So, one evening we went along to Mr Pussy's. It was a long narrow building with a small balcony at the far end. It is almost impossible to describe the place on paper, but I'll try my best! First of all, think of kitsch, ultra kitsch, pink, lots of willies, garish colours, feathers, numerous cat statues, there was a neon MacPhisto sign, and the Mario Lanza picture from MacPhisto's dressing room was behind the till. It was surreal, I'd never seen anything like it before and never have since!
While we were there Mr Pussy (aka Alan Amsby) opened a cabinet on the wall close to where we were sitting - which already contained Naomi Campbell's signed satin knickers - and put MacPhisto's gold boots into it. Jane asked, "Did Bono drop those off himself?"
To which Mr Pussy replied, "Yes, he's in the back peeling the potatoes for the chips."
We had some of those chips and they were definitely homemade and delicious. The menu was unusual too, you could have a "pint of pussy" which was a pint milk served in its bottle with a straw. If finances were tight you could have a plate of broken biscuits for 50p, wine was served from a teapot into a cup. Nothing was very expensive so you could have a cheap night out there.
I went to the toilet downstairs and again my senses were assaulted by major weirdnessNot long after we had arrived we heard a waitress tell some American lads on the table next to us that "One of U2" was coming to the cafe after 1am. We took that "one of U2" to be Bono because we could just imagine him loving such a surreal place! What good timing on our part too.
We got quite excited and looked at our watches, it was only 9pm! We ate and drank, drank and ate as we had to buy to stay! Good job the place was cheap. We noticed Norman (on crutches from a recent hip replacement operation) popping in and out regularly.
By 1am we were very full and we watched every person that came into the cafe. 1.30, 2, 2.30 passed by. Then Simon Carmody a good friend of Bono's came in, followed by the man himself. He walked quickly, not making eye contact with anyone on the way, trying to avoid being stopped by anyone. As he passed us one of the American guys next to us jumped up and was in front of Bono like a flash. Bono stopped shocked for a second, then his expression changed to surprise as the young man held out his hand and said, "I'd like to shake your hand Mr Hewson." Rather an odd thing to do! Bono shook his hand and said, "Hi." He then walked on and up the steps to the balcony.
Bono looked well and wore a black suit with a fine pinstripe, the sleeves were turned up and the trousers bunched up around his ankles. He had on a scarlet red shirt with ruffles down the chest and at the wrists, the shirt tail was hanging out, typical Bono!
Behind Bono was his beautiful wife Ali, and behind her trailed Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington. They looked like giants as they wore extremely high heels which added to their already well above average height, Ali looked tiny compared to them. The men in the place couldn't stop themselves from gawking at them! Another person I recognised in the following entourage was Jim Sheridan. All these people and others with them went up to the balcony area. Naomi and Christy sat at the front of the balcony and seemed to be enjoying the attention they drew. Bono and Ali sat further back and were not in the slightest attention seeking.
At 3am the cabaret started. Mr Pussy (who is a drag artist) came on dressed in a black sequinned dress and huge blond bouffant wig to introduce Chutney Heuston, another drag performer who covered Whitney Houston songs. Chutney had on a black lycra dress (that he had a lot of trouble with!) and thigh length black patent leather boots. He was a good laugh but not a good singer.
Naomi leaned over the balcony watching with not the hint of a smile on her face, Christy completely ignored what was happening on the stage. Bono stood further back grinning and clapping along enthusiastically, really getting into the spirit of the fun night. It was really nice just seeing him enjoy himself like that.
Next Mr Pussy himself did a song, then we played Bingo with him calling the numbers, the prizes being jellybeans! We had a good laugh, I noticed that Bono was often looking down from the balcony at the "ordinary" people in the cafe, I wondered what he was thinking, maybe he would have liked to have been down there, anonymous, having a laugh playing Bingo.
Mr Pussy finished off with another ditty called, I'll Sing A Song That Gets On Your Nerves, over and over, and it was irritating, but also very funny and everyone sang along. Once more Bono stood watching, smiling and clapping getting into the spirit of the night.
Shortly afterwards Bono went to the toilet and two of the American guys followed him! Poor Bono, he wasn't down there very long! No one else took any notice of him. Shortly afterwards Bono's party left. As Naomi strutted past us I heard Mr Pussy say to her, "Thanks for the knickers." Classic!
Bono and Ali stood talking to Jim Sheridan near us as they waited for the rest of their party. They had their arms round each other and she was gently rubbing his back (he had been having back problems recently). Jim left and Bono and Ali talked as they waited, you could see and feel the love between them, it was lovely to see, they are the perfect couple. They were soon joined by the rest of their party and left.
We paid our bill - the till receipt was about a foot long! - and left minutes later. We blinked in the cool, early morning light of the real world. I felt like I'd been in a bizarre alternate universe and now had stepped back into reality. Kitsch, drag acts, supermodels, Bingo and Bono at 4am ..... did all that really happen?
6 comments:
Ahh, Brings back great memories... I worked there as a commi chef and in Dillons before that , What a cool place to have on your cv!, Thanks for writing the blog and refreshing my memories ... The only thing wrong with Mr.Pussys was that it was ahead of its time by about 8 years.I seen bono there a few times when I worked late into the night but being 16 years old I did not appreciate him as much as I do now.
Its a pity people were not allowed to take pics in the resturant- the one you took in the toilet is like looking at de ja vu- Some how bringing back glimpses of the weird and wonderfull place, Slan leat,
Thanks for your comments Neil, Mr Pussy's was certainly one of a kind! I used to go to Dillons too, really liked it. I think Dublin has some great restaurants, are you still a chef?
What a fabulous story of the summer of 1994 ,I too visited that summer & was told about the cafe by Daniel o donnel nephew we met in a gay bar ,what a brilliant place it didn’t disappoint we had a strawberry milkshake with vodka ,i remember they didn’t have a liquor license so everything was done on the QT ,I also remember some busker coming in and playing on the stage around midnight -what a great place shame it shut
30 years ago, I had the opportunity to work at this fine establishment. Bette Davis couldn’t have said it better. What a dump! LMAO
I worked there briefly as well and remember Norman on his crutches. I served the RCHP and they were the most respectful lads ever. I’m glad they were for they say never meet your heroes. I think they ordered pussy fries, pussy burgers and only flea had a pint of pussy if memory serves me correctly. One lunch shift Bono came looking for Norman, he had a miserable cold and whinged “Is Norman here?” I had never met Bono before but thought it was hilarious that another one of my heroes was in misery with a bad dose, was about 2” shorter than me. ( I’m only 5’8”) and was a bit whiny. He did have on the kewlest embroidered gold cap though with embroidered ribbons of green and red. Guess he was pro Palestine even then maybe. My response as you would was “sorry, I haven’t seen him today”. I also met Mr. Pussy herself and she was more lovely then in 1994 then in recent years or more lovely than Alan Armsby who was an utter twat to me in later years at the George. He/she had so much work done that she looked younger at 84 years old than in 1994. That’s no excuse to be a cunt though. He must be friendly with Mike Scott another twat to me. Anyhow a lovely memory I have from 1994 was Mr Pussy stroking the hair on my arms and with my brown tortoise shell round glasses saying “ you remind me of Reggie” My yank response was “Reggie? Who’s Reggie” Then herself says “Reggie Dwight” Me being truly naive hadn’t a clue. Until finally Mr. Pussy deadpans ELTON JOHN. I not giving a hoot despite being a Yank just said oh thanks and went about my work. One last memory of my short stint there because they truly didn’t retain too many of the same staff for long was of the day Louie Walsh was promoting a new band right outside of Mr Pussy’s in front of (Easons maybe... can’t remember the sporting goods store or department store right across from Mr Pussy’s). Anyhow, I got to witness a cool photo shoot of none other than Keith Duffy, Ronan Keating, Stephen Gately, Shane Lynch and oh shit was it Mikey Graham? Anyhow they were lovely eye candy for this Randy 26 year old queer (now 56)! Great memories of witnessing Boyzone’s first photo shoot or one of the firsts. I still mourn Stephen’s death. He was so adorable, but I have hopes Ronan Keating will one day profess his love for this Anonymous Beautiful Stranger. Sing it Madonna!!
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