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Egan brings showband extravaganza to Cork

March 16th, 2017 7:00 PM

By Southern Star Team

Promoter Pat Egan.

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Pat Egan, one of the country’s most respected promoters, is bringing his latest showband show to Cork Opera House on March 23rd. He spoke to Kieran O’Mahony about the show and his days with New Spotlight magazine

NOSTALGIA is certainly big business as people hark back to the halcyon days of the 60s and 70s, when the showbands ruled the roost. Music promoter Pat Egan, who himself worked through the great days of the showbands, has now put together a a new tour entitled the ‘New Spotlight Live Showband Show’ featuring the country’s showband king Dicky Rock, with special guests Tony Kenny, Mick Roche (The Arrows) and Karen Black (Nevada).

At the height of the showband boom, New Spotlight magazine was selling about 60,000 copies a week and it was here that a young and enthusiastic Pat Egan got his first break as the magazine’s ‘beat group’ columnist.

‘New Spotlight was an enormous success back in the day. It was a dream job and it was a great experience working with writers like Sam Smyth and James Morrissey.’ said Pat.

‘I could hardly write my name but John Coughlan gave me a job anyway. This was around the time of Rory Gallagher and Taste and the early days of the rock ‘n’ roll scene in Ireland. Unfortunately when you’re that young you don’t always appreciate what’s going on around you. I managed alright though, and I learned an awful lot working in the magazine.’

Pat was also a DJ at the well-known 5 Club on Harcourt Street in Dublin.

‘It would have been ahead of its time in terms of what was played there, and it was seen as a very cool place to hang out. We used to play a lot of Motown, Stax and blues music and we used to have a mix of mods and rockers.’

Fast forward to 2017 and for this latest showband tour Pat wanted to put on a big production with some of the biggest names on the scene.

‘I just wanted to put something around Spotlight and there will be an audio visual aspect to the show highlighting the history of the showbands down through the years. It promises to be a great night of music and memories.’

The New Spotlight Live Showband Show featuring Dickie Rock with special guest Tony Kenny will be in Cork Opera House on Thursday March 23rd, starting at 8pm. See www.corkoperahouse.ie for ticket details.

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