I went to Shane’s Newcastle upon Tyne gig last night,and it was a blast! 
The all seated ‘Opera house’ lovely theatre that it is,isn’t perhaps the best venue for a MacGowan gig-soon people were dancing wildly in front of the stage.
‘The Popes’ line up had changed since I last saw them (6/7 yrs ago),no accordian this time-instead they had TWO Banjo’s!! (friends joke;What do you call two Banjo’s?-A;TWO too many!!!).Well,they had two Banjo’s until, about an hour into the set,Tom McManamon got a litle upset about the tuning of his,chucked it down on to the stage and stormed off,no doubt for a drink.
Shane was in rude good health (well ‘good health’ for him-lets face it,if you’ve read all the stories then it’s amazing that he’s STILL alive!
He was in fine form last night (almost a return to his old Pogues days)and got through loads of classic songs,inc a lot of his older material.
They were joined on stage by a whistle player,playing a ‘Chieftain’ (or just possibly an ‘Overton’?) D- it didn’t really make any difference,as you couldn’t hear a note that he played!
Anyway,it was a hugely enjoyable gig-good to see that the legendary Mr. MacGowan is in better fettle than he was last time that I saw him.
Walking out of the theatre,a mate said “They are more Punk than ‘Green day’ or ‘Blink 182’”-my reply was “Yeah,and MORE folk than most Folkclubs”.
When was the last time you heard a whole concert hall audience wildly singing the sea shanty ‘South Australia’??
I get to see him a few times a year over here in Ireland.
The lineup changes all the time.
Sometimes he is good - sometimes great - always worth seeing,
Depends on your outlook - if you want crystal clear - stay away - get a CD.
his voice/emotion/Lyrics are the main thing
You would need to know some of his latest stuff to enjoy the concert.
His book is a good read too
I wish I’d known he was in newcastle. I would have gone. My favourite song of his is ‘The Song with NO Name’. I would so love to get the abc or sheet music for it. When I’m down sometimes I just play it over and over again on winamp.
‘The song with no name’ uses a tune also called ‘The Homes of Donegal’.
Sean’s lyrics are often fitted to traditional tunes and song airs.