Roll call of Cork people and city's songwriters at Christy Moore's Marquee gig

“On the banks, the banks, the beautiful banks, on the banks of the river Lee. Saturday night, we’re packed in tight, all together in the big marquee.”

The chorus of the song Christy Moore wrote about his annual Live at the Marquee gig bookended this year’s show. Standing on stage before he even sat down to play his near two-hour set, he immediately sung that refrain.

While most performers are well used to playing their songs and then speaking in between to give context, with a Christy Moore concert — especially when he is solo like this year — it can feel the songs, the improvised asides, and the considered introductions are all part of one conversation. 

People referred to in song reappear in an introduction another way six or seven songs later, or vice versa.

The entire evening had references to Cork, Cork people, and in particular Cork songwriters. 

The person featured the most was Jimmy MacCarthy, with versions of The Contender, the powerful ballad about the ‘Gorgeous Gael’ himself Jack Doyle and the classic Ride On, (which also gave the title to Christy’s 1984 album, possibly his best known studio album).

Christy made a point of having John Spillane, who was in the audience, stand up and share some applause, as he wrote the song The Ballad of Patrick Murphy about a fisherman in the town of Passage West who was shot in 1911 by a local bailiff. The rendition of that song was a particular highlight.

Songs of conflict and reconciliation featured throughout the night, and he dedicated North and South of the River, which he co-wrote with Bono and The Edge, (both of whom appeared in the lyrics later on in Lisdoonvarna) to RTÉ reporter, the late Tommie Gorman, whose two-year anniversary was three days earlier.

Another anniversary of note that Christy wanted to mark was that of Veronica Guerin, who was killed 30 years ago this year. He performed a particularly poignant version of Veronica which was on his 2001 album This is the Day.

Other Cork musicians mentioned included Ricky Lynch (recounting a recent phone conversation they had discussing different kinds of songs you play for audiences), Martin Leahy, and Hank Wedel, but the most pressing was a reference to Jimmy Crowley, when Christy played a high-energy version of Johnny Jump Up (which he first released 50 years ago on his self-titled album in 1976).

He recounted learning it from Jimmy in The Brown Pub in Kealkil, as part of what Christy referred to as a “world tour of West Cork”.

And when it was all over, and the crowd were giving a standing ovation for a brilliant version of Joxer Goes to Stuttgart, and Christy stood up again giving a goodbye wave to his audience, he gave one more burst of song.

“On the banks, the banks, the beautiful banks, on the banks of the river Lee ...

“Saturday night, we’re packed in tight, all together in the big Marquee.”