Dubliners old and new on St Patrick's Day

A great Damien Dempsey concert at the Shepherd's Bush Empire for St Patrick's Day. We arrived late because of horrendous traffic on the A40 and sadly missed one of the support acts, Morrissey and Marshall, which I had been really looking forward as we've seen them with Damo before and they're brilliant. 

Damo made up for it though, with his usual powerful performance. The highlights for me were the guest appearances. Firstly, John Sheahan, who was one of the original Dubliners, did a few songs with Damo including a version of Raglan Road which they dedicated to Luke Kelly. 

Then a surprise guest appeared: Maverick Sabre, who performed his song 'I need' as a duet with Damo. What a voice. 

Finally all the performers appeared on stage at the end for a rendition of the House of Pain song, Jump Around. Not what you might expect on St Patrick's Night, but a great finale. 

The photo above is a bit grainy, but it was taken from the balcony. It shows John Sheahan (in the middle) with Damien Dempsey on the right.