Saw Doctors set for Athlone concert
Legendary band The Saw Doctors will be performing in Athlone's Radisson Blu on Friday, March 24 at 7.30pm.
This concert was rescheduled from December 28 last and original tickets remain valid. Over 18s - ID Required.
The Saw Doctors were discovered by Mike Scott of The Waterboys on a stormy Wintry Tuesday night in Galway city in the 1980s, plying their trade with more gumption than virtuosity in the back of The Quays Bar.
Scott offered The Saw Doctors the support slot on The Waterboys' Irish Tour and in Sligo before the tour was completed, Mike asked The Saw Doctors to support The Waterboys on their six week tour of Great Britain starting in February 1989.
Mike Scott produced the band’s first single, ‘N17’, which was written by two of The Saw Doctors, singer Davy Carton and guitarist Leo Moran. ‘N17’ got on the radio a handful of times and a second single was to be released to fulfill the two-record deal with Solid Records.
After much debate, it was eventually decided that ‘I Useta Lover’ would be the second release from The Saw Doctors. The band scored an early afternoon slot at the coming-of-age Irish festival of its time, Féile, in Thurles, in County Tipperary, in the August of 1990.
The Welsh ghost must have brought them luck for that Sunday evening they learnt that ‘I Useta Lover’ had somehow entered the Irish single charts from where it slowly climbed, taking seven weeks to reach the Number One spot and remaining on top for the following nine weeks. The Saw Doctors were now known the length and breath of the country and beyond.
Things changed fast. The Saw Doctors made their first trip to The United States in 1991, a journey they have made almost 80 times since.
Through the nineties The Saw Doctors chalked up well-received appearances at numerous prestigious festivals including Witnness, Oxegen and Slane in Ireland, Glastonbury, T in the Park and garnered a reputation for being a powerful and exciting live band. Throughout the noughties The Saw Doctors gained an ever-increasing and enthusiastic following on the Irish college scene.
The end of 2011 brought another surprise hit for The Saw Doctors - having included a verse and chorus of 'Downtown' in the show-closing 'Hay Wrap', the band noticed that 'Downtown' captured the imagination of the audience, making it a potential contender for the Christmas single.
On a long-shot, producer Phillip Tennant got in touch with Petula Clark's manager and a recording session was arranged in London where the old 60's classic was re-vamped and recorded - 'The Saw Doctors featuring Petula Clark'! The lively duet made it to number 2 in the Irish singles Christmas chart and actually made it to number 1 in the iTunes section of the count.
The Saw Doctors continue with a resilience and an effervescent energy, playing tour dates in Ireland this month and throughout the UK in April.