Birmingham. 15.12.08

[Mark_Wafc]

Excuse the spelling. Am drunk in the wellington in birmingham city centre. These internet phones are belting. Wonderful gig tonight. No terry he has the flu. Am i right in thinking thats the first reunion gig when we have been 2 men down? Shane back on the game. Crowd rowdy. Mr hunt is the coolest man in music. Seriously,watch him. Its worth the admission fee alone. Greenland whale instead of boys from the county hell. Am covered in beer, sweat and bruises. Officialy retired from the pit at the age of 27! God bless the POGUES x

[tmrwiggy]

i have too just got back......
What a fantastic show!
All the fears i had after the manchester reviews were unfounded.
FAN-------FUKIN----------TASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!
shane and the bhoys were excellent.....shane although slurred was word perfect..i tink.My favourite song"shannon" was early so very good...and i cannot remember anything after fiesta,,,next thing i know is i am on a train home...dont even get me ! i have to walk 2 miles...should give a better review when
m sober......just wish i was going to brixton!!!!!!!
peace and love!

[tmrwiggy]

in my...slighthly drunk...very biased opinion....this was an excellent show.
Two members down.....shane bang o form...set list as previous show,,,,absolutley topped off with fiesta...............fantastic!
LONG LIVE THE POGUES!!!

[moose]

Excuse the spelling. Am drunk in the wellington in birmingham city centre. These internet phones are belting. Wonderful gig tonight. No terry he has the flu. Am i right in thinking thats the first reunion gig when we have been 2 men down? Shane back on the game. Crowd rowdy. Mr hunt is the coolest man in music. Seriously,watch him. Its worth the admission fee alone. Greenland whale instead of boys from the county hell. Am covered in beer, sweat and bruises. Officialy retired from the pit at the age of 27! God bless the POGUES x

Officially entered the pit at 47,(and stayed for the duration) Best Pogues gig i have ever seen, Shane was awesome, difficult to put into words how fuckin good this gig was.

[moose]

Ok here goes.
Pre gig drinks found me in Scruffys, i was going to give this place a miss on advice from other Medusans but as it was only just gone 6 i thought i would give it a go. Good call, loads of space (at this time) and with Pogues classics being played the pub was warming up nicely. After a couple of pints i bumped into wolvespogue and as you do, we passed time drinking more beer and talking football etc. By now the place was kicking and the variety of people in there was staggering. Ages must have ranged from 16 to 70 with people from all walks of life.
About ten too 9 we headed for the venue, although we went in together i never did see wolvespogue for the rest of the evening (so just to say cheers mate i really enjoyed your company). Having found my bearings i was standing in a comfortable position about 3/4's of the way back from the stage, as the lights dimmed there was a parting of the crowd in front of me of biblical proportions and with a quick dart i was standing at the front, how it happened and why it happened i can't explain but there i was directly in front of Shane with Spider to the(my) right. The mosh pit king at 47 years of age The set list was as previously stated with "Greenland" replacing "Boys" and along with missing the one and only Mr C, we also had to do without Terry who had "man flu" That a side the gig was as good as it gets, i have not seen any better since the reunion. The atmosphere was electric and the place was rocking, the band was extremely tight and Shane was on top form, no bum notes no missed lines no missed cues and no crib sheets to be seen, just the occasional glance down to see what was the next song from a stratigically placed list. I am not getting carried away but this was a magnificent show and i do feel for the people who felt let down at the MEN, but as i have previously said, with the Pogues, sometimes it is the luck of the draw and everyone who attended Birmingham drew lucky.
To experience being right at the front was fantastic with the only downside being no Mr C singing 1000's, some other strange happenings, the bastard who pulled my jeans down Which in the crush took me 10 minutes to get back up and the amount of shoes that were left on the floor at the end of the gig I watched middleaged men walking to new street station with one shoe missing, how the fuck can you lose your shoes
To all you guys going to Bristol tonight and Brixton later in the week i sincerely hope you get a repeat performance and to all the Band members thank you very very much for putting on such a distinguished performance.

[firehazard]

Good review, moose.

I've noticed how, the last few years, the gigs in Brum seem to have been acknowledged to be among the best of the tour. Interesting to speculate why... Good venue? Good crowd? Or do the band just feel at home there?

It's a couple of years since I've got to the Birmingham leg of the tour. Sorry I wasn't there this time. Though getting to and from Birmingham on a Monday night was never going to be likely for us...

[moose]

Good review, moose.

I've noticed how, the last few years, the gigs in Brum seem to have been acknowledged to be among the best of the tour. Interesting to speculate why... Good venue? Good crowd? Or do the band just feel at home there?

It's a couple of years since I've got to the Birmingham leg of the tour. Sorry I wasn't there this time. Though getting to and from Birmingham on a Monday night was never going to be likely for us...

For me it is the venue, it seems more intimate, and i think that leads to the fantastic atmosphere, regarding travelling to and from Brum on a Monday night, on returning to New street after the Gig all the f**kin trains to Cov had been cancelled, ended up on a nightmare bus journey visiting every shitty little train station on the way, 20 min train journey turned into a 90 min bus ride

[bloxy]

Went to Brum last night and as ever they were brilliant.

[rumsodomyandthelash]

Great review moose, Mark sorry i missed you ended up in the kerryman and got totally twisted, , i always get down the front and always get there just as the gig starts, in my experience the Pogues are the only band where this is possible, the crowd is the roughest i have ever been in and once again the Pogues in Brum is a storming gig, i reckon its a combination of a great intimate venue and a really up for crowd that make this gig so good. i must have been stood by you moose but i dident notice anyone with there trousers down
The King- we rocked the front again, i like your style mate ( i first met this young pretender the king several years ago and got chatting as you do, why someone so young was into the pogues etc and we've met up down the front every year since without planning it including popes gigs )
Took several new people with us last night none of them had ever been to a Pogues gig and they had only really heard music i had played to them they ranged from my 19 year old god daughter to mrs Rums hairdresser colleagues who would normally go to Abba tribute nights and whom i suspected would not only not enjoy the gig but would be fairly disgusted with the drunken rabble that is a pogues crowd, they all loved it and are eager for more and 2 of them even bought merchandise ( there are some lovely posters by the way ), i reckon i should be on commission for all the folks i have pogues influenced over the years
Missed you again Mr C, i hope your recovery is going well and Happy Christmas to you and everyone else
Long Live The Pogues, the day there is no pogues will be a very very very dark one
We love you Shane'o we do !!!!

[moose]

Just had a flash back, did i see Joey Cashman or lookalike?? pull a girl out of the audience during the gig right at the front of the moshpit? it certainly was not a member of security.