened as the Mecca Social and Bingo Club. The final cry of ‘house’ was sounded in February 1982.

The need for an arts centre in Christchurch had already been well established in the town and in November 1982, Christchurch Borough Council purchased the Regent. A unique relationship was formed between the local authority and a group of over 100 enthusiastic volunteers. Together, they lovingly restored the Regent to all its early Art Deco glory. The Regent Centre in its present form was finally opened on June 11th 1983 by the actress Dora Bryan.

Today, the Regent Centre is one of the finest examples of an early 1930s cinema to survive in Britain. Its 480 seats are regularly filled for events as diverse as the latest film releases to professional touring theatre, jazz, big band, ballet, opera and celebrity star shows. The Regent is also the home venue for many local amateur companies, who regularly stage productions at the Centre.

The Regent maintains a rolling programme of development and improvements and on 28th March 2000, a new Studio Theatre was opened, at the rear of the building, jointly funded by the Regent Centre Association and the Council as the Borough’s main Millennium project.

During the latter part of 2006, funding was provided by Christchurch Borough Council for a major refurbishment of the Centre. This included the introduction of new seats, air conditioning, disabled lifts and loos and the Modernist re-design of the Foyer.

In February 2007 the final stage of the major refurbishment began with the re-introduction of a canopy over the front doors for the first time since 1967. Two new convex poster boards on the two supporting pillars at either side of the canopy combined with 1930s neon style signage, have tastefully re-created the early Art Deco heritage of the Regent.

Since 2008 the Regent has been able to use new technology to bring in satellite broadcasts of major artistic events from around the world to the Centre’s big screen. The Metropolitan Opera has been broadcast live from New York to sell out houses at the Regent. Then in 2009 the National Theatre began broadcasts from its stage live from London’s South Bank to enthusiastic audiences at the Regent. In 2010 the Regent was able to beam in live satellite broadcasts from the Bolshoi and Opera de Paris, bringing the very best in international ballet to Christchurch.

In April 2012, Digital Cinema was introduced to the Regent Centre to replace the existing 35mm film projector. This has brought this 80 year old cinema right up to date with the cutting edge of technological advances in the film industry in the 21st Century. Digital Cinema has also meant that the Regent has been able to add to its existing programme of satellite broadcasts to the big screen, with The Royal Opera House and the Royal Ballet now making their debut at the Centre from August 2012.

We want to make your visit to the Regent Centre an enjoyable one from start to finish. One that you’ll remember and want to repeat again and again.
While you’re here make sure you make the most of everything on offer.

Why not visit our coffee bar, situated in the main foyer where you can purchase snacks, cakes, ice creams and delicious coffees, teas, hot chocolate, or cold drinks all very reasonably priced and served with a smile by one of our army of volunteers. We also have free WIFI throughout the foyer for your enjoyment.

51 High Street,

Christchurch,

Dorset,

England,

BH23 1AS.

01202 499 199