The Pogues
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Roseland Ballroom, NYC
Written by Rebecca Carter

All photos copyright Alex Anderssen 

The Pogues are the originals. Formed in 1982 by Shane MacGowan, Spider Stacy and James Fearnley, The Pogues ushered in the first wave of Celtic rock. After 25 years the band has seen more than its share of trials. The infamous exploits of front man Shane MacGowan have made him a living anti-hero folk legend, and managed to make even the likes of Keith Richards look like a pillar of sobriety.

 But it wasn’t MacGowan’s reputation alone that secured The Pogues’ status. Their style of traditional Irish folk music combined with the sounds of the emerging indie-rock scene gave a voice to anti-imperialist Irish youth and a new perspective on a culture for the rest of the world to romanticize. Albums such as Red Roses for Me, Rum, Sodomy and the Lash and If I Should Fall from Grace with God all earned the band critical acclaim. But as the band’s success increased, MacGowan spiraled further into drug addiction and alcoholism, prompting his departure from the band in 1991. He was briefly replaced by The Clash’s Joe Strummer, until Spider Stacy took over the vocal duties full time.

  MacGowan returned to the band in 2001, and since then the reunited Pogues have played a series of sporadic shows over the years. On the eve of his departure for The Pogues’ current run of live dates, accordion player James Fearnley described what it’s been like to tour with MacGowan again. “It was with much trepidation,” he laughs. “Before the reunion I joined him onstage at one of his gigs. He introduced me as ‘one of the bosses who sacked him.’ I’ve never thought of myself as a boss, but onstage now its working and we have a great time playing.”

  Unfortunately, not everything has gone so smoothly on their current tour, and just a few nights later MacGowan fell on stage during the band’s performance at the Orpheum Theater in Boston, severely injuring one of his knees and forcing the cancellation of their March 14^th show in New York City. But The Pogues have pressed on through worse, and kept their date the following night. The band took the stage, minus MacGowan, and opened with the instrumental “Repeal of the Licensing Laws” before an equally weathered roadie wheeled MacGowan onstage in a wheel chair. His appearance was greeted with a roar of applause from the crowd, but it was hard to tell if the audience’s enthusiasm was driven more by Shane MacGowan the artist and musician, or the novelty of his reputation and the current state he was in. MacGowan, however, seemed to be completely unaware of any contradiction and appeared to be having a great time. With a cigarette in one hand and a cane in the other, he did more than manage his way through Pogues classics like “The Auld Triangle,” “White City,” “A Rainy Night in Soho,” “Broad Majestic Shannon” and “Young Ned of the Hill.” Throughout the night, MacGowan shared vocal duties with Spider Stacy but was sure to sing the favorites “Boys from the County Hell,” “Dirty Old Town” and “The Sick Bed of Cuchuliann.” Although his lyrics were slurred, MacGowan actually sounded better than in some of their previous live recordings and the rest of band played with as much vitality as ever. They were even able to joke about the current predicament when Stacy quipped that “all questions of the evening should be directed to the chair.”

Following The Pogues’ performance it was clear that to write off Shane MacGowan as just another casualty wouldn’t be doing him justice, especially when there are musicians out there in much better shape than him who would have bagged the rest of the tour over far less. There are even rumors circulating of a new Pogues’ album with MacGowan, but Fearnley is approaching that with some trepidation as well. “There are rumors lingering on the outskirts,” he explained. “New material may wander in, but we’re taking it delicately. It would be nice, but what are we at the moment? A sort of tribute to ourselves. The audience wants what we do best. Nothing much has changed,” he laughs. “It may sound pathetic but it is truly amazing that nothing has.”