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Pogues swing into Christmas
Review:The Pogues
Brixton Academy
by Mairi Macdonald
FOR 20 years The Pogues have been as much a part of Christmas as overdrafts and hangovers.
Shane MacGowan and Kirsty MacCall’s unforgettable duet for Fairytale in New York won the rowdy folk punk band mass popularity and appearances on endless ‘best ever’ lists.
For the thousands at this week’s Brixton Academy gigs, there were no surprises, little to be disappointed at, and the most unpretentious, straight up gig of the year.
For many, the mere sight of anti-hero and living miracle Shane MacGowan swaggering on stage for another year was enough to bring the house down.
He growled merrily down the mic veering from incoherent to something clearer, but that was fine with the crowd, who needed no help with the lyrics and were genuinely just pleased to see him.
Despite the merriment the gig would have been tinged with sadness for the band.
Not only did Monday mark the sixth anniversary of MacCall’s early death, the result of an awful accident in Mexico, but their long-term friend and banjo player Tom McManaman died last week.
Just like a long night on the lash, the gig and The Pogues’ back catalogue takes you on an emotional roller coaster of a night, which finished on a high with Fiesta, ensuring a boisterous end to a beer-soaked night before a few hundred sweaty blokes legged it to the last Tube. |
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