Memories of shows "Back in the Day"..!!

**Mon Jul 02, 2007 5:55 pm**

Just wanted to share some recollections of when I was a "lad" and thought The Pogues were the "schizznit"..!!!

I grew up in England and moved to the States in 1988.

Prior to that I saw The Pogues several times across the U.K.
Early 80's: Newcastle Mayfair (small nightclub type venue); The boys were awesome;the crowd was nuts and I left completely soaked in sweat from all the bouncing and dancing in front of the stage. I'd never seen the like..!
Shane was too funny...drinking from bottles of wine and then passing them out into the crowd. Sang with passion and energy and the band played the same way.

Brixton Academy, London. I think it was a St. Pat's day show since everyone in the band was dressed in N.Y.C. Police Uniforms.
As soon as the band started the place went crazy and my friend Jill immediately lost both of her shoes..!!
At the end of the show I went to the stage and there were 3 piles of various shoes from various audience members. Tons of shoes..!!
Grabbed the first pair in her size and she hobbled off home in someone else's shoes..!
That was around 1986 or so..?

A couple of other shows in various festivals/venues but I'm afraid the details are "foggy"..!

In 1988 moved to the States and had given up hope of ever seeing The Pogues again.
Knew they had broken up but was "out of the loop" when they reunited.
Jump to 2007 and I stumble across this news on the net.
Do some research and see they are on their way to Boston..!!
This past March I went to one of the Boston shows. Still fun (although both the band and myself are 20 years older..!) but sad to see the toll the 25 years has taken on Shane. I hope he's still having fun..?
A briliant mind and a prolific song-writer....A "Legend"...!!!!
The music still has it though and the musical abilities/skills of all the boys is out of this world.

Anyone else care to share...???

**Wed Jul 04, 2007 2:01 am**

Scall, that's a great story, and a great thread.

Here's more stories!

viewtopic.php?t=1118&start=0

**Thu Jul 05, 2007 10:00 am**

That may well be the same gig where a friend of mine lost a shoe (he ended up going home with odd ones). We were looking through all the shoes at the front trying to help him find his...and found a pair of underpants :shock:

**Thu Jul 05, 2007 10:22 am**

Male or female?
Why there's no "Shane! Do you still have my underpants?" thread yet, I wonder..

**Thu Jul 05, 2007 1:50 pm**

The shoe thing at Brixton Academy was the funniest thing..!

I expected to get to the front of the stage and find a "couple" of shoes but not three enormous mounds of various sizes; styles; etc.

Kind of sums up what the crowd was like that night..!!

**Sat Jul 07, 2007 1:33 pm**

MacRua wrote:Male or female?
Why there's no "Shane! Do you still have my underpants?" thread yet, I wonder..

Male.

How about a thread for best item thrown onstage during a gig...

**Sun Jul 08, 2007 7:53 am**

What was so special about that gig which made lots of people lose their shoes???

**Sun Jul 08, 2007 7:57 am**

dawsonn wrote:What was so special about that gig which made lots of people lose their shoes???

That's kinda hard to explain 20 years later, so you'll perhaps forgive me if I mutter something about it being a spontaneous outburst of mass neo-Dadaism, peculiar enough a gesture in Thatcher's Britain to perhaps merit a footnote of its own. The underpants were more of a John Major thing, I guess.

**Mon Jul 09, 2007 1:54 pm**

Let us, like Him, hold up one shoe and let the other be upon our foot, for this is His sign, that all who follow Him shall do likewise.

**Wed Jul 11, 2007 10:15 pm**

I'm not sure it was a voluntary "loss of shoes" by most people..?

The Brixton Academy at that time was general admission and had a floor that sloped towards the stage. Not a particular gentle slope, it was at quite an angle.
You put a couple of hundred people all together at the front of the stage (while the more sane or less drunk scattered themselves the rest of the venue); add alcohol; add great music with an electric atmosphere......on the sound of the first note it was a massive "friendly" mosh-pit type scene.
The crowd not only jumped up and down frantically but also moved as one unit from side to side.
Losing your shoes was the least of your worries..!
If you lost your footing you would either be trampled to death or die from something disgusting that lurked on the floor of the Brixton Academy.

Philip.....thanks for your input and sorry about your health issues. Good luck with all that..!!
Any particular memories of shows in Newcastle or the Brixton Academy..?
If my "foggy" memory serves me right I think Kirsty sang Fairytale with you that night..?