The Medusa Fora

hiya soul mate ,how ya doin long time no see .yes im still here mate

Pogue Mahone was one of my first Pogues recordings and still my favorite, I don't care what anyone says. The music and vocals just flowed like a great recording should.

I think this thread answers the question of "The Pogues without Shane":
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10421

Unbelievable some of the posts here. The Pogues are a collection of exceptional musicians who all contribute to the band in their own ways. As a pure songwriter Shane can not be beaten, and i have followed this band since around 1985 and been to 100's of their shows. These days i could not imagine going to a show and not hearing the likes of '1000's are sailing', 'Repeal of the licensing laws' or 'Tuesday Morning'. At the moment i cannot think of any other band who can produce performances like The Pogues. I just can't?

If The Pogues did a tour without shane with Spider on vocals how many people would go to see them?

To answer the original question, I can speak to my own decisions. Shane and the Popes came to Dallas, where I live, in about 2000. They played at a club called Trees with a capacity of about 700. I don't recall the ticket price, but I think it was in the $20-$30 range. I decided not to go, being more of Pogues fan than a Popes fan. Turns out, Shane didn't attend the gig. The Popes played without him.

Fast forward 9 or so years, and the Pogues come to town, $55 for a ticket at the 1200 person capacity House of Blues. Putting on my consumer hat, I considered that, given Shane's non appearance last time he was to play Dallas, I might be spending an evening listening to a Shaneless Pogues . I did purchase that ticket. Money very well spent by the way.

I found a review of the Pope's show in Dallas - even without Shane, they played Pogues songs.

The Pogues are like any great band (I don't use the term great lightly), they are more than the sum of their parts. Yeah, Shane is the 'front man', but clearly the Pogues are much more than his backing band.

Chris C wrote:

If The Pogues did a tour without shane with Spider on vocals how many people would go to see them?

To answer the original question, I can speak to my own decisions. Shane and the Popes came to Dallas, where I live, in about 2000. They played at a club called Trees with a capacity of about 700. I don't recall the ticket price, but I think it was in the $20-$30 range. I decided not to go, being more of Pogues fan than a Popes fan. Turns out, Shane didn't attend the gig. The Popes played without him.

Fast forward 9 or so years, and the Pogues come to town, $55 for a ticket at the 1200 person capacity House of Blues. Putting on my consumer hat, I considered that, given Shane's non appearance last time he was to play Dallas, I might be spending an evening listening to a Shaneless Pogues . I did purchase that ticket. Money very well spent by the way.

I found a review of the Pope's show in Dallas - even without Shane, they played Pogues songs.

The Pogues are like any great band (I don't use the term great lightly), they are more than the sum of their parts. Yeah, Shane is the 'front man', but clearly the Pogues are much more than his backing band.

And with Chris's post, the defence rests.

I can't say I wouldn't be extremely disappointed if Shane would have been a no-show at our concert at Club Nokia in L.A. last month, but when he disappeared after encore #1 and Spidey took over, he and the band did their usual smash up, trouser tearing, rousing renditions that could have woken the dead. With Philip, Spider and Andrew as alternate helmsmen, I'd say they have quite a lethal vocal crew. So, would I have payed 80 bucks to experience a Shaneless Pogues? Absolutely.

It is odd how some people can belittle such a unique and majesterial group of musicians such as The Pogues. It is NOT Shane and The Pogues, it is The Pogues including Shane, an indivisible unit. It is true that most fans want to see the entire unit live and to hear it on record, especially those who have been around since the early days. It just seems sad that sometimes Shane behaves as if he doesn't want to be there.

Ignatius Giddy wrote:It is odd how some people can belittle such a unique and majesterial group of musicians such as The Pogues. It is NOT Shane and The Pogues, it is The Pogues including Shane, an indivisible unit. It is true that most fans want to see the entire unit live and to hear it on record, especially those who have been around since the early days. It just seems sad that sometimes Shane behaves as if he doesn't want to be there.

Oh! You keep changing your names as often as your views, don't you, Andy?
Didn't you say "I used to love The Pogues but I am now bored with them. They are a nostalgia act." at facebook group not so long ago? Gonna crash any of their gigs during the UK tour?

i was lucky enough to have been to about 5 or 6 pogues gigs (without shane) early 90s and it must be said they were superb with spider doing lead vocals, there was one gig at the edinburgh playhouse around 93 when joe strummer was in the band and it has to be my best ever "non shane" gig. I love the pogues with or without shane and in my opinion pogue mahone and waiting for herb were very much underated.

gerrybhoy wrote:i was lucky enough to have been to about 5 or 6 pogues gigs (without shane) early 90s and it must be said they were superb with spider doing lead vocals, there was one gig at the edinburgh playhouse around 93 when joe strummer was in the band and it has to be my best ever "non shane" gig. I love the pogues with or without shane and in my opinion pogue mahone and waiting for herb were very much underated.

Thanks, you reminded me! I saw The Pogues with Mr. Strummer in The National Stadium in '91. They blew me away. If the brain serves me well, they did a killer version of 'Brand New Cadillac' and an even more killer take on 'Straight To Hell'. I have an unlicensed cassette recording of the show somewhere which I must dust off.

PaulMcC wrote:

gerrybhoy wrote:i was lucky enough to have been to about 5 or 6 pogues gigs (without shane) early 90s and it must be said they were superb with spider doing lead vocals, there was one gig at the edinburgh playhouse around 93 when joe strummer was in the band and it has to be my best ever "non shane" gig. I love the pogues with or without shane and in my opinion pogue mahone and waiting for herb were very much underated.

Thanks, you reminded me! I saw The Pogues with Mr. Strummer in The National Stadium in '91. They blew me away. If the brain serves me well, they did a killer version of 'Brand New Cadillac' and an even more killer take on 'Straight To Hell'. I have an unlicensed cassette recording of the show somewhere which I must dust off.

Paul

I recall Joe and Spider sharing lead vocals on songs such as "if i should fall" and "turkish song of the damned" which were out of this world, at least with a non shane pogues gig you knew what you were getting - pure quality

PaulMcC wrote:

gerrybhoy wrote:i was lucky enough to have been to about 5 or 6 pogues gigs (without shane) early 90s and it must be said they were superb with spider doing lead vocals, there was one gig at the edinburgh playhouse around 93 when joe strummer was in the band and it has to be my best ever "non shane" gig. I love the pogues with or without shane and in my opinion pogue mahone and waiting for herb were very much underated.

Thanks, you reminded me! I saw The Pogues with Mr. Strummer in The National Stadium in '91. They blew me away. If the brain serves me well, they did a killer version of 'Brand New Cadillac' and an even more killer take on 'Straight To Hell'. I have an unlicensed cassette recording of the show somewhere which I must dust off.

The unlicensed recording in question appears to be the standard bootleg of Pogues/Joe which is a bit of a shame as there were better gigs by far.

philipchevron wrote:The unlicensed recording in question appears to be the standard bootleg of Pogues/Joe which is a bit of a shame as there were better gigs by far.

Only until there´s an official release of a live show with Joe Strummer. You´ve mentioned this before, are there still plans for a live album?

mats wrote:

philipchevron wrote:The unlicensed recording in question appears to be the standard bootleg of Pogues/Joe which is a bit of a shame as there were better gigs by far.

Only until there´s an official release of a live show with Joe Strummer. You´ve mentioned this before, are there still plans for a live album?

Eventually. We have yet to schedule the The Pogues with Joe Strummer: Live in London 1991 album.