Bruce Springsteen paid a poignant musical tribute to the late Shane MacGowan, at his concert in Kilkenny’s Nowlan Park.
The Boss and the E Street Band opened their set with a stirring rendition of the Pogues’ classic A Rainy Night in Soho.
Springsteen had visited MacGowan in hospital last May and following his death in November, he said: “Shane was one of my all-time favourite writers.
“The passion and deep intensity of his music and lyrics is unmatched by all but the very best in the rock and roll canon.
“I was fortunate to spend a little time with Shane and his lovely wife Victoria the last time we were in Dublin,”
“He was very ill, but still beautifully present in his heart and spirit. His music is timeless and eternal. I don’t know about the rest of us, but they’ll be singing Shane’s songs 100 years from now.”
Springsteen is currently in the middle of an Irish tour, having already played dates in Belfast and Kilkenny. He is set to play Cork’s SuperValu Pairc Ui Chaoimh on 16 May and Dublin’s Croke Park on 19 May.
