Guest wrote:Music fantastic. Shane was terrible simple as that.

This. Everyone is giving out about the gig because Shane was bad. The band were superb, and for them to be able to keep songs relatively together makes it even better to watch em. It was hatchet, but sure we love it. Was demented but thought it was mighty.

this has been the 20 th time i have watched pogues / popes in manchester !!!!

well i must have consumed 6 or 7 pints before venturing to the MEN on saturday,missed the stranglers n dj itchy.

i entered the arena from the rear entrance n had to walk down all the steps to the floor and thinking, wow all these people come to watch the pogues !!!! i thought it was packed !!!!, all seats taken at the sides, , floor was covered with bodies, only the rear seats covered up,

for some reason i stayed back from the stage ,could hardly see the band , but i thought the music and shane were on form, a few hic ups but so what !!!! i jigged for 2 hours !!!!

really missed 1000s and Phil C !!!!! my fav song

i dont read any reviews from journalists anymore, think they are used to writing about take that , boyzone n cliff richard,

but i thought it was a fantastic gig and i ll be there next time

merry christmas !!!

I saw them in 2005, and compared to Saturday night, Shane was a completley different person. The Stranglers were the only reason my night wasn't completley ruined. He was absolutley appauling. I spent an hour and a half of boredom sat on my arse in front of the barrier expecting as good of a show as they put on in '05, but was majorly dissapointed. Hopefully the rest of the band will sort him out, and only then would I consider paying to watch them again

VERY disappointed with the Manchester show. We've all defended Shane in the past, but this performance was a shocker. For such a talented bunch of musicians, they deserve a vocalist who does justice to the songs. What the fcuk was going on in Sally Maclenan??? What did Ella (?) Finer think about turning up for one song to have it cocked up. Spider looked WELL pi$$ed off. The Broad Majestic Shannon is my all time fave, but Shane fell over in the middle of it and had to be helped up. Does he know the words to any of the songs anymore? Shane shows complete and utter contempt for the fans who've shelled out their hard earned cash. Does he think it's hillarious that we'll keep paying to see him, no matter how badly he performs. I'm sure that there will be plenty of people who will still think it's a hoot to pay thirty quid to see someone who can't sing and doesn't know the words. I for one won't be going again and will listen to the CDs, though it breaks my heart to say it.

Some of the songs, Rainy Night in Soho, Kitty, Tuesday Morning and Dirty Old Town were superb but having seen all the reunion shows in Manchester including the Academy warm-up this wasn't one of the better ones. The venue doesn't help, and I'm sure that's out of the band's hands but G-Mex last year was so much better. Sally Maclennane as has been said already was 'interesting.'
After the last Arena show I was unsure whether to bother then was so glad I did with the G-Mex show. Hopefully next year if there is one will be back there

Mixed emotions for me. Some of it I really enjoyed. Other bits I didn't. I thought the band were great and the brass section worked really well. Missed hearing "1000's" though.

I did enjoy it. Don't think that Shane was that bad. And to see him actually run on stage and dance with Spider was pretty surprising. The band was excellent. Phillip was missing though. I liked the idea of adding a brass section. Sounded very good.

Music fantastic. Shane was terrible simple as that.

What the fucks everyone moanin about!? i thought it were shit hot, if u get as pissed as shane then alls good! if u go to a pogues gig then you should expect it! dont pay if u want an 100% clean soundin sober show! just take it an enjoy it for what it is!!

Oh dear, where to start!!!!!!,,,,, never mind,, you pay your money you take your chance,,,,,

but seriously, it wasnt that bad, a few hiccups, i thought there was a horse in Bottle of Smoke,,, never heard a word,,,, so he fell over!!! so did i,, alcohol does funny things,,,,,,,Sally Mac "the remix", was quality,, to see the faces on the rest of the band was great.. I had a supurb time despite them running out of Tetleys!!!!!!, And i agree its a shit venue, the Gmex last year was much better,,, Enjoy the rest of the tour,

Cheers Mal

debaser wrote:I've got mixed feelings about this one. Had a brilliant time and met some great people, but it was far from the best performance I've seen from them. The band looked a bit fed up at times I feel and it was sad to see a half full arena.
And where were the Christmas trees? Bring them back...

I've said for a while now that the Arena is to big, play the Apollo!

I've got mixed feelings about this one. Had a brilliant time and met some great people, but it was far from the best performance I've seen from them. The band looked a bit fed up at times I feel and it was sad to see a half full arena.
And where were the Christmas trees? Bring them back...

Brilliant show last night, shane was off it!! proper mad when he fell back after his famous scream on sick bed of cuchullain i had it recording on vid, as soon as he was helped up the thousands cheered, wot a guy

Got back from Manchester about three and a half hours ago.

Must say I really did enjoy the gig, although not as much as previous years. It wasn't the best gig I've seen them do nor the worst.

The brass section was good and it was nice to hear Metropolis played live again. Jem and Terry did share the guitar playing, but I felt it lacked a bit of drive on the rhythm side even so, and at times there was no guitar at all. As said before Philip was very much missed.

James has so much energy, I don't know where he gets it from. His trousers were totally ripped to shreds by the end of it all. Yes Shane did forget the words to me that's secondary, Shane is Shane.

It was nice to meet Eckhard, Markwafc and his mate again, Mark sorry I had to rush off at the end when I met you on the way out, Jake just took off and I was afraid of losing him, I'd loved to have stayed for a chat.

Anyway I had a brilliant time, roll on Brixton next Saturday.

Mark_Wafc wrote:I think they should start the gigs at 8.30 like Sheffield, then Shane has had less Gin by the time we get to the encore

Hope the Brum gig starts at 6 Each year it is the same, some excellent gigs and some not so good, i thought Nottingham was a bad one last year, but hey its The Pogues and with Shane there will always be some uncertainty. We all know what the man is like but i suppose it can still "piss off" the most ardent of fans.