Cat Power, Glen Hansard & more covered Sinéad O’Connor & Shane MacGowan at rehearsal for Carnegie Hall benefit (pics, video)

A star-studded benefit show honoring the late Sinéad O’Connor and Shane MacGowan happens at Carnegie Hall tonight (3/20), and ahead of that, many of the participating artists played a rehearsal show at City Winery on Tuesday (3/19). The loose, casual rehearsal was led by Tony Shanahan (who played in the house band), and included Billy Bragg (covering The Pogues’ “A Rainy Night in Soho” and “If I Should Fall From Grace With God”), Gogol Bordello‘s Eugene Hütz (who said “without The Pogues there would be no Gogol Bordello” and covered Shane MacGown and the Popes’ “The Church of the Holy Spook” and “The Song With No Name”), Cat Power (who covered Sinéad’s “Feel So Different”), Imelda May (who got emotional, calling Sinéad the best, before covering her “This is to Mother You,” and was also joined by Glen Hansard on a rendition of The Pogues’ “Haunted”), The Hold Steady‘s Craig Finn and The Mountain Goats‘ John Darnielle (who covered The Pogues’ “Sally MacLennane” together), and more. One of the highlights of the night came when Hansard and original Pogues’ bassist Cait O’Riordan performed “Fairytale of New York;” watch video of that below. Sunflower Bean‘s Julia Cumming jokingly complained about having to follow their powerful rendition. The performers were backed by a house band featuring Larry Campbell, Gerry Leonard, Andy Burton, John Reynolds, Yuval Lyons, and O’Riordan, and you can see pictures from the night by Ellen Qbertplaya below, along with the full setlist. SETLIST: SINÉAD & SHANE REHEARSAL @ CITY WINERY, 3/19/2024 1. Thank You for Hearing Me (Sinéad O’Connor cover) (with Resistance Revival Chorus) 2. Mandinka (Sinéad O’Connor cover) (with Joy Askew) 3. A Rainy Night in Soho (The Pogues cover) (with Billy Bragg) 4. If I Should Fall From Grace With God (The Pogues cover) (with Billy Bragg) 5. The Church of the Holy Spook(Shane MacGowan and the Popes cover) (with Eugene Hütz) 6. The Song With No Name (Shane MacGowan and the Popes cover) (with Eugene Hütz) 7. In This Heart (Sinéad O’Connor cover) (with Kat Edmonson, Joy Askew, Amy Cervini) 8. Feel So Different (Sinéad O’Connor cover) (with Cat Power) 9. Three Babies (Sinéad O’Connor cover) (with David Gray) 10. This Is to Mother You (Sinéad O’Connor cover) (with Imelda May) 11. Haunted (The Pogues cover) (with Imelda May and Glen Hansard) 12. Sally MacLennane (The Pogues cover) (with Craig Finn and John Darnielle) 13. I Am Stretched on Your Grave (Sinéad O’Connor cover) (with Lisa Hannigan) 14. I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Everyday (traditional cover) (with Glen Hansard) 15. Irish instrumental (with Glen Hansard) 16. Fairytale of New York (The Pogues cover) (with Glen Hansard and Cait O’Riordan) 17. Success Has Made a Failure of Our Home (Sinéad O’Connor cover) (with Julia Cumming) 18. The Emperor’s New Clothes (Sinéad O’Connor cover) (with Julia Cumming) 19. The Broad Majestic Shannon (The Pogues cover) (with Josh Ritter)