Live Review: The Pogues, Brixton Academy, December 19th

To see the Pogues this close to Christmas is to expect two things. The first is that if Shane MacGowan shows up he’ll be very well out of it; and the second is that 'Fairytale Of New York' will be the best received song of the evening. On both counts, no one was left disappointed, but their was so much more to this marathon set than predicting the extent of MacGowan's inebriation and that song.
After support from King Blues- a band who's members were so enthusiastic and disparate in appearance that they looked like a product of Jack Black's School Of Rock- MacGowan ambled onto the stage to growl out 'Streams Of Whisky.' A cigarette in hand, and a table-cum-minibar just an arm's length away- he told us with some urgency that he was ‘going to where streams of whisky are flowing’, when in truth, both he and his audience were already there. He slurred his way through an epic set- 'Sickbed Of Cúchulainn', 'Sally MacLellane', 'Irish Rover'- each and every performance sending the punks and drunks in attendance into a frenzy- and the band wisely saved that song for a second encore. Ofcourse, it was sheer magic- Shane and Ella Finer waltzed together beneath a tumble of fake snow- a fitting and Fairytale ending to an excellent night. 9/10