The new season of Documentary On One opens with a look back at Bob Marley's only Irish gig and his last ever outdoor show on a summer’s afternoon in Dublin in 1980 - listen to Bob Marley In The Park above.
Producer Alanna MacNamee looks back at a special day for Irish music fans 44 years ago. Of course, Alanna wasn’t even born when Bob and the Wailers took to the stage...
'I didn’t know that Bob Marley had played in Ireland,’ I said, glancing up at the Bob Marley Bohemians soccer jersey that hung on the café wall. I was working with a TV crew in what we were calling ‘Dublin’s hippest neighbourhood’, Phibsborough, and we were taking a coffee break in a suitably hip establishment, Bang Bang coffee shop and deli.
‘He did,’ said Stephen McDowell, our sound recordist. ‘In the Bohs soccer ground, Dalymount Park. It was his last ever concert before he died.’ I looked at him in surprise. ‘And I was there,’ he added.
From that moment, I had to learn more. I grew up listening to Bob Marley and The Wailers: my dad had a compilation of their greatest hits on tape, and I used to listen to them in the car on the way to school. Later, my uncle who lives in Italy burned a selection of reggae hits onto a CD, and we had it on rotation for months in the CD player in our kitchen in the mid 2000s.
I love the music, I love live gigs and, most of all, I love a good story, so I plunged into researching this very famous gig, which turned out to have been Bob’s last outdoor gig rather than his last ever concert. An important distinction, sure, but not one that would deter me from diving headlong into the lore and making a radio documentary all about it. As it happened, there were lots of interesting stories about what would turn out to be not only Bob’s last outdoor gig, but also his only ever Irish concert.
Making the doc happen took a bit of work, but I was lucky that I got Tim Desmond, producer with The Documentary On One team, on board. He’s produced lots of great music docs, and he would have loved to go to the Marley gig himself, only he sadly missed it to go to a Scouts trip in 1980. With Tim attached, we started reaching out to the promoter, the photographer, lots of concertgoers, and of course, Stephen McDowell, who’d told me about the gig in the first place. The response was immense. After a call out on the Documentary On One Facebook page, we were inundated with comments.
There’s something so enjoyable about talking to people about a cherished memory, a moment that’s stood out in their lives. Making this documentary, I got to meet promoter Pat Egan: a man with an amazing legacy, and a treasure trove of stories from his days in the biz. I met Kay Brennan, whose love for Bob is abiding, and who went on to meet Rita Marley in London. And in a plot twist, an unassuming man called Gerry McMahon turned out to have been crowned a reggae dance champion in Jamaica after his love of reggae was consolidated at the concert.
It was fascinating to hear our interviewees’ stories against the backdrop of the summer gig season in Ireland… tales of counterfeit tickets and bags stuffed full of cash from the Marley gig are worlds away from Taylor Swift booking out the entirety of the 3 Arena just to sell merch for her shows, which weren’t even on there (she played in the Aviva).
There were ups and downs along the way, of course – I had a run-in with our recording equipment one evening in Bray before interviewing a very patient Ken Doyle of Bagatelle, the support band for the gig. And reading through some of the archive from the newspapers at the time of the gig was certainly eye-opening… it seems mad to think of Bob Marley holding court in the Gresham Hotel smoking a joint and trashing birth control, as an Irish Times article from the time reported.
One of the unexpected joys of making this documentary was sharing the experience with my dad, who like my producer Tim, didn't make it to the gig but who is of a similar vintage to those who were. He remembered Pat Egan’s Sound Cellar, where people bought concert tickets in the 80s. He remembered the Dublin music scene of the era, and the alternative people around it. He might not have made it to Marley in 1980, but he’s still rocking out (not always in time with the beat!) at live events, including the Undertones and the Waterboys over the summer.
Perhaps the thing that struck me most while making the documentary was the power of live music to bring people together, and the way the memory of that can live on. One balmy summer evening, Tim and I interviewed best friends Trish and Mags, who attended the Marley gig together, and who have a special bond because of it. They’re still going to concerts together, and their energy is warm and infectious.
I was reminded of Trish and Mags when I went to see The Wailers perform in Waterford with my own best friend in August. The vibes were immaculate, the rain held off and we danced and sang to all the hits, and I thought, ‘I hope we continue going to concerts together for years to come, just like Trish and Mags have.’
Really, there’s nothing like a live gig – and the story of the Marley gig in Dalymount is a good one. The doc is packed full with fascinating anecdotes, from tales of the Wailers having a kickabout on the pitch, to hand deliveries of hash, to autograph hunting in the Gresham Hotel in Dublin after the gig, and even recollections of how Marley dedicated ‘Redemption Song’ to ‘the Irish struggle.’
I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed making it.
RTÉ Documentary On One: Bob Marley In The Park, RTÉ Radio 1, Saturday September 7th at 2:00 pm - listen to more from Documentary On One here.
