The Medusa Fora

Great gig last night really enjoy it but my question is where was everybody the arena was only half full at best and it did look a bit embarassing if I was being honest.I would seriously consider next year if there is a tour to play the rock city becasue the attendances at the arena are getting less and less every year.On and to the cunt who headbutted me because I was dancing around and enjoying it I hope you die you cunt of a very long and painful death!.

Anonymous wrote:On and to the cunt who headbutted me because I was dancing around and enjoying it I hope you die you cunt of a very long and painful death!.

Anonymous wrote:On and to the cunt who headbutted me because I was dancing around and enjoying it I hope you die you cunt of a very long and painful death!.

My mate was threatened for doing much the same thing. It was a strange Pogues crowd last night. Spoke to quite a few people over the course of the night and not one of them had ever seen the band before. It was clear from reading this messageboard that not many members were attending. Manchester for the last few years has been far and away a better atmosphere. Show was fantastic as usual but I don't think I'd do Nottingham again, despite it being local to me.

This hurts me to say but Shane was f**king awful for the first half of the gig, i sincerely hope he is on better form for you guys at Manchester tonight.
With Shane we know what to expect but i can't remember ever seeing him this bad, the rest of the guys looked so embarresed and Spider had a look of sheer disbelief on his face when Shane completely fucked up IISFFGWG.
It was the first time i have ever heard it done as an instrumental only
The second half of the show was much better and Shane started to nail some of the songs, boys from the county hell and FONY were as good as i have ever heard.
The show did seem quite short i am sure that they only done an hour before they went off, they did come back on for two encores though which is the norm, the venue itself as previously stated was no where near full and i would also question the suitability of it for future Pogues Gigs.
The atmosphere in the "Bunker Hill" pub before the show was superb with the pub playing Pogues cds but i did not see any other Medusan T shirts on show so never got to meet anyone from here.
All in all we had a great time as we always do when we see the Pogues, it was just a bit of a shame that Shane took so long to get going.

moose wrote:This hurts me to say but Shane was f**king awful for the first half of the gig, i sincerely hope he is on better form for you guys at Manchester tonight.
With Shane we know what to expect but i can't remember ever seeing him this bad, the rest of the guys looked so embarresed and Spider had a look of sheer disbelief on his face when Shane completely fucked up IISFFGWG.
It was the first time i have ever heard it done as an instrumental only
The second half of the show was much better and Shane started to nail some of the songs, boys from the county hell and FONY were as good as i have ever heard.
The show did seem quite short i am sure that they only done an hour before they went off, they did come back on for two encores though which is the norm, the venue itself as previously stated was no where near full and i would also question the suitability of it for future Pogues Gigs.
The atmosphere in the "Bunker Hill" pub before the show was superb with the pub playing Pogues cds but i did not see any other Medusan T shirts on show so never got to meet anyone from here.
All in all we had a great time as we always do when we see the Pogues, it was just a bit of a shame that Shane took so long to get going.

pretty well had the same sort of report of wolves pogue who went last night,didnt shane have the day off before this gig?

And did the set include dark streets and transmetropolitan ? What was not played ? Are they doing medley ?

I personally thought the Nottingham gig was superb - Shane did arse up IISFFGWG (one of my favorites I'll add) but he and the band were excellent throughout.

Shane in particular belted out some of the more demanding tracks with real finese, and his version of 100's (which he didicated to Phil Chevron) was exceptional.

Why harp on about the venue? I think the standing was fuller than last year. Just because the standing area doesn't resemble a sardine can is not indicative of lower sales. Venues like this have strict limits from H & S legislation.

Personally speaking I simply rejoice that the band are still playing and thriving at that. I'd happliy see them anywhere.........

Toby wrote:I personally thought the Nottingham gig was superb - Shane did arse up IISFFGWG (one of my favorites I'll add) but he and the band were excellent throughout.

Shane in particular belted out some of the more demanding tracks with real finese, and his version of 100's (which he didicated to Phil Chevron) was exceptional.

Why harp on about the venue? I think the standing was fuller than last year. Just because the standing area doesn't resemble a sardine can is not indicative of lower sales. Venues like this have strict limits from H & S legislation.

Personally speaking I simply rejoice that the band are still playing and thriving at that. I'd happliy see them anywhere.........

When you say why harp on about the venue its simple if they are no way near filling it then why dont they move it to a smaller venue where it would be more intimate and a better sound.Also it cant fill the band with much confidence when they walk on stage and see a less than half full venue

Toby wrote:I personally thought the Nottingham gig was superb - Shane did arse up IISFFGWG (one of my favorites I'll add) but he and the band were excellent throughout.

Shane in particular belted out some of the more demanding tracks with real finese, and his version of 100's (which he didicated to Phil Chevron) was exceptional.

Why harp on about the venue? I think the standing was fuller than last year. Just because the standing area doesn't resemble a sardine can is not indicative of lower sales. Venues like this have strict limits from H & S legislation.

Personally speaking I simply rejoice that the band are still playing and thriving at that. I'd happliy see them anywhere.........

Not meaning to be picky but if he does not sing the words to the second song of the set i cant see how you can say he was excellent throughout.
For the record i love the pogues, always have and always will and i am trying to give an accurate version of fridays gig.
I have seen them enough times to know what to expect and for me and quite a few other people, in the first half of the show Shane was way under par, this does not mean that the show was not good or the band were poor, i enjoyed every minute of it, but it coulf have been better.

Hi, I went to see the Pogues last night - my first and possibly my last time! I was so excited to be going but I have to say that Shane was awful. I was surprised that everyone cheered him - why encourage him? Admit it guys - he was shite!

I made the awful mistake of buying a seated ticket - everyone sitting in their seats looking like they were being lectured by the local vicar - no atmosphere at all. I will never make that mistake again!

All in all, a very dissappointing evening. The arena was embarassingly empty - even making it smaller made no difference. There were no special effects with the lighting or any effort put into engaging with the crowd. Better to be in the Rescue rooms in future. I felt like I had totally wasted my money.

Such as shame as I am a great fan of the Pogues

p.s. great quote overheard on the night following a small mumble by Shane
"subtitles available on Ceefax" - we definately needed them!

To be honest, if you think Shane was awful for the whole gig then I'm not quite sure what you were expecting. OK, I'll be honest: he made a mess of Transmetropolitan but the band held it together, and of course If I Should Fall From Grace With God was an utter mess. He didn't just forget the words, he got confused after the first verse and actually started singing Transmetropolan again over the IISFFGWG music, which sounded truly dreadful. Which is why Spider apologised afterwards.

At that point I thought we were in for a long evening, but Shane pulled it together and against the odds sang Broad Majestic Shannon perfectly next up. From there it was good all the way, and it got better and livelier as the night went on. FONY and BFCH were excellent, as were Dirty Old Town, Streams of Whiskey and so on.

Yes, Shane sounded like Shane, and stumbled and mumbled as he always does. But that's what you go for! All in all, I'd say the second half of the show was great, the first two songs were terrible, and the rest of the first half was pretty good.

I was in the standing/dancing area rather than the seats though so I'm sure that helped the atmosphere. It didn't seem too empty down there, but it might have looked different from the seats. Had I only been able to get a seated ticket I wouldn't have bothered going mind you, it doesn't matter what band you're seeing or whether the venue's packed, there's no atmosphere when you're in a seat anyway.

I'd say have another go next year, but make sure you're standing!!

Havent seen the Pogues since Wollaton Park ( without Shane) yonks ago.

Some thoughts ..Shane seemed to need to warm up. Once he got going it was great.

The band are superb.

The venue is average..some technical problems also evident? The idea of playing Rock City would disappoint around a few thousand who would be locked out.

Anonymous wrote:Havent seen the Pogues since Wollaton Park ( without Shane) yonks ago.

Some thoughts ..Shane seemed to need to warm up. Once he got going it was great.

The band are superb.

The venue is average..some technical problems also evident? The idea of playing Rock City would disappoint around a few thousand who would be locked out.

Rock City would have been alot better. There certainly wouldn't have been a few thousand locked out (Did you see how few were at the gig!!!) It would have been alot more fun.
The Arena is a great venue if the band have a stage show/lighting show that is targeted at the larger venue. Unfortunately The Pogues sound & lighting makes the whole gig seem 'distant'.

The first 2 song were terrible. Then he wen't away for 2 songs then came back with a peice of paper and a bottle of beer but then everything was great and it was the best gig i've ever been too! Well done pogues!

i was there, can't remember much due to a bottle of whiskey beforehand, but the atmosphere was a bit weird....also the stage was so far away from the crowd......but it was a cracking night!