A St. Paddy's Celebration of Sinéad O'Connor and Shane MacGowan at Carnegie Hall

David Gray, Glen Hansard, Cat Power, Dropkick Murphys, Imelda May, Steve Earle, Josh Ritter, Flogging Molly, Lisa Hannigan, Billy Bragg, Amanda Palmer, Gordon Gano of the Violent Femmes, Craig Finn of the Hold Steady, John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats, Bettye LaVette, Eugene Hütz of Gogol Bordello, Julia Cumming of Sunflower Bean, Kat Edmonson, and the Resistance Revival Chorus performed the songs of the late Sinéad O’Connor and Shane MacGowan at a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall on March 20.

The event, A St. Paddy's Celebration of Sinéad O'Connor and Shane MacGowan, organized by City Winery, honored the legacies of Sinéad O’Connor and her friend and fellow musician Shane MacGowan, both whom died last year. The musicians covered many of MacGowan and O’Connor’s best-known songs over three hours and 22 songs. A few shared memories and stories of the two artists.

Roison Waters at Carnegie Hall (photograph by Al Pereira)

Roisin Waters (O’Connor's daughter), Victoria Mary Clarke (MacGowan’s widow), and Suzanne Nossel (CEO of PEN America). The program continued with bagpipe music from Joe McGonigal of the St. Columcille United Gaelic Pipe Band, based in Kearny, New Jersey.

Tony Shanahan, bassist in Patti Smith’s band, led the house band. Cait O’Riordan, the Pogues bassist, performed in the band.

The finale, featuring Amanda Palmer and Billy Bragg (photograph by Al Pereira)

The finale, featuring Bettye LaVette (photograph by Al Pereira)

The finale, featuring David Gray and Billy Bragg (photograph by Al Pereira)

The finale, featuring Josh Ritter, Glen Hansard and Cait O'Riordan (photograph by Al Pereira)

The highlights were numerous. Waters sang her mother’s most famous song, a cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.” As he did during MacGowan’s funeral, Glen Hansard sang the Pogue’s best-known song, “Fairytale of New York,” with former Pogues member Cait O’Riordan. Hansard and Imelda May performed MacGowan and O’Connor’s duet, “Haunted.” The 12-member Resistance Revival Chorus showcased the politics in O’Connor’s work by inserting new lyrics into “Thank You for Hearing Me,” calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Ritter spoke briefly about the formative moment when a childhood friend introduced him to the music of the Pogues. Dropkick Murphys’ Ken Casey shared anecdotes about MacGowan, one of which involved the musician scrawling a series of profanities alongside his autograph on a rare 7” single.

The President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, contributed a letter that was included in the centerfold of the program. (Read President Higgins’ letter here.) The celebration supported the mission of PEN America with a donation of $65,000 to help the agency in its mission of advocating for freedom of speech worldwide. Amanda Palmer was the originator of the event. 

Many of the performers performed a night earlier at a live rehearsal show at City Winery NYC. Some of the performs returned to the stage at City Winery the following night during the after-party,

Glen Hansard and Cait O'Riordan at the rehearsal show (photograph by Al Pereira)

The Resistance Revival Chorus at the rehearsal show (photograph by Al Pereira)

Billy Bragg at the rehearsal concert (photograph by Al Pereira)

Roison Waters at the Carnegie Hall soundcheck (photograph by Al Pereira)

Amanda Palmer at the afterparty (photograph by Ehud Lazin)

Billy Bragg at the afterparty (photograph by Ehud Lazin)

Kat Edmonson at the afterparty (photograph by Ehud Lazin)

Julia Cumming at the afterparty (photograph by Ehud Lazin)

Setlists

Flogging Molly

The Old Main Drag (The Pogues cover)

Steve Earle 

If I Should Fall from Grace with God (The Pogues cover)

Josh Ritter

The Broad Majestic Shannon (The Pogues cover)

Imelda May

This Is to Mother You (Sinéad O’Connor cover) (followed by a speech from Victoria Mary Clarke)

Haunted (The Pogues cover, with Glen Hansard)

Craig Finn  

Sally MacLennane (The Pogues cover, with John Darnielle)

Resistance Revival Chorus

Thank You for Hearing Me (Sinéad O’Connor cover)

Kat Edmonson 

In This Heart (Sinéad O’Connor cover)

Julia Cumming

Success (Loretta Lynn cover)

Eugene Hütz 

The Church of the Holy Spook (Shane MacGowan and the Popes cover) (>) The Song With No Name (Shane MacGowan and the Popes cover) (> The Church of The Holy Spook)

Bettye LaVette

I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (Sinéad O’Connor cover)

Gordon Gano

A Pair of Brown Eyes (The Pogues cover)

Amanda Palmer

Black Boys on Mopeds (Sinéad O’Connor cover, with Jack Palmer) (Speech beforehand)

Billy Bragg

A Rainy Night in Soho (The Pogues cover)

Lisa Hannigan

I Am Stretched on Your Grave (Scullion cover)

Dropkick Murphys

The Body of an American (The Pogues cover)

Cat Power

Feel So Different (Sinéad O’Connor cover)

David Gray

Three Babies (Sinéad O’Connor cover)

Roison Waters

Nothing Compares 2 U (Prince cover)

Glen Hansard

I'm a Man You Don't Meet Everyday ([traditional] cover) (>) (Unknown Irish instrumental)

Fairytale of New York (The Pogues cover, with Cait O'Riordan, Imelda May and Roisin Waters)

Dirty Old Town (Ewan MacColl cover, with everyone from the concert)

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The Manhattan Beat reports on New York City's live music circuit. All articles are written by Everynight Charley Crespo. All photographs are taken by Everynight Charley Crespo, except when noted otherwise.

For a list of Manhattan venues that are presenting live music regularly, swing the desktop cursor to the right of the The Manhattan Beat home page and click on the pop-up tab "Where to Find Live Music."

For a more complete listing of upcoming performances in the New York City area, visit The Manhattan Beat's March calendar.