LET'S DANCE!
​In late 2024 Paul suggested to Chris that he wanted to put together an all-star band of musicians to play a night of Chris's music at the Derry Jazz Festival but only if he had Chris's blessing.
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"Pauly," Chris said "you always have my blessing".
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Paul was gifted Chris' own touring amps (cigarette burns included!) and the final Chris Rea stage set of 5 blue guitars.
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The band includes Eoghan O’Neill, who played on most of Chris Rea’s big hits and toured with him in the 1980s, Liam Bradley (Van Morrison, Ronan Keating, The Blue Nile), John McCullough (Van Morrison, The Waterboys, Sinéad O’Connor), and Dan Millar (guitar).
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Paul Casey performs his authentic tribute to Chris Rea’s body of work. Not as an imitation, but as someone who knows this music from the inside, has co-written parts of its history, and brings it to life with heart and soul.​
A concert – A personal story – A legacy
The Chris Rea Experience – A unique musical tribute​​​​
PAUL & CHRIS
Belfast 1990, a 15 year old Casey stands watching Chris perform at the King's Hall as part of 'The Road To Hell' Tour. It changes everything...
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Belfast 1993, Paul meets Chris backstage. Chris recalls that first meeting vividly. "He was very inquisitive, he wanted to know absolutely everything about my pedal board... he even wrote it all down"
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London 1998, again Paul finds himself backstage and gets a demo to Chris via his drummer Martin Ditcham. A few days later he gets a call from Chris asking for a meeting. Chris recognises a young version of himself and writes and produces an album for Paul.
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From that moment on Paul accompanied Chris on international promo tours, opened for all of Chris Rea’s concerts for years, and became a core member of his live band as rhythm guitarist. At the same time, he became Chris’s trusted confidant in the studio and lead engineer on major projects such as The Santo Spirito Blues.
Up until a few weeks before his passing, Paul and Chris were still making plans, with the idea of creating new material together. The unexpected farewell hit Paul hard: his hero, mentor, and friend was gone. But the music lives on.​​​​​
