This year, Shane MacGowan (whose birthday’s Xmas Day) and the boys have something a bit more grand than usual planned to bring some festive cheer.
The venue for this December show is a little more expansive than it has been in previous years as they take over the Dome for a night.
Fairytale, too, has been re-released for its 25th anniversary, again making impressions in the charts and becoming a contender for the festive number one spot (it was denied this upon its original release by the Pet Shop Boys’ You Are Always On My Mind).
Over the years, MacGowan’s been kicked out the band (“Why did it take you so long?” he quipped in 1991) then welcomed back, and this current incarnation reconvened in 2001 (before disbanding again in 2010).
Throughout the years, The Pogues never hit the heights their craft deserved – even the 1985 masterpiece Rum, Sodomy and The Lash only achieved 13th place in the UK charts (maybe it was the catchy name?).
Yet at Christmas they rule and will be joined by 20,000 like-minded whisky-supping souls to support them in fine voice.
One of these will be none other than Frank Turner, a folk-punk troubadour some 24 years MacGowan’s junior.
While short of years, though, he is not short of spirit and there is no one more suited to carry The Pogues’ torch onward.
The O2, Thurs Dec 20 | Doors at 7pm | £32.50
Tube | North Greenwich
theo2.co.uk
Photo: Getty
