Chicago Motor Speedway
Cicero
June 12, 1999
Story and Photos by Phil Bonyata
In it's third year, The Guinness Fleadh, brought all it's talented acts to the Chicago Motor Speedway yesterday. Of course one of the crowds' favorite supporting acts was the over abundance of the jet black nectar - Guinness stout. It was revered by some as much as the music!
As the clouds exploded it's wet relief onto the sweltering audience, acts such as the soulful Lucinda Williams, the jam 'til we drop, Taj Mahal, the take life lightly, Saw Doctors and the serious, bluesy and recovering, John Prine set the stage for the main acts.
Elvis Costello played a laid back set that was probably better suited for a smaller and more intimate venue. The ever mysterious and personal Van Morrison played such classics as "Gloria," "Moondance" and "Caravan" in such a private and beautiful way that any aspiring philosophers in the audience were surely inspired. Closing the main stage was the overrated and forgettable Hootie and the Blowfish. This bands' "fifteen minutes" has been over for some time now.
Closing the second stage was Irish legend Shane MacGowan, formerly of the seminal Irish punk band, The Pogues. MacGowan was an hour and a half late. Rumors spread quickly among the press corp that Shane was in jail in New York and being questioned as an accomplice in the heroin overdose death of a friend. He probably won't perform tonight. A major dissappointment for this reviewer.
Shane's legend does this to people.
Drunk and high as always, the emaciated Shane MacGowan, yes, the legend lives on, was the highlight of the evening. Playing such Pogues classics as "The Sunny Side of the Street," the great "If I Should Fall From the Grace of God" and the punk Christmas song "Fairytale in New York", Shane proved he could still deliver with one foot in the grave.
This Irish punk/drunk might not be long to this Earth but his special brand of traditional Irish music fused with a punk urgency will surely live on.
Could MacGowan's performance be a metaphor for the future of Guinness Fleadh?
We'll see.
 Shane MacGowan |
 Elvis Costello |
 Van Morrison |
 Hootie and the Blowfish |
 Lucinda Williams |
 Taj Mahal |