FUN Lovin’ Criminals will play Dolans Warehouse on Friday December 22 as part of their first international tour following the departure of founder and frontman Huey Morgan.
The current lineup consists of founding member, multi instrumentalist and lead vocalist Brian ‘Fast’ Leiser, Frank Benbini (long associate of the band who joined in 2003) and new guitarist Naim Cortazzi (Happy Mondays, Beverley Knight).
Fun Lovin’ Criminals began in 1993 after Brian ‘Fast’ Leiser met Huey Morgan at The Limelight nightclub in NYC.
Best known for their huge hit ‘Scooby Snacks’ in 1997 sampling Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs dialog from the best-selling debut album ‘Come Find Yourself’ which was the soundtrack of choice in many of Limerick’s watering holes in that era.
Success continued with the single ‘Loco’, the title track of their third album released in early 2001 under EMI followed by a Best Of compilation. The last album of original music from Fun Lovin’ Criminals was Classic Fantastic, released in 2010.
In 2021, Huey Morgan made the decision to leave the trio in order to focus on his career as a radio DJ at the BBC.
Brian Leiser revealed in an interview with The Star in August 2022 that the band had been playing the same setlist for nearly a decade, which led to boredom for both the band and some of their fans. This contributed to strains in their relationship. Brian stated, “There was only really one person who could perform these songs after Huey decided to quit. That’s me. They are songs that I wrote and songs I love to perform.”
The new lineup of Fun Lovin’ Criminals, which released “The Roosevelt Sessions” last year, provides fans with a glimpse of the band’s evolving sound. More new music is set to be released later this year, as the band enters a new chapter with a strong focus on creating music that their fans will love.
Brian ‘Fast’ Leiser mentioned that their latest EP reflects a return to the gritty style of their early days in NYC, particularly in terms of its composition.
At Dolans Warehouse on Friday, December 22, fans can expect to hear all the beloved hits, some lesser-known cuts from the band’s extensive catalogue, as well as fresh material from Fun Lovin’ Criminals.
