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St. Patrick’s Day with the Pogues
Skip the parade and spend the holiday in…style?
The Pogues
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The Pogues may be famous this side of the pond for their 1987 hit “Fairytale of New York,” but in recent years they’ve become just as well known for their East Coast appearances around another ubiquitous U.S. holiday—St. Patrick’s Day. Ask anyone who’s been to a show, and they’ll tell you that it’s all about drinking, dancing and hanging on to your friends for dear life when the floor starts to look a bit wobbly.
Formed in 1982 in King’s Cross in Northern London by Shane MacGowan, Peter “Spider” Stacy (tin whistle), and Jem Finer (banjo), James Fearnley (accordion), they played their first gig soon after at The Pindar of Wakefield as the Pogue Mahone (which loosely translates to “kiss my arse”). The band’s first album, Red Roses for Me, was released after a 1984 tour with The Clash, and soon the famous and infamous members of the U.K. music scene added their talent to the band’s growing reputation as live performers and musicians—Elvis Costello helped with the recording of Rum, Sodomy and the Lash and Joe Strummer took over singing detail briefly when MacGowan took a hiatus from the group.
After recording seven albums and going through a never-ending lineup change, the remaining members decided to call it quits in 1996, but their legend lived. The band, including MacGowan, reunited in 2001 and continued to play together through the ‘00s. Over the past few years, their March appearance in New York has remained a constant on fans’ calendars.
Mixing a classic Irish sound with shades of punk and deep nostalgia, The Pogues have paved the way for the success of Irish American bands like the Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly—the former toured with MacGowan and company in 2005 after their reunion. So far, eight years in, the reunited band hasn’t released any new material, but 2008 saw their second album get the 33 1/3 treatment by Jeffrey T. Roesgen and a box set, Just Look Them Straight In The Eye and Say… POGUEMAHONE!!, arrived with a collection of unreleased material.
But stories and legends aside, going to a Pogues show is about more than just watching a band play their hits. (They were once named one of the 50 acts to see before dying.) It’s about witnessing a cultural phenomenon.