Dolan family condemns 'illegal' tribute acts

The late Joe Dolan's family has this week condemned singers who are performing what they have called 'illegal' Joe Dolan tribute acts.The family spoke out after the latest tribute, a musical about the showband legend, was launched at the weekend. The show, which was to tell the story of the late singer's life, has since been cancelled. It was due to premier in the Hazel Hotel in Monasterevin on October 10 with a tour planned for next year.Joe's brother Ben said this week people who were advertising their tribute shows using Joe Dolan's name were not only doing so illegally, but said he believed they were simply cashing in on his brother's memory.He said while anyone can sing a Joe Dolan song, they could not use his name and the Dolan family, along with Joe's original band, performed the only legitimate tribute show, titled the Reunion show. He explained that this involved the band singing along with Joe on a big screen and said Joe conducted the band from the big screen as he had always done.He said while they don't perform the Reunion show too often, they will be putting it on again in Killarney on the October bank holiday weekend.Ben Dolan said they had decided to call it the Reunion show as it was a way to reunite Joe's fans."It's the Dolan family who does it. Others using the Joe Dolan name are doing so illegally," he said, explaining that the family had copyrighted the Joe Dolan name. He said most of the people doing this had been in show business for donkey's years themselves. "They're all grabbing at straws," he said. "It doesn't matter that they sing Joe's songs, but they can't use the name. You would imagine anyone in show business would like to put his own name forward, why not at least use their own name? They never made it on their own and now they're using Joe's name."He said a lot of fans just see the name Joe Dolan and think the family is connected to it."We're the official people to do a Joe Dolan show. It kills me when I meet people and they say 'I see you're playing such and such a place on Friday night' and it's not us. I'd appreciate if people stopped using his name, they're looking for customers to come in. We can all use false advertising, which is the sad part of it. It's really very annoying. Show business is at an all time low with a lot of people, but it's the fact that they are advertising 'a Joe show' when it's not a Joe show."Ben said Joe is still greatly missed, not least of all by his family, but by his legion of fans and said nearly every day people call to his grave in Mullingar and then stop off at the family's pub in the town to meet them.He said the Dolan family still had the goodwill of the people.The latest tribute act, which was launched at the weekend, was called Goodbye Venice Goodbye. It is understood promoter Michael Hynes has registered the musical as a trade name in a bid to protect himself from possible legal action from the family.Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner this week, Mr Hynes said the show on October 10 had since been cancelled and he was not sure if the tour next year was going ahead. He confirmed that the show was to tell the life story of Joe Dolan, who was to be played by Athlone man Paschal Brennan, through music.Mr Hynes said he was disappointed that the show was cancelled as there had been a lot of interest in it."I had a lot of things done for it, but it's outside my call now," he said. "It came as a shock to me."