Chris de Burgh shocks fans at surprise set at The Wheel Club in Montreal’s NDG

Irish singer-songwriter Chris De Burgh surprised the Wheel Club audience in Montreal's NDG with a medley of songs.

The small crowd at the iconic Wheel Club in Montreal’s NDG neighbourhood got a short surprise set from Irish singer-songwriter Chris De Burgh on Thursday night.

De Burgh was in Montreal after back-to-back shows at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place des Arts this week, before the 77-year-old made his way down the stairs to the historic haunt.

Local musician Steve Barry was playing a Chris de Burgh tribute show when he called a special guest on stage.

Barry has followed him for years, falling in love with him after hearing 1975’s Spanish Train and Other Stories.

“I would like to introduce a special friend,” said Barry from the stage. “Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Chris De Burgh.”

The 76 or so patrons at the club began cheering wildly.

“I hope I pass the audition,” says De Burgh, before playing Lady in Red.

Those in attendance sang along as he played his hit song.

The meet-up was years in the making and solidified earlier in the week.

“Steve met him backstage on Tuesday night before the concert, and we were pretty sure he was going to come, but there was no confirmation,” said Wheel Club partner Cyndi Turner. “Of course, everything was hush-hush, so we didn’t get 100 per cent confirmation until yesterday afternoon, and it was very hard to keep it quiet, but we did, and the people that were at the wheel club got a very nice surprise.”

The band did not expect De Burgh to sing, but he grabbed a guitar and didn’t miss a beat before he started strumming.

“He’s such a kind, gentle person, very, very shy, and he wanted to get up and sing, so there was a lot of surprised faces,” said Turner.

Turner said staff at the Wheel Club had been in contact with De Burgh for years, and saw a window between his dates in Montreal (24-25) and one in Sherbrook (March 29).

Turner said he sat at a table all night where it was dark and no one bothered him for pictures or videos.

“We weren’t infringing on his privacy,” she said. “We were just happy that he was coming to see the show, so I was sitting beside him, not at the same table, but beside him, so that nobody would come and bother him.”

Turner gave De Burgh a Wheel Club teeshirt before he left and replaced a pic of her grandchildren on her social media with one of her and the singer.

“The grandchildren will come back later, but right now, I’m basking in the glory,” she said.

With reporting from CTV News Montreal journalist Caroline Van Vlaardingen.