LCD Soundsystem pay tribute to Shane MacGowan with a cover of ‘Fairytale Of New York’

11 December, 2023

LCD Soundsystem and Shane MacGowan. Credit: Steve Jennings and Gie Knaeps via GETTY

LCD Soundsystem have paid tribute to the late Shane MacGowan with a cover of The Pogues’ ‘Fairytale Of New York’.

The Pogues frontman passed away “peacefully” on November 30, having died from pneumonia aged 65. His funeral occurred on Friday, December 8 in Tipperary, close to where MacGowan spent his childhood.

James Murphy and co. paid tribute to MacGowan by covering ‘Fairytale Of New York’ as an interlude during their track ‘New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down’ yesterday (December 10) at the final show of their New York residency at the Knockdown Center in Queens.

LCD Soundsystem are the latest to pay tribute to the Pogues frontman. The Pogues performed together for the first time since 2014 at MacGowan’s funeral to play a version of ‘The Parting Glass’.

Primal Scream‘s Bobby Gillespie recently paid tribute to the singer describing him as my “Celtic soul brother”.

Glen Hansard and Lisa O’Neill also performed a version of MacGowan’s 1987 festive classic ‘Fairytale Of New York’ at the service, backed by members of The Pogues, leading to members of MacGowan’s family to dance in the aisles of the church.

Nick Cave also performed at the funeral, playing a powerful, adapted version of The Pogues‘ ‘A Rainy Night in Soho’, while Johnny Depp delivered a personal reading to the man he descirbed as the “maestro” at the funeral.

In other news, LCD Soundsystem reportedly cut one of their final NYC shows short after a member passed out backstage.

According to reports on Reddit, the band cut the show after the first encore and did not return for the second encore. Frontman James Murphy then returned to the stage to announce the show was done as a bandmember had passed out backstage, requiring an ambulance. Murphy did not specify which member had fallen ill.

LCD Soundsystem are scheduled to play their New Year’s Eve shows in San Francisco this year with support from Peaches and 2ManyDJs (aka. Soulwax) – any remaining tickets can be purchased here.
It was also announced that the band would be headlining London’s All Point East next year. They’ll be joined by the likes of Jai Paul, Pixies, Floating Points, Jockstrap, Nation of Language, a live show from Sofia Kourtesis and Eyedress – tickets for the day can be purchased here.
In other recent LCD Soundsystem news, the band have collaborated with IDLES on their comeback single ‘DANCER’, and joined them on stage to perform ‘Rottweiler’.

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