God only knows how Christy keeps going. He is the only artist to have attended every single Marquee. In an annual series broken only by Covid, this night was Christy鈥檚 19th year bringing his unique circus to Cork鈥檚 big tent.
It鈥檚 hard to believe, really, that he turned 80 in May. What a powerhouse of a performance. The voice is as crystal clear as ever, the wit as sharp as a fishmonger鈥檚 favourite blade.
“Johnny, fill her up,” he says to his technician, changing guitars.
Last year saw the release of the flawless album A Terrible Beauty, which sits up there with his all-time best work. Several of the songs featured in the tent: Cumann Na Mn谩 and Palestine, and, of course, The Big Marquee, which he originally began writing a few years ago in the car journey down to Cork. In it, he mentions countless Cork people.
“The first time I played this was in the Opera House on a tribute night for Don O鈥橪eary of the Cork Life Centre. He鈥檚 here again tonight, so we鈥檒l sing it for him. ”
He dedicated My Little Honda 50 to Ruby, a six-year-old attending along with two generations of her family.
“Thanks to you, Ruby, you make an 80-year-old man feel really great.”
Across the course of the evening, you see every shade of Christy. One minute, we are laughing at the speed of his reaction to a shout from the audience requesting a song while he鈥檚 talking.
“I鈥檒l be with you in five minutes, Mary. Here鈥檚 a song I wrote 40 years ago. Sadly, it鈥檚 entirely from my own experience. I add a new verse every year, but I can never remember the decade that I鈥檓 in.” Delirium Tremens.
The next minute, we are plunged into a kind of dark introspection that few of us actively seek out for our entertainment, and yet we鈥檙e glad when we are floored by its stark authenticity.
Like Black & Amber, Christy鈥檚 a capella version of the song by Brian Brannigan of A Lazarus Soul; it鈥檚 the moving tale of a woman left at home every night while her man is down the local pub: 鈥淚t鈥檚 oh so lonely O he鈥檚 left us on our owneo, Down the Black and Amber treatin鈥 strangers like they鈥檙e Kings鈥.
Throughout the gig, Christy takes time to credit the many writers whose songs he records and performs. This is a regular trait in his shows. It must be a great buzz for songwriters to be name-checked by Ireland鈥檚 all-time great folk artist. He mentions Hank Wedel, Martin Leahy, Jimmy McCarthy and more.
“Sometimes you鈥檙e singing a song, and it makes you think of another song. In 1974, I did a tour of West Cork with Jimmy Crowley, and I picked up this song.” He sings Johnny Jump Up unplanned, impromptu and again a cappella.
And then there鈥檚 all the classic hits: Viva la Quinta Brigada, Spancil Hill, Back Home in Derry, The City of Chicago, Joxxer, Johnny Boy/Ride On, Bright Blue Ros茅, The Voyage and Ordinary Man.
A personal highlight for me was Christy鈥檚 Yellow Triangle. A truly great song from his 1996 album Graffiti Tongue, he doesn鈥檛 always play it. I鈥檓 sure it gives Christy no pleasure that his spine-chilling anti-fascist lyrics are more relevant today than ever.
Politics, comedy, love and death, clapping along, singing. A night with everything. Such a powerful journey from one man鈥檚 mastery to a standing ovation.
Out and about at Live at the Marquee