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Live updates from the Seisiún Irish music festival in Boston
All of the best photos, videos, and stories from both days of the festival at Suffolk Downs.
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Those who have fond memories of the 1999 Fleadh festival — along with people who appreciate Irish culture, and the idea of having another music event to enjoy in Boston — celebrated the launch this past weekend of Seisiún, a two-day Irish music festival at Suffolk Downs.
Like the Fleadh, Seisiún features a star-studded lineup, including Dropkick Murphys and The Hold Steady on Saturday, and The Pogues, Glen Hansard, and the Waterboys on Sunday.
The festival kicked off at 2:10 p.m. Saturday with Holy Locust, and resumed Sunday at 1 p.m. with John Francis Flynn. See below for all of our live updates, photos, reviews, and videos from both days.
‘It’s beyond beautiful to be back in Boston’: The Pogues wrap things up (9:40 p.m. Sunday)
Sunday’s headliner, The Pogues, electrified the crowd with the final set of the Seisiún Festival.
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“It’s beyond beautiful to be back in Boston,” said singer Spider Stacy.
The three members of the Pogues were accompanied by as many as 11 other musicians on stage at once, including Sunday’s performers Lisa O’Neill and John Francis Flynn joining on vocals.
“F—ing great set earlier,” said Stacy, who watched Flynn’s performance from the pit.
While the musicians jumped around the stage and danced with one another, audience members also danced and sang along to the set.
‘We better be good after this’: The Waterboys make it late (8:16 p.m.)
After an orange and pink sunset, The Waterboys made it to the Seisiún festival despite travel delays.
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“We better be good after this,” said lead singer Mike Scott, after the amp to his electric guitar blew and the band went on 20 minutes into their time slot.
The band played a mix of mellow Irish songs and rock ballads where the bass caused the festival grounds to vibrate.
The Waterboys played with six musicians on Sunday, although dozens of musicians have been in the band since its establishment in the 80s.
The crowd raised their cups and swayed to each song. The band also got the crowd to sing “Woo-ooo-ooo” and “And a bang on the ear,” to a song of the same name.
The festival is packed with fans with the rain letting up a few hours ago and the temperature dropping enough to see the breath of The Waterboys.
Glen Hansard slacks ‘the king,’ and Uber drivers (7:02 p.m. Sunday)
Glen Hansard swapped performance slots with The Waterboys due to flight issues, he told the crowd.
Wondering when The Waterboys would arrive, Hansard watched the planes landing. “I’m looking for Aer Lingus. I’m supposed to be in bed before my set,” he said and continued to call out the airlines flying by throughout his set, even in the middle of songs.
After a 10-minute delay due to audio issues, Hansard said, “The guy running the monitor is down at Luigi’s getting a pizza” and added that he enjoyed food at the Revere pizza joint. Then he said, “Let’s just play.”
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Hansard played with five other musicians, including the two musicians performing with Irish step dancers from Canton’s Irish Cultural Center. The crowd enjoyed every second of Noah and Ezekiel joining the performance on the fiddle and flute.
To play at Seisiún, Hansard had to apply for a work visa from the American Consulate in Dublin. During the meeting, he said a representative asked him about the lyrics of one of his songs because they didn’t align with the views of the president.
The crowd booed and screamed “F— you” in response to the mention of President Donald Trump.
Hansard responded to the consulate by saying, “I’m a folk singer. I’m a jester. I’m allowed to slack the king. That’s my job.”
He also mentioned he’s met an increasing number of Americans who have lost their jobs since the Department of Government Efficiency was started. He added, “F— those c—.”
“There’s so much heart in this country. It’s a great thing. It’s always been there, but just be proud of it because you guys are f—ing amazing,” he said. “You gotta work on your Uber drivers. Those f—ers are psycho.”
Throughout the set, the crowd sang, bounced, and clapped along to Hansard’s songs, cheering at political lyrics.
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To close out the set, Hansard, who is also a founding member of the Irish rock band The Frames, covered a Van Morrison song to commemorate the artist’s recent eightieth birthday.
The festival has not yet announced a delay or change in the lineup due to The Waterboys’ travel delays.
Cardinals from Cork get emotional (5:25 p.m. Sunday)
From Cork, Ireland, the Cardinals played an array of slow paced songs with strong beats and emotional songs.
“I’d like to thank The Pogues for having us. It’s an honor,” the lead singer told the crowd.
The five members, including an enthusiastic tambourine and accordion player, enthralled the audience that bopped and nodded along to the set.
The band took the stage 10 minutes late and finished their performance a few minutes early.
Taking the stage next will be Glen Hansard who swapped spots with The Waterboys, the festival announced earlier today.
Just Mustard brings the beats (4:33 p.m.)
Irish rock band Just Mustard performed a beat-heavy, moody set.
Of the group’s five members, lead singer Katie Ball commanded the most attention with her strong vocals, pink hair, and red tambourine.
The crowd head banged and bounced around to the thumping bass drum.
The band will release a new album, “We Were Just Here,” on Oct. 24.
Irish step dancers (4:27 p.m. Sunday)
Two Irish step dancers from the Irish Cultural Center in Canton performed a jig, accompanied by two live musicians, for festival goers in between sets. The dancers perform every Wednesday at Boston’s The Dubliner pub and will attend the ICC’s 6th annual Boston Irish Beer Festival on Oct. 18 in Canton.
Mairéad brings her big band (3:28 p.m. Sunday)
Mairéad graced the crowd with powerful vocals supported by seven other musicians, including her two sons on horns.
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“To have my children on stage with me is like, beyond,” she told the crowd.
The crowd, including Saturday’s performers Holy Locust and Sunday’s Lisa O’Neill and John Francis Flynn, danced and tapped their feet along to Mairéad’s set.
“This is really special,” she said about the Seisiún festival.
The artist ran off the stage between songs to get a capo clip for her acoustic guitar.
Before playing “Don’t Forget,” she said the song “poured out of her” the day after seeing another Sunday performer, Glen Hansard, play in Los Angeles after the pandemic shutdown.
Lisa O’Neill takes note of the ‘very busy sky’ (2:42 p.m. Sunday)
Folk Singer Lisa O’Neill took the stage next on Saturday, playing the banjo and the acoustic guitar.
Accompanied by a bassist, O’Neill sang “Rock the Machine” about the automatization of the workforce historically and said it seems to be relevant today as well.
Between songs, O’Neill told stories of her life and the historical context of her songs. The audience laughed along to the retelling of her first time skydiving for a charity before singing “Pothole in the Sky” about the experience.
“This is a very busy sky…I can’t hear myself think,” O’Neill said about the planes flying in and out of Logan Airport nearby. “Be amazing if no plane went across for this song” and none did.
Festival goers traded scally caps and kilts from Saturday for rain ponchos, hoods, and boots for Sunday’s persistent drizzle and the wet grounds.
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“Thanks for coming to see us in the nasty weather,” she told the crowd.
Before singing a tune about Mother Jones, she said, “In this climate, I think it’s very important to talk about people like Mother Jones.” The audience erupted in applause and she added, “And we won’t be censored.”
Later on, she said, “I write and sing my song in solitude with the people of Palestine,” with a red, white and green—the colors of the Palestinian flag—“Rock the Machine” sign on screen behind her. Again, the audience clapped and hollered in support of her statement.
O’Neill will take the stage again tonight with the headliner, The Pogues, she said.
John Francis Flynn – with The Pogues in the crowd – kicks off Day 2 (1:49 p.m. Sunday)
John Francis Flynn kicked off the second day of the Seisiún festival while festival attendees made their way through security.
The folk singer from Dublin played a predominantly instrumental set with some vocals to the few dozen fans scattered around the festival grounds, including Saturday’s performer Holy Locust and Sunday’s headliner, The Pogues.
Flynn covered The Pogues’ “Kitty” and dedicated the song to them as a way to thank them for letting him join their tour this summer.
Dropkick Murphys (11:17 p.m. Saturday)
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The headliner that requires no introduction, the Dropkick Murphys, electrified the crowd when they finally took the stage Saturday.
The Quincy-born band played a 75-minute set, saying they received a 15-minute extension to the city’s curfew due to the rain delay.
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Lead singer Ken Casey let audience members sing into the microphone while clips of Boston sport teams and social media videos played on screen throughout the entire set. Casey even held up an audience member’s championship Patriots hat.
The crowd chanted “Let’s go, Boston” and the drummer joined in to set the beat.
The audience also fist bumped, head banged, and crowd surfed throughout the night. In the center of the pit, there was a large dance circle of fans bumping into each other and slipping in the mud.
While performing “The Green Fields of France (No Man’s Land)” for the first time live, Casey messed up the lyrics, covered his eyes, and said, “I never sang it before.”
Before singing “Bury the Bones,” Casey said, “Y’all know by this point how we feel about that f—ing a—hole in the White House,” making the crowd erupt in applause.
During the performance of the song, clips of ICE agents arresting Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk, National Guard presence in Los Angeles, and protests played in the background.
The Dropkick Murphys brought The Scratch out onstage, not once, but twice, after the band’s set was cut short due to the venue’s evacuation earlier on Saturday.
The band Stiff Little Fingers — a Northern Irish punk rock band formed in 1977 in Belfast — was not able to play at the festival due to the rain delay. While Dropkick Murphys didn’t bring them on stage, Casey said Dropkick Murphys wouldn’t be anything without Stiff Little Fingers.
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Casey teased the audience by saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Bruce Springsteen … I’m just f—ing with ya,” after announcing the band would cover Springsteen’s “American Land.”
Drizzling for the last half hour of the set, the Dropkick Murphy’s closed out the day with their 2004 hit “I’m Shippin’ Up to Boston” and said they hope to be back in Boston for St. Patrick’s Day in March 2026.
The Hold Steady (9:05 p.m. Saturday)
After a three hour rain delay, the festival resumed with a performance by The Hold Steady at 8:15 p.m.
Hundreds of festival attendees were still in the security lines to reenter the festival when band began their set.
While some festival goers were displeased with the few updates about the delay, most attendees were excited that the show would still go on. The venue also opened up the pit area to all ticket holders, not just VIP ticket holders, once the venue reopened.
Festival goers wore scally caps, green Red Sox caps, rain coats and boots to take on the soaked festival grounds.
Stiff Little Fingers did not perform due to the rain delay and The Hold Steady ran a shortened set approximately 30 minutes behind schedule.
“Let’s make something special out of this after all,” the lead singer told the crowd.
After festival goers sheltered in the Suffolk Downs Clubhouse during the storm, the lead singer said, “If we’ve got a horse racing song, we should probably play it.” One of the band’s guitarists performed in his rain coat.
The Hold Steady’s songs consisted of heavy instrumentals from all six members and animated narrative tales and occasionally typical singing from the lead singer throughout the 40 minute set.
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“I got up hear and realized I didn’t know how to say [Seisiún],” the lead singer added about the festival’s Irish name.
Seisiún festival to resume at 8:15 after evacuation (7:46 p.m. Saturday)
Following what will be about a three-hour delay, the Seisiún Irish music festival will resume at 8:15 p.m., according to The Stage at Suffolk Downs.
“Thank you for your patience! The severe weather has passed and it is safe for the show to resume,” the venue posted on X. The Hold Steady was slated to go on at 8:15 p.m., followed by “a full set by the Dropkick Murphys.”
The update did not mention whether the performance by Stiff Little Fingers, who were scheduled to play from 5:45-6:45 p.m., would be rescheduled on Sunday.
— The Stage at Suffolk Downs (@thestageatsd) September 6, 2025
Festival will resume later, weather permitting (5:48 p.m. Saturday)
The Stage at Suffolk Downs announced on Instagram at 5:44 p.m. that the festival will resume if weather permits later in the day.
Festival evacuated due to weather (5:25 p.m. Saturday)
The Scratch’s set was cut about 15 minutes short due to the weather.
“Due to severe weather in the area, please evacuate the event and seek shelter immediately,” the event announced after the set was stopped.
The PR agent of the event, Nicole Kanner, told Boston.com that it is a “wait and see situation” as to whether the event will continue, weather dependent.
Most festival attendees found shelter in the Suffolk Downs Clubhouse, which is still open for simulcast betting daily.
More updates will follow on The Stage at Suffolk Downs’ Instagram story.
The Scratch (5:55 p.m. Saturday)
The Celtic metal fusion band stopped their set short around 5:10 p.m. due to weather.
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While the band played, dark clouds rolled in and the speakers and stage walls were lowered.
Before the weather stopped the show, The Scratch had the audience, including a man wearing an Irish ti-colored ski mask, dancing and head banging to their heavy instruments.
“Boston, are you ready for a bit of dancing?” said the acoustic guitarist, wearing a Thin Lizzy t-shirt. “Get ready to loosen up those gorgeous, greasy hips.”
The four band members from Ireland covered a few songs, including Oasis’ “Champagne Supernova” and added their metal twist.
During certain songs, the band and the audience turned to watch several planes landing at the nearby airport.
The crowd grew as the set went on, in anticipation of the bigger acts tonight, including The Hold Steady and the Dropkick Murphys.
“What a whopper city. We f—ing love it here,” said another band member. “This is a perfect way to end the summer,” as it’s the band’s last stop on their tour.
The Rumjacks (4:19 p.m. Saturday)
The Celtic punk band The Rumjacks took the stage second on Saturday.
“Boston is the best city in the world,” the lead singer, Mike Rivkees, said.
Four of the six band members are from Boston, while the other two are from Australia and Italy, Rivkees told the crowd.
The wind posed numerous problems for The Rumjacks’ set: the audio cut in and out, stage equipment blew over, guitars rocked on their stands, and tents and trash barrels blew over outside of the pit.
“Have a good f—ing time while you can,” the bassist said. “The weather is really f—ing with this show. We’re going to keep going until they tell us not to.”
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Despite the high winds, The Rumjacks were able to finish their set strong. The audience danced, jumped, and clapped along to the high-power songs.
“From Eastie to Revere Beach, make some noise,” Rivkees, who played three different flutes, screamed.
For the last two song’s of the set, The Rumjacks brought out the bagpipes player from the Mickey Rickshaw band, which Rivkees is also a member of.
Dance like nobody’s watching (4 p.m. Saturday)
Holy Locust (3:13 p.m. Saturday)
The Seisiún Festival kicked off its first day with a performance by Holy Locust. The New Orleans-based six-member band took the stage for a heavily instrumental set.
A few songs were accompanied by moody lyrics and powerful singing, while most of the instrumental songs had the crowd clapping and nodding along to the beat.
Almost halfway through the set, the band member playing the accordion briefly let the Palestinian flag blow in the wind and didn’t comment on the move, while the audience erupted into applause.
Watching the weather (2:30 p.m. Saturday)
Today’s tornado warnings seem limited to the western part of the state, but with widespread severe storms possible between 2-9 p.m., it’s possible the Seisiún festival could see inclement weather.
Based on recent forecasts, Boston isn’t in the area most likely to see severe storms, but it’s right on the line. Below, what some local meteorologists are saying:
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