Backstage Pass: A Life in Show Business

Pat Egan is a pioneering music and concert promoter; the first ever to stage arena concerts in Ireland with Queen in 1979 at the RDS. He is also the man behind Ireland’s first major outdoor music festival headlined by a world superstar, Bob Marley at Dalymount Park in 1980.

From growing up fatherless and penniless on the inner-city streets of Dublin in the 1950s to representing internationally famous Irish stars such as Colm Wilkinson, Brendan O’Carroll, Phil Coulter and Rebecca Storm, Pat Egan has had a life like no other.

Backstage Pass brings you on a journey from pirate radio station Radio Caroline via the No. 5 Club and the opening in 1970 of Sound Cellar, Ireland’s first progressive music store, still trading 51 years on. It tells the inside story of a life presenting concerts by international artists including a 40-year association with Sir Billy Connolly, plus Freddie Starr, Van Morrison, Sir George Martin, Eric Clapton, Queen, Sir Elton John, Dame Shirley Bassey and many more, with stories and anecdotes of working with legends like Gay Byrne, Paul McGrath, Jack Nicklaus, and U2, as well as his early days with Phil Lynott and Rory Gallagher.

Along the way we learn how drink, romance, and rock’n’roll tore Pat’s personal life apart and how a loan of £500 helped him turn it all around. How he stayed alive in the wild nightclub business of the 1980s and 1990s, with a shotgun held three inches from his face.

Backstage Pass gives a first ever behind-the-scenes insight into the inner workings of the Irish concert business, including an eye-opening look into where your ticket money goes. It also highlights the poor treatment of young Irish acts who can’t get their music played on Irish commercial radio.

Lavishly illustrated with rare photos, this is your own backstage pass into the Irish music business. Backstage Pass is essential reading for all those with an interest in the music and concert scene in Ireland today. With a foreword by Billy Connolly.

Pat Egan is one of Ireland’s top concert promoters, with over 50 years of experience in the Irish music scene.

The author’s royalties will go to St Audeon’s National School.