Who's seen the Pogues back in the day?

[FAY]

Madison Square Garden, NYC, Sept. 1987

[Low D]

Madison Square Garden, NYC, Sept. 1987

And... ?

[johnny h]

Hiya all,being an old giffer,i saw them at Leeds Uni in a small hall called the Riley Smith Hall,along with The Men They couldn't Hang,either late '84 or early '85,they were all in the bar before the gig,and i bought Shane a pint bottle of original Guinness (there was no such thing as draught in cans then),had a chat with them and wished them all the best for the gig.They were brilliant,a real togetherness about them.

Next time i saw them was on Friday June 14th 1985,again at Leeds Uni,had a chat with Shane at the bar before,and one of their bunch asked the bloke behind the bar for a tray,and he said 'Bugger off,you ruined the one i gave you last time you played!" I'm 100% sure of the date for this one,as i went to a Doctor's party after,and met my future missus at the party!

Also saw them at the previously mentioned Slosky's,and when they played at the Hacienda,which we couldn't find,until,from the other side of the wall,we could hear Brown Eyes being soundchecked...very very happy days

I have a bootleg tape from 1984 at Exeter Uni,i'll have to find the bugger,along with a pogue mahone drumstick Andrew lobbed into the crowd,and i rose like a salmon to catch!

[Jim W]

Hiya all,being an old giffer,i saw them at Leeds Uni in a small hall called the Riley Smith Hall,along with The Men They couldn't Hang,either late '84 or early '85,they were all in the bar before the gig,and i bought Shane a pint bottle of original Guinness (there was no such thing as draught in cans then),had a chat with them and wished them all the best for the gig.They were brilliant,a real togetherness about them.

Next time i saw them was on Friday June 14th 1985,again at Leeds Uni,had a chat with Shane at the bar before,and one of their bunch asked the bloke behind the bar for a tray,and he said 'Bugger off,you ruined the one i gave you last time you played!" I'm 100% sure of the date for this one,as i went to a Doctor's party after,and met my future missus at the party!

Also saw them at the previously mentioned Slosky's,and when they played at the Hacienda,which we couldn't find,until,from the other side of the wall,we could hear Brown Eyes being soundchecked...very very happy days

I have a bootleg tape from 1984 at Exeter Uni,i'll have to find the bugger,along with a pogue mahone drumstick Andrew lobbed into the crowd,and i rose like a salmon to catch!

You are getting the two gigs mixed up. The Pogues played the Riley Smith Hall March 1985, support was the wonderful Pink Peg Slax, price £1. Pretty sure it was the first night of their first national tour. Remember a stack of beer on the stage that regularly got handed into the sparse crowd, Andy Rankin had two drums, snare and bass and played the whole gig stood up, they ran out of songs so played a number a second time towards the end. Got a bootleg of this somewhere.

The second time they played was June 1985, that time the support was TMTCH and Pink Peg Slax. Great gig, Riley Smith Hall was filled that time.

Don't know whether there was some affinity for Leeds University after that but they always played warm up gigs there for the next few years.

[Guest]

I stand corrected,cheers! Pink Peg Slax indeed.....I remember the booze on stage,it was castlemaine xxxx,Shane threw a few out,and the lad i was with caught one,we drank it there and then,and he had the can on his bedroom window sill for years,until he got home from work one evening,and his mum said
"I've cleaned your room,and threw away that old empty can of lager you had"...gutted ain't the word

[Jones the Banker]

Digbeth Civic Hall, Birmingham, December 1984.I was there with my girlfriend at the time and also my mate John aka 'Villajohn, great night from what i can remember.Also appearing that night was Terry and Gerry and The Drongos for Europe,do they still exsist ? I know Villajohn still does,the old tosser turned 60 last month and no doubt he'll be at their shows next month, assuming zimmer frames are permitted!

[delbhoy66]

Sadly I missed a lot of bands at the time of their first recordings and at height of their fame e.g. The Jam,The Specials,The Clash etc but I was lucky enough to see the Pogues,imo during the peak of their powers Dec 17th 1987 was the date at The famous Glasgow Barrowlands,I'd been by that time to a number of good gigs,but this night completely blew me away,

Me and my mate's had pre gig refreshments at Celtic pub,The Brazen Head so I was already well up for it.The Barrowlands (still the best venue to watch bands) was heaving,a sweaty mass of bodies,most of us well lubricated (I started my my long association with weed this night too ha ha)by the time the gig started.And then the Pogues arrived on stage and proceeded to blow my young 21 year olds mind.from the opening strains of Irish Rover (if memory serves) till the end of the show,we we're totally immersed and enthralled with the performance,we were fecking knackered and soaked with sweat (this was my first foray into being right at the front of the crowd at a gig).
The bonus of course was the appearances of Joe Strummer,(I fought the law was a highlight for me) and Kirsty MacCall,God rest them,this was my best ever experience at a gig,BAR NONE up till then and,since.Was that damn good we went back two nights later,this time without tickets and getting in via a side door.tipping the doorman to get in.Not sure if I'll ever be at another gig.time marching on and all that,but this night will be ingrained in my memory for ever

D.J.

[Fr. McGreer]

Sadly I missed a lot of bands at the time of their first recordings and at height of their fame e.g. The Jam,The Specials,The Clash etc but I was lucky enough to see the Pogues,imo during the peak of their powers Dec 17th 1987 was the date at The famous Glasgow Barrowlands,I'd been by that time to a number of good gigs,but this night completely blew me away,

Me and my mate's had pre gig refreshments at Celtic pub,The Brazen Head so I was already well up for it.The Barrowlands (still the best venue to watch bands) was heaving,a sweaty mass of bodies,most of us well lubricated (I started my my long association with weed this night too ha ha)by the time the gig started.And then the Pogues arrived on stage and proceeded to blow my young 21 year olds mind.from the opening strains of Irish Rover (if memory serves) till the end of the show,we we're totally immersed and enthralled with the performance,we were fecking knackered and soaked with sweat (this was my first foray into being right at the front of the crowd at a gig).
The bonus of course was the appearances of Joe Strummer,(I fought the law was a highlight for me) and Kirsty MacCall,God rest them,this was my best ever experience at a gig,BAR NONE up till then and,since.Was that damn good we went back two nights later,this time without tickets and getting in via a side door.tipping the doorman to get in.Not sure if I'll ever be at another gig.time marching on and all that,but this night will be ingrained in my memory for ever

D.J.

Great story Del. I saw them in Glasgow a few weeks ago and the crowd were amazing. About not seeing them again, you're only in your 40's. I saw them first time back in March 88 and still go to all of their gigs I can get to (3 out of 4 on the Rum tour last month).

[Den Ekster]

Oldenberg, Germany ,December 1990, we sneaked over the border,via Leer and Bremen! I think this must have been my first time at a Pogues gig,support band was a German rockabilly/roots band 'The Romeos' and for an encore both bands performed an Elvis cover,which Shane & Co recorded for a compilation ,charity [?] album.....who remembers this?

[Low D]

for an encore both bands performed an Elvis cover,which Shane & Co recorded for a compilation ,charity [?] album.....who remembers this?

The song I'm assuming was "got a lot of living to do" which was released on an NME Elvis tribute, and also included on the "Just Look 'em Straight in the Eye..." box set. And it s a corker!

[Villa John]

Oldenburg, December 1990, i was at that gig ,the last on that German 'leg', what a night that was,brilliant gig, crazy aftershow party in the hotel which was only a stone throw from the actual venue, though one band member,who shall reamain nameless requested a car take him to the hotel!Two more gigs in Utrecht and Dienze followed on from Germany and when i got home i slept for almost a week,ended up with a drink problem[2 hands only 1 mouth] and i cancelled Christmas,marvellous times!

[old barney greyheron]

Hiya all,being an old giffer,i saw them at Leeds Uni in a small hall called the Riley Smith Hall,along with The Men They couldn't Hang,either late '84 or early '85,they were all in the bar before the gig,and i bought Shane a pint bottle of original Guinness (there was no such thing as draught in cans then),had a chat with them and wished them all the best for the gig.They were brilliant,a real togetherness about them.

Next time i saw them was on Friday June 14th 1985,again at Leeds Uni,had a chat with Shane at the bar before,and one of their bunch asked the bloke behind the bar for a tray,and he said 'Bugger off,you ruined the one i gave you last time you played!" I'm 100% sure of the date for this one,as i went to a Doctor's party after,and met my future missus at the party!

Also saw them at the previously mentioned Slosky's,and when they played at the Hacienda,which we couldn't find,until,from the other side of the wall,we could hear Brown Eyes being soundchecked...very very happy days

I have a bootleg tape from 1984 at Exeter Uni,i'll have to find the bugger,along with a pogue mahone drumstick Andrew lobbed into the crowd,and i rose like a salmon to catch!

You are getting the two gigs mixed up. The Pogues played the Riley Smith Hall March 1985, support was the wonderful Pink Peg Slax, price £1. Pretty sure it was the first night of their first national tour. Remember a stack of beer on the stage that regularly got handed into the sparse crowd, Andy Rankin had two drums, snare and bass and played the whole gig stood up, they ran out of songs so played a number a second time towards the end. Got a bootleg of this somewhere.

The second time they played was June 1985, that time the support was TMTCH and Pink Peg Slax. Great gig, Riley Smith Hall was filled that time.

Don't know whether there was some affinity for Leeds University after that but they always played warm up gigs there for the next few years.

You may be right (about the band's affinity for Leeds Uni) i've seen them there too..june 1991 if I remember right. I was horrified as there was no bar in the venue..

[johnfoyle]

I'm looking for any kind of accounts of The Pogues support shows to Elvis Costello in Belfast, Galway & Dublin in September 1984. I hope to do a write-up of the Costello shows to mark their 30th anniversary for a EC fan site. So far I've got press accounts of the Galway & Dublin shows , none of which mention the Pogues in any way. I've read a few snippets about them in Carol Clerk's book but that's about it, the instruments going missing in Galway & having to borrow replacements etc. I was at the Dublin show & have a vague memory of Shane & co. being a bit shocking with their accelerated version of Irish folk etc. , something which , of course , I went on to love. Any information would be great!


I'll be posting updates as I accumulate stuff here -

http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB3 ... =2&t=10280

[johnfoyle]

Just to let you know I've found a reference to The Pogues in a review of the Belfast show they did as support to Elvis -

http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/inde ... r_28,_1984

Belfast Telegraph, September 28, 1984


Liam Creagh reviews Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Thursday, September 27, 1984, Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

(extract)

A special mention must go to the warm up band — The Pogues who amazed the crowd by pumping out their punky mixture of Twelfth music and rebel songs.
Not only were they an amazing sound, the band had a powerful visual presence as every eye in the hall watched one of them bashing his head with a tin beer tray and wondering which would survive the longer.


This was the first time The Pogues performed any where on the island of Ireland, right?

[johnfoyle]

http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/inde ... er_5,_1984


The spirit is willing

Elvis Costello And The Attractions / The Pogues

National Stadium, Dublin

Nick Kelly, Hot Press

(extract)

A rainy night on the South Circular Road. The crowd queueing here and ordinary people waiting to see popular music's second generation God of the Ordinary People.
Inside The Pogues are playing to the rapidly filling rows of seats, playing with acoustic guitar, accordion, tin whistle, very limited drum kit (one tom, one snare) and Kilburn voice. The Pogues play Irish traditional "airs" of the ayda-deedle-dy variety overlaid with raucous English singing. It's en amusing enough performance for a couple of songs but soon the unvarying ballroom-of-romance-style drumming (dumdish-dum-tish-dum-tish) begins to wear. I like their style, but I hope they don't think they're the future of rock 'n' roll.