I Thought I Saw Johnny Massacre Last Night, As Alive As You Or Me

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I was crossing Torstrasse about an hour ago, round midnight, and I thought I saw Johnny Massacre coming across the road towards me, wearing a big green gansey. I was mildly but very pleasantly surprised. Always a joy to meet Johnny. As he got closer, I was about to say hello, and then,

 

A) I realised it wasn't Johnny, and

 

B) I remembered that Johnny was dead.

 

The last time I saw him, if you can call it seeing him, he was being lowered into the ground in a coffin in Longford in 2003. Ming the Merciless (Johnny's great friend Luke Flanagan) gave a speech at the graveside, a good speech. And then Ming the Merciless urged us all to give Johnny Massacre (born John Doran, and only 27 when he died, in a car crash), the parting gift he would have most appreciated - a huge round of applause. We did, oh we did.

(Mike Casey had filmed Johnny's street show in 2002, and put this tribute together after Johnny's death.)