At Backstage Theatre · Farneyhoogan, Longford, Co. Longford
Gerry Guthrie plays Backstage Theatre with his full touring band on Sunday 8 November. The Mayo singer and musician has six studio albums behind him and has picked up awards for Vocal Performance of the Year and Album of the Year, with several of his recordings getting regular airplay on Irish country radio. This is a full band show rather than an acoustic set, so expect the arrangements you hear on the records.
Two support acts share the bill. TR Dallas, one of the longest-serving names on the Irish country circuit, opens alongside Carmel McLoughlin. The three-act line-up makes for a longer evening than a standard single-headliner concert, and it is the kind of bill that draws country fans from across Longford, Roscommon, Leitrim and Westmeath. Backstage seats just under 220 people, so sightlines are good from anywhere in the room and the sound is close.
Backstage Theatre sits at Farneyhoogan on the eastern edge of Longford town, on the same campus as Templemichael College and beside Longford Rugby Club. Coming from Dublin or Mullingar, leave the N4 at the Longford exit and follow the signs for the theatre rather than driving into the town centre. From Sligo, Carrick-on-Shannon or Roscommon, come in on the N4 or N5 and pick up the same signposting on the far side of town.
There is free parking on site, with plenty of spaces for a Sunday evening show. Longford railway station is roughly two kilometres away on the Dublin Connolly to Sligo line, and Bus Eireann and Local Link services stop in the town centre, both a short taxi ride from the door.
Heading to Backstage Theatre in Longford? Longford has plenty more to see. Read the Longford area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.