Bruce Springsteen pays touching tribute to Shane MacGowan in Ireland
During a show in Ireland over the weekend, Bruce Springsteen paid tribute to the late Shane MacGowan with a heartfelt rendition of ‘A Rainy Night In Soho’ by The Pogues.
Springsteen opened his show at Kilkenny’s Nowlan Park on May 12th with a cover of the classic track, marking the first time he has played the song live during his career. The E Street Band accompanied him with powerful keys and rousing trumpets while the crowd clapped along enthusiastically.
‘The Boss’ went on to play a set full of classic songs from his own catalogue, including ‘Dancing in the Dark’ and ‘Born to Run’, as well as a pre-show play through of ‘This Hard Land’ for the early bird attendees. His setlist also included covers of The Commodores, Patti Smith and The Top Notes.
It has been just over a year since Springsteen last appeared on stage in Ireland, playing three shows at the RDS Arena in Dublin last May. While he was there, he also visited MacGowan at his home. Victoria Mary Clarke, MacGowan’s spouse, shared her admiration for Springsteen on Instagram following the visit, accompanied by a photo of the two songwriters.
“It is also wonderful to see that a person can be extremely successful in his field and still massively generous in his administration for other musicians and writers,” she wrote at the time, “Extreme kudos and gratitude for the visit to me and [Shane MacGowan]!”
MacGowan passed away later in the year at his home in Dublin. After being hospitalised for an infection in late 2022, he was sent to an intensive care unit in the summer of last year. He then died from pneumonia on November 30th, 2023.
Springsteen shared a tribute to the songwriter on Instagram at the time of his passing, naming MacGowan as one of his “all-time favourite writers”. The singer-songwriter also reflected on his time spent with MacGowan and Clarke, stating that while he was “very ill”, the Pogues frontman was “still beautifully present in his heart and spirit”.
“I don’t know about the rest of us,” he concluded, “but they’ll be singing Shane’s songs 100 years from now.”
Watch Springsteen’s live cover of ‘A Rainy Night In Soho’ by The Pogues below.
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