This is London

[MacRua]

A fairytale of old folk-rockers
Reviewed by Richard Godwin, Evening Standard
22 December 2005
The Pogues, The Dropkick Murphys
Brixton Academy
Full URL (with a pic)
<blockquote> The Pogues and Christmas are made for each other. Both come soaked in booze and steeped in tradition, and both have a heart-nagging appeal that cuts across the generations.

Among the rambling boys of pleasure and ladies of easy leisure reliving their Eighties teenage years at Brixton last night was a smattering of hyperactive kids and good-time Irish roués from the Shane MacGowan school of dentistry, giving the folk rockers' seasonal get-together the air of a rowdy Tipperary wedding.

This winter stint, which restores the band's original line-up for the first time since 1987, coincides with the re-release of Fairytale of New York to mark the fifth anniversary of the tragic death of the song's guest vocalist Kirsty MacColl.

In Ella Finer, daughter of banjoist Jem, they had a spirited stand-in. No one so much as asked after Katie Melua, who duetted with MacGowan on Jonathan Ross last week, and was rumoured to appear.

Of course, it should go without saying that Fairytale of New York, a hopeless, hilarious, utterly charming piece of songwriting, is the greatest Christmas single ever recorded. It was naturally given pride of place in the encore, hollered by the crowd and ornamented with fake snow as MacGowan and Ms Finer tussled in a cockle-warming waltz - before MacGowan fell flat on his arse, dragging the poor girl with him.

It was a comical moment, though tinged with sadness. For the preceding hour, MacGowan frequently cut a sorry figure, arriving late, shambling on and off the stage and frequently consigning vocal duties to his hard-grafting band mates.

But as pathos-filled readings of Dirty Old Town and The Sunny Side of the Street proved, there's still roughshod poetry in the old boy yet. And by the time the rasping horns of set-closer Fiesta kicked in, there was nothing for it but to lose yourself in the boozy benevolence of the crowd. </blockquote>
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©2005 Associated New Media

[firehazard]

A fairytale of old folk-rockers
Reviewed by Richard Godwin, Evening Standard
22 December 2005

This winter stint, which restores the band's original line-up for the first time since 1987

Here we go again... yet another totally accurate review article...

[Guest]

I thank God that im not a journalist.How boring it must be rehashing the same old drivel over and over again.
Shanes teeth
Shanes drunk
Shanes shambling
come on for fucks sake its the same old predictable , pathetic , premeditated swipe at a person they believe the public loves them to run down.
What they have never been able to comprehend is that the public loves Shane and knows that these reviews are written by critics who spend their time getting bladdered on their expenses and are more of a drunk than Shane.
Consigning vocal duties to his hard grafting band mates..that shows the mentality of these people and how they distort the truth for a story.They know fine well that it is pointless for a vocalist to remain on stage when singing duties are being done by someone else.
Arseholes..lynching is the only hope for some of these bastards

[Simon]

Wow so the orginal line up are toghter again for the FIRST time since 1987?? It is sad that Shane always get so drunk when they play young Ned,tuesday and 1000 that his bandmates most take over the singing.

Does it exist 1 journalist out there that knows a little Pogues history??

[philipchevron]

Wow so the orginal line up are toghter again for the FIRST time since 1987?? It is sad that Shane always get so drunk when they play young Ned,tuesday and 1000 that his bandmates most take over the singing.

Does it exist 1 journalist out there that knows a little Pogues history??

The penny dropped finally - Shane always chooses Tuesday, Ned and Thousands to become suddenly incapable. I can't help wondering if he does this deliberately now, forcing Spider. Terry and me into the role of temporary frontman. Is it perhaps a conspiracy?

[DzM]

I can't help wondering if he does this deliberately now, forcing Spider. Terry and me into the role of temporary frontman. Is it perhaps a conspiracy?

Almost as though there were some kind of cabal within the band making these decisions and intentionally not telling the reporter about it. Shocking!