# UK Dopers- How did the Pogues reunion shows go? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 30, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-did-the-pogues-reunion-shows-go/282287 "2004-12-30T18:59:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-did-the-pogues-reunion-shows-go/282287/21 "2005-01-02T07:03:50Z")
I would really love to have seen this reunion show. I’m listening to _Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash_ as i type this. I’m also a member of a UK message board, and there is currently a thread discussing the shows. Just about everyone who went says it was fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-did-the-pogues-reunion-shows-go/282287/22 "2005-01-02T16:09:07Z")
> [@Big Bad Voodoo Lou](#): > > I strongly recommend you pick up the Pogues’ “Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash,” which is my personal favorite of their albums and a great way to intoduce yourself to the band. Ya know, I think it _is_ time for me to learn more about the Pogues. I’ve just put the remastered version of _Rum, Sodomy & The Lash_ on my Amazon wish list (which I use more as a shopping list than a true wish list; I’ll probably order it in a week or two). 🙂 Is their “best of” compilation worth getting? Before going to Amazon I looked for that album on iTunes, but the only thing there is their 1991 live album. Looking at the track listing reminded me that I _do_, in fact, know (and like) another Pogues song: I’d completely forgotten about _Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah_! I was a DJ at my college station for all four of my undergrad years (and eventually became Station Manager): we had a vinyl copy of _Peace & Love_ (I recognized the album cover when I saw it just now on Amazon), but the only two songs that made it to our playlist were _Lorelei_ and _Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah_. Quick Black 47 story: I’d never heard of them until May 1995, when I was in NYC hanging out with my uncle and we happened to go to Paddy Reilly’s on a night Black 47 was playing there. The next day we went to Tower Records and I bought _Fire of Freedom_. That was such an amazing way to discover them! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-did-the-pogues-reunion-shows-go/282287/23 "2005-01-02T16:40:38Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Ya know, I think it _is_ time for me to learn more about the Pogues. I’ve just put the remastered version of _Rum, Sodomy & The Lash_ on my Amazon wish list (which I use more as a shopping list than a true wish list; I’ll probably order it in a week or two). 🙂 Is their “best of” compilation worth getting? There are a few different “Best of” compilations, which makes Pogues-shopping a bit confusing. The one I own is Essential Pogues, which has a lot of their Island Records material, and it includes “Lorelei,” “Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah,” and “Fairytale of New York.” It doesn’t have any songs from Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash, so if you get Essential Pogues too, you won’t have any repeated material–which is nice. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-did-the-pogues-reunion-shows-go/282287/24 "2005-01-02T16:44:26Z")
I would alos recommend _If I Should Fall From Grace With God_, the album they released after Cait O’Riordan left the band. But it the last album of theirs I would buy, chronologically speaking. Shane MacGowan agrees with me. And check out _If I Should Fall From Grace- The Shane MacGowan Story_ on DVD. We just got it from NetFlix and… damn. How the mighty have fallen. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-did-the-pogues-reunion-shows-go/282287/25 "2005-01-02T16:53:09Z")
As **Big Bad Voodoo Lou** says, there are a bunch of Pogues collections, some of which are better than others. Personally, i think every good Pogues fan _must_ have the first three albums: _Red Roses for Me Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash If I Should Fall from Grace with God_ _Hell’s Ditch_ and _Peace and Love_ both have some excellent tracks but are, IMO, not as consistently good as those first three albums. I never really got into the (post-McGowan) _Waiting for Herb_, but i do like _Pogue Mahone_ quite a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-did-the-pogues-reunion-shows-go/282287/26 "2005-01-02T17:13:36Z")
If you really like Shane, you can check his post-_Pogues_ cuts as Shane MacGowan and the Popes, but we never thought it was up to his previous stuff. I guess the band does make a difference, Shane! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Halfpint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f0a364/32.png) [@Halfpint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Halfpint)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-did-the-pogues-reunion-shows-go/282287/27 "2005-01-02T18:11:08Z")
I didn’t make it to the shows, but a colleague of mine did. It was his third attempt to actually see The Pogues live, apparently. I’m a bit hazy on the details, but apparently the first show ended when the band walked on stage and Shane fell off of it, and the second when a fight broke out before the show had started. In honour of the occasion, he started drinking at two in the afternoon, and turned up for work the next morning looking pissed and in bad need of ironing. His face was an interesting combination of red and puce, and his voice had dropped three octaves from the shouting, and he sounded like he’d gargling meths and smoking 200 rollups a day since birth. He described the show as “Absolutely \*\*\*\*ing brilliant”, and then fell asleep at his desk. So I think we can assume it was quite good. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-did-the-pogues-reunion-shows-go/282287/28 "2005-01-02T20:09:54Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > As **Big Bad Voodoo Lou** says, there are a bunch of Pogues collections, some of which are better than others. > > Personally, i think every good Pogues fan _must_ have the first three albums: > > _Red Roses for Me > Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash > If I Should Fall from Grace with God_ > > _Hell’s Ditch_ and _Peace and Love_ both have some excellent tracks but are, IMO, not as consistently good as those first three albums. I never really got into the (post-McGowan) _Waiting for Herb_, but i do like _Pogue Mahone_ quite a lot. Hmm, IMHO there is not one so-so track on _Hell’s Ditch._ I remember wearing out my little cassette from repeatedly playing that album. Agree about _Pogue Mahone._ Anyways, I do know someone who went to London for the first time, with the Brixton show as part of their wonderful Christmas trip. She enjoyed the show. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-did-the-pogues-reunion-shows-go/282287/29 "2005-01-02T21:08:39Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > _Lorelei_ is the only Pogues song I know, but it’s one of my all-time favorites. 🙂 > > (The only other thing I know about the Pogues is that Black 47 mentions one of them in _Rockin’ The Bronx_. :D) I envy you, **Misnomer** , because you are about to listen to some great music for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-did-the-pogues-reunion-shows-go/282287/30 "2005-01-02T21:17:43Z")
> [@Caprese](#): > > Hmm, IMHO there is not one so-so track on _Hell’s Ditch._ I ususally skip over “Summer in Siam.” And that’s about it. Everything else they did between _Red Roses for Me_ and _Hell’s Ditch_ is fucking brilliant. _Waiting for Herb_ is really, really good, but it’s just not The Pogues. _Pogue Mahone_ should be avoided. _If I Should Fall from Grace with God_ is possibly the best album ever made by anyone, anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-did-the-pogues-reunion-shows-go/282287/31 "2005-01-02T22:06:40Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > _If I Should Fall from Grace with God_ is possibly the best album ever made by anyone, anywhere. Listen to the man; he knows what he’s talking about. _Rum, Sodomy and the Lash_ was my intro to the band and I’d guess it’s their most well-known album. It’s the most distinctive “this is what the Pogues were about” (Irish folk songs performed by a punk band) record. _Peace and Love_ was the one that got the most pop exposure, as far as I could tell. But _If I Should Fall From Grace with God_ is their masterpiece. Just the transition from “Turkish Song of the Damned” to “Bottle of Smoke” to “Fairytale of New York” makes you think, “Holy shit, these guys are _unstoppable_!” ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2005, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-did-the-pogues-reunion-shows-go/282287/32 "2005-01-02T23:04:14Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > _Rum, Sodomy and the Lash_ was my intro to the band and I’d guess it’s their most well-known album. It’s the most distinctive “this is what the Pogues were about” (Irish folk songs performed by a punk band) record. I’m amazed at how few people ever have anything to say abvout _Red Roses for Me_. Personally, i think it’s more “Irish folk as punk” than _Rum, Sodomy and the Lash_. “Waxie’s Dargle” is a quintessential example of the type, and “Poor Paddy” and “Down in the Ground Where the Dead Men Go” also have great punk atmosphere. I agree with you about _If I Should Fall from Grace with God_. That run of songs you mentioned is indeed great, and i also have a real soft spot for “Thousands are Sailing,” and for their rendition of the old sailor’s song “Bound for South Australia.” ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-did-the-pogues-reunion-shows-go/282287/33 "2005-01-03T01:28:18Z")
I had never heard South Australia until we got the import CD of IISFFGWG a year or so ago, after sacrificng an ancient cassette copy in a wrecked truck (yeah, we couldn’t even make the tape deck eject!). The US release didn’t have it. An instrumental medley was also cut. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-how-did-the-pogues-reunion-shows-go/282287.md?page=1)