The Pogues return to the Barrowland Ballroom and reconnect with the Glasgow crowd

I was sat outside 226 Gallowgate in the late evening sun, the folk sitting beside me were going to see The Pogues for the first time. Their mum had bought tickets for the entire family, she wanted them all to see this. The three active members of the band - Spider Stacy, Jem Finer and James Fearnley - were marking 40 years of their breakthrough second album - Rum, Sodomy and the Lash - but it was a gig that had added significance. Old songs were being passed on to a new generation.

I once suggested to Shane MacGowan, The Pogues frontman and principle songwriter, that this was the album the band would be remembered for. He had some caveats but didn’t grumble too much at my opinion. Shane was not prone to dwell on his legacy and had a habit of deliberately falling asleep during dinner when the subject turned towards his music career. I met him and his wife Victoria in Dublin in 2007 and I was a friend of Shane’s until his death on St Andrews Day, 30 November, 2023.

Spider, Jem and James performed the traditional song The Parting Glass at Shane’s funeral. Spider later sang another traditional song given added power by The Pogues - Poor Paddy on the Railway. Both featured in the set for the band’s return to the Barrowland Ballroom.

The venue has a place in their legacy as this was where Kirsty MacColl first sang Fairytale of New York with the band live. Spider Stacy told me about The Pogues relationship with the Glasgow crowd: “The first time we went to Glasgow we played the Queen Margaret’s Union. It would have been 1985. We were pretty apprehensive. Glasgow audiences had a reputation. We knew they would let you know what they think about you. If they didn’t like you, you were going to know about that. What we hadn’t actually really prepared for is what happens when Glasgow audiences do like you.

“Which is what happened, they liked us from the off and it was brilliant, a really good night. Then, that was almost lightweight compared to what happened the first time we played at The Barrowlands. It just set the tone, absolutely nailed it.

“It’s definitely the best venue I’ve ever played. The best audience. That was our spiritual home really. I think more so than Brixton Academy which kind of became our spiritual home the more times we played there. But the Barrowlands is a very, very special place for us.”

For their return, the band were reinforced by special guests for the first tour since they supported The Libertines at London’s Hyde Park in 2014. I was there that day and it did feel like the end. Shane’s absence is present in The Barrowlands but this seems like a natural progression. The songs form part of a long folk tradition, imbued with punk sensibilities but part of an unbroken chain of storytelling. The vocalists on the night, backed by a Glasgow chorus, bring the lyrics to life. They were meant for a live audience, songs written to be sung in places like this.

When Shane died, Bruce Springsteen said: “The passion and deep intensity of his music and lyrics is unmatched by all but the very best in the rock and roll canon. His music is timeless and eternal. I don’t know about the rest of us, but they’ll be singing Shane’s songs 100 years from now.” The people who grew up listening to Pogues records or who passed around bootleg cassette recordings of their gigs were here, alongside a younger crowd who still find something in the music.

Last night Spider delivered a snarling, insistent version of The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn as the crowd erupted. Lisa O’Neill brought added emotion to A Rainy Night in Soho and an intensity to Dirty Old Town. Nadine Shah revelled in performing A Pair of Brown Eyes. John Francis Flynn captured the haunting aspect of And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda. There were moments of unbridled joy as the band and crowd jigged their way through Wild Cats of Kilkenny and The Body of an American. The atmosphere was euphoric by the time the assembled musicians, complete with brass section, charged their way The Irish Rover, Streams of Whiskey and Sally MacLennane.

The Pogues will be back on Gallowgate on Sunday for a second gig in this short burst of UK dates, reaffirming a connection with Glasgow that is part of the band’s story, and celebrating the musical legacy of departed friends.