Damien Dempsey returned home from Australia in time to open for U2 at Croke Park. So what was it like playing to 80,000 people?

“Amazing – something else. I was pinching myself,” Dempsey gushes. “I was playing Croke Park! With all the history about it, the Black and Tans driving onto the field there and shooting into the crowd and all that. And the rubble from 1916 being used to build Hill 16. My family has history around there and the North Strand. It was a massive thing for me.”
One of the highlights of the night for Dempsey was being joined on stage by John Sheehan of The Dubliners for ‘The Rocky Road’.
“That was incredible. To get a legend of Irish music up playing with me, it was brilliant. He played there supporting U2 in ’87 so he was able to give me a bit of advice and calm me down before we went on!” Damo smiles.
Croke Park wasn’t the first that Dempsey had met Bono and The Edge. Last year, the singer-songwriter was taken aback when he looked down from the stage at a charity gig in the Sallynoggin Inn and recognised some familiar faces.
“I got some shock when I saw them two in the crowd. I was doing a gig for a hospital in Dún Laoghaire, and totally unbeknownst to me they’d paid their €25 in!”
Dempsey’s current tour is a solo affair with just the singer and his guitar on stage, but he’ll be joined by a full band when he plays Electric Picnic.
“I can’t wait,” he enthuses. “Two years ago we had an amazing gig in the Crawdaddy tent. It was tough because we had to follow Kíla. That was very daunting. They were incredible. We’re doing the same slot in the Crawdaddy tent, the last one on the Sunday night. So we’ll hope to send it off with a bang!”
So what can festival-goers expect from his appearance?
“At something like that I always do the hits, all the ones that’ll get the crowd jumping around. We had the ballads album out, The Rocky Road, last year so we’ll probably lash into a few of them as well. They’re great crowd-pleasers. It’ll be the perfect atmosphere for a few ballads.” The Rocky Road, which includes The Dubliners’ ‘Night Visiting Song’ and The Pogues’ ‘A Rainy Night In Soho’, as well as other, older ballads has been a big success and is a project close to Dempsey’s heart.
“All I wanted to do was get those songs across to my younger audience,” he explains. “The more I’m travelling now, there’s loads of older people saying ‘I love that album, it’s great to hear those songs again’ – a lot of the older heads, people in their '60s and '70s, which I didn’t expect. I just wanted to get them songs out to the younger kids, give them a bit of an alternative to the gangsta rap and all that.”
With Dempsey doing plenty of writing since returning from Australia, there could be some new material too.
“I went over there because I needed to get the ball rolling. I was kind of stuck in a rut, I wasn’t writing too much. So I just went out there to get a different head-space. The songs are flowing again now.”
Among the highlights of Dempsey’s trip to Oz was a “wild gig” in the Sydney Opera House in June.
“It was amazing to play there,” Damien smiles. “They had to shut the bar because people were going a bit too wild!”
Dempsey’s current tour will see him play everywhere from Bantry to Ballymun and Blanchardstown – and from Dingle to Dún Laoghaire and his hometown of Donaghmede. This is the hard work that has built up a major following for the singer-songwriter. But Dempsey says there’s a particular buzz at festivals that he really likes.
“There’s always a vibe, it’s like freedom or something,” he proffers. “People are out under the stars and they’re camping or whatever. They get dirty and don’t give a shite. They don’t have to get a taxi home or that. There’s no trouble at them so people let their hair down.”