Navan and Kingscourt dates for legend Rob Strong

Blues and soul man celebrates 60 years on the road

After fantastic feedback from his sold out gig at The Royal Meath Bar in Navan in March, the legendary Rob Strong brings his band to Banjo’s Music Hall at The Palace in Navan on Friday 8th December and to Gartlan’s of Kingscourt on Saturday 9th December. The past year has seen Rob, aka the ‘Godfather of Soul in Ireland’ sell out four concerts at Arthur’s Blues n’ Jazz Club in Thomas Street, Dublin.

This year Rob is celebrating an amazing 60 years on the road in Ireland. As the title of his recent biography suggests, Rob is 'Still Going Strong'

Strong has been described by Colm Wilkinson as "The best blues/soul singer to ever come out of Ireland”. His band effortlessly weaves together the rich tapestry of blues, soul, and rock, with popular classics from 'The Commitments' movie as part of their set, huge favourites such as ‘Mustang Sally’, ‘Treat her Right’ , ‘The Midnight Hour ’ Take me to the River’ and ’Try a little Tenderness’.

Strong started out in the Showband era when he first joined The Polka Dots and later fronted the iconic Plattermen from Omagh. The Plattermen were one of Ireland’s most popular showbands and packed out huge ballrooms all over Ireland, including local venues such as The Granada (Kingscourt), The Embassy (Castleblaney) The Beechmount (Navan) and The Abbey Ballroom in Drogheda.

In the 1970s, nobody in Ireland personified the raw energy of rock, blues and soul music like Rob Strong. He also performed with Johnny Logan in The Giants as well as The Las Vegas Showband, The Rockets, The Commitments band and The Rob Strong Band in a career that has spanned an amazing six decades.

His son, Andrew, starred as Deco Cuffe, lead singer of the band, in the worldwide smash hit movie ‘The Commitments’ in 1991. Rob was also the vocal coach for both soundtrack albums of the iconic movie and toured with The Commitments band across the UK and Europe. Tickets for both gigs are €15 plus booking fee on Eventbrite. Full details on www.robstrong.ie