Stars come out for Shane MacGowan Tribute

Singing and waking the dead are among the things we Irish do best. Maybe it’s because both are connected to words, with which we are also fairly useful. Shane MacGowan was a genius with words and wore that genius lightly.

So last night’s standing-room-only gig, a highlight of the Spiegeltent Festival in Wexford, was like Glastonbury without the mud, a rambunctious celebration of that genius, with the Sharon Shannon Big Band swollen for the occasion by such major Irish talents as Imelda May, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Camille O’Sullivan, Mundy and banjoist Gerry O’Connor.

Sharon Shannon Big Band at Spiegeltent Festival Wexford. Copyright Trevor McGrath.

The afore-said participants operated a veritable revolving door on stage, moving swifty on and off as their presence required. Occasionally you feared that it could all collapse in a shambolic heap but the professionalism of the singers and their sheer love of Shane’s music kept the good-humoured occasion delightfully together.

Sharon Shannon Big Band at Spiegeltent Festival Wexford. Copyright Trevor McGrath.

Shannon herself was in sparkling form, getting jiggy with lively renditions of her most popular tunes as well as an extended run-through of ‘Cavan Potholes’ that enabled the band members to stretch out. But she generously left ample space for her band to become the fulcrum around which Shane’s ability to say more with fewer words.

To cap it all, the lusty singing of the Wexford audience made this a truly special night as they rollicked their way through such gems as ‘The Irish Rover’, ‘Rainy Night In Soho’ and ‘Dirty Old Town’. O Maonlai brought a respite from the mayhem with an affectionate version of ‘Summer In Siam’. Mundy too was in top form on ‘A Pair of Brown Eyes’ and ‘I’m A Man You Don’t Meet Every Day’ while Imelda May’s rockabilly roots underscored a terrific version of ‘Mamalou’ that would have set the audience  dancing had there been room to shake even one leg, never mind two.

Sharon Shannon Big Band at Spiegeltent Festival Wexford. Copyright Trevor McGrath.

But if the spirit of Shane was anywhere tonight it was with Camille O’Sullivan who was on fire throughout the gig, stoking that fire as required, not least with a poignant take on ‘The Broad Majestic Shannon’. Inevitably, for a concert brimful of Pogues’ hits, the night ended with ‘A Fairytale of New York’, a song that deserves to be sung all year round. In truth, some nights don’t deserve to end but should go on forever, just like we felt Shane’s life should have done. If anyone deserves to follow Bob Dylan as a Nobel Laureate of “Song Lyrics as Poetry”, he should be the one.

Sharon Shannon Big Band at Spiegeltent Festival Wexford. Copyright Trevor McGrath.