Film Overview

What began as a Black 47 performance film, shot at Connolly’s Pub in NYC’s most vibrant hub – Times Square – on that locale’s biggest day of the year, New Year’s Eve, turned into something much more. Using early footage of “the best live band on the planet,” interviews with band members and the audience, and the riotous performance itself, BLACK 47 AT CONNOLLY’S weaves together a history of the band’s beginnings, and by extension, a rich underlay of Irish-American history and the Diaspora.

Black 47 espouses an unblinkingly political and thoroughly Irish form of rock and roll. But BLACK 47 AT CONNOLLY’S is also the story of a working band with a deeply indie spirit. The viewer is treated to an up-close look at the musicians’ artistic process, the true stories behind many of the songs, and the sometimes revealing close camaraderie of long-time colleagues.

Expect a heart-pounding sense of being dropped into the crossroads of the world, within shouting distance of the descending ball, in a swirling bacchanalia of poetry, politics, and passion.