The Chris Rea Experience announce 3Olympia show

The Chris Rea Experience have announced a show at Dublin's 3Olympia Theatre on October 13.

Featuring Rea's long time collaborators Paul Casey and Eoghan O'Neill from The Chris Rea Band, the show pays tribute to Rea, who died last December at 74.

"It's a massive honour to now perform the music that inspired me to become a musician," said Casey.

"I learned to sing by listening to Chris' albums. Shamrock Diaries is my bible. If it wasn’t for his music, I'd never have picked up a guitar. So, playing this 3Olympia show feels very special, it feels like it's all coming full circle."

Including all the best-known hits of the 40-million-album-selling artist, the concert is set to be performed in "Rea's unmistakable style."

The 'Rea-magined' band also comprises Liam Bradley (Moving Hearts, Van Morrison, The Blue Nile), John McCullough (Van Morrison, Sinéad O'Connor, The Waterboys), and new guitarist Dan Millar.

Rea was a rock and blues singer-songwriter from Middlesbrough, England. He recorded 25 studio albums during his career dating back to the early 1970s. His commercial breakthrough came with 1985's album Shamrock Diaries, followed by a 1986 platinum-seller On the Beach. Best known for hits such as 'I Can Hear Your Heartbeat', 'Stainsby Girls', 'Josephine,' and 'Driving Home for Christmas,' the singer toured in Ireland regularly.

In 2024, in what would be one of his final interviews before his passing last year, Rea talked to Hot Press about his relationship with the now frontman of The Chris Rea Experience, Casey.

"His first demos were absolutely amazing," he said.

"There's something very Irish in what he does. But there's something very Irish in what I do as well. He's like a younger brother."

Tickets for The Chris Rea Experience in the 3Olympia will go on sale Friday, April 17 at 10AM here.

Watch the teaser below: