The Pogues Newcastle Academy 14 Dec 2010
I’ve only seen the Pogues once before back in the 80s supporting U2 at Murrayfield. This winters tour has been billed as the farewell Christmas tour, so I figured that it was time to catch them again while I still had the chance. Laura fancied seeing them, as she has taken a liking to Fairytale of New York, and has recently sung it at a gig with her friend Will.
We arrived around 8.30pm, after the support act has finished, expecting the Pogues to take the stage around 9pm. The venue had advertised their start time as 8.50pm. What actually happened was a long wait while the crowd got increasingly restless, with some people starting to “boo”. I’ve never see the Academy as full as this. You couldn’t move at all downstairs. Laura figured that the crowd would be quite wild at a Pogues gig, so we stayed at the back in a safe spot.
We were beginning to think that Shane had let us down, but around 10pm the Pogues came out to a great (and impatient!) roaring welcome from the crowd. Shane was in good form, was singing well and seemed pretty sober. The crowd went mental (it was a good idea to stick near the back of the hall), the band played their all, and we all got to sing along to The Irish Rover, Dirty Old Town and (of course) Fairytale of New York. Great stuff; gets you in the mood for Christmas.
Setlist: Streams of Whisky; If I Should Fall From Grace With God; The Broad Majestic Shannon; Boat Train; A Pair of Brown Eyes; Tuesday Morning; Sunnyside of the Street; Repeal of the Licensing Laws; Body of an American; London Girl; Thousands Are Sailing; Dirty Old Town; Bottle of Smoke; Sickbed of Cuchulainn
Encore 1: Sally MacLennane; Rainy Night in Soho; Irish Rover
Encore 2: Fairytale of New York; Fiesta
Pogues website: http://www.pogues.com
ticket
Vintagerock's Weblog. 
Posted by Richard on December 19, 2013 at 11:53 pm
Thank you very much for reminding me of the set list! I was there with my friend Ragu and remember them being monumentally late but surprisingly sober! I have seen the Pogues off and on over the years. I first saw them at the Newcastle Mayfair on the Rum Sodomy and the Lash tour (ahh good days) and also caught them at the Hammersmith Odeon with Joe Strummer fronting!
This gig was a good one. Despite them being late they played a great set and were in good voice. The audience was rowdy and needed little warming up (mind you that has been my experience with all Pogues concerts – it is usually a full on from the start) One of the things I liked about this gig in particular was actually that they were late! In the hour that we had to wait they played some brilliant left field 80’s music. When they did come on I distinctly remember singing along to “Dirty old Town” – The Academy is not a huge venue and with everyone singing along it brought tingles to your spine!
The greatest live band ever I think (even when they are ragged and pissed!) Hopefully they will have a few more reunions!
Phil Chevron – rest in peace