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"Got Pissed In Letterkenny with darling Sporting Jenny
Spent My Very Last Penny And We Made In The Press" - 'The Donegal Express'
On Tuesday 23rd of December 2003, Shane MacGowan and his band, The Popes, hit The Grill in Letterkenny, Co Donegal. The enigmatic MacGowan was wrapping up a fortnight tour of Ireland. For this tour MacGowan has performed in Limerick, Kildare, Monaghan, Toombridge, the Olympia Theatre, Dublin and Donegal.
A good crowd is always expected when Shane MacGowan is in town. Especially this particular time of year as people are keen to see the man who, 17 years ago, was waltzing around a BBC studio on Top Of The Pops with Kirsty McColl as the Pogues left there mark on the British charts. The Pogues' most famous song was criminally denied a Christmas number 1 by The Pet Shop Boys, who had their karaoke version of 'Always On My Mind' out at the time. MacGowan has not lost too much sleep over this - that is, if the man sleeps at all - as 'Fairytale Of New York' has become an all time classic and brought Shane and The Pogues international acclaim.
These days the Tipperary based singer\songwriter is still performing all the best numbers from The Pogues catalogue. The Popes have been his band now for the past ten years. The band has seen many members come and go. Tom McManaman and Paul McGuinness are the only original members remaining. The band has recently recruited a young mandolin player in the form of Brian Kelly. Kelly is London-Irish, with ancestral roots in Mayo. He has been playing music most of his life...'I started playing the banjo at nine and the Mandolin at ten….the past week has been great, the Olympia was great, I have played in The Point and Celtic Park and places like that to a 'teeny-bop' crowd……but the Olympia was a proper crowd……I know Tommy the banjo man for years, so he has sort of recruited me in a way……..he has been a big influence.' So what had McManaman the banjo man to say on the new boy…. 'Brian is one of the finest banjo players in Ireland…..he is an all Ireland champion…….he's fucking better than me, I am just a worn out old drunk me....'
So, what of the man himself? MacGowan, despite his apparent 'fall from grace', still has a strong fan base in Ireland, and indeed throughout Europe and the rest of the world. So it was no surprise that The Grill got a great crowd for the gig. The crowd were well warmed up by the time MacGowan arrived for the gig. 'The Raparees' (from Randalstown), were the support group for the night. This young traditional band sound great and they do justice to some of the old classic Dubliners songs. In fact, MacGowan himself enjoyed this band so much that he wouldn't go on until they done another number.
The long and anticipated appearance of 'The Mighty Mac' eventually took place at nearly 1:00am. For a man that, if you hold faith in tabloid preaching's, has been defying death for the past 20 years, he is still well capable of delivering one of the liveliest and rocking performances you will find. Subsequent to seeing two performances during this tour it should be said that Shane MacGowan seems in better shape nowadays than he did during those traumatic years in the early Nineties. Regardless of a limp, the famous 'hissy' laugh and those 'teeth', the man seems to be in fine form.
Frustratingly however, the set list has barley changed in the past ten years, with exception to the odd traditional song being added. Although the material is from an era long gone, the quality and magic of this man's lyrics has stood the test of time. All the favourites were covered at the gig including 'A Pair of Brown Eyes', 'The Broad Majestic Shannon', 'A Rainy Night in Soho', 'Streams Of Whiskey', 'Dirty Old Town', 'The Irish Rover' and a frenzied version of 'South Australia'. Needless to say, 'Fairytale Of New York' was done - although the version was somewhat unorthodox as it featured two females singing, both girls coming from the crowd. Predictably, the crowd went crazy when MacGowan growled 'It was Christmas Eve Babe'.
If you want to see why this man is so highly regarded then the advice is simple: Do one or all of the following - 1) Buy the 'If I Should Fall From Grace' DVD, 2) Get your hands on the recently released 'Best Of The Pogues' album or 3) Go and see Shane and The Popes when they next hit your town.
The following section is the transcript of an interview I did with Shane shortly after this gig:
Saturday 28th December 2003
MR: So Shane you have been on tour for the past two weeks, gigging across Ireland, how did the tour go for you ?
SMacG: 'Yeah……went okay…..I am very tired……..'
MR: How do these tours affect you nowadays, how do you feel ?
SMacG: 'Knackered !'
MR: Tell me about The Popes, you have been with them now as long as you were with The Pogues.
SMacG: 'Well I started putting the Popes together before I left the Pogues, yeah? I mean I was planning on leaving anyway……Paul and Tommy are the only ones left…there is Brian Kelly who plays the banjo, the mandolin, basically anything with strings……'
MR: You recently appeared on the Eamon Dunphy show with another group called the Hell Fire Club, what is the story with this?
SMacG: 'That's me and Terry Woods, Ronnie Drew and Eamon Campbell and whoever else happens to be about at the time……yeah?.....that's the basic line-up'
MR: So was this a one off gig or can we expect to see more of this group?
SMacG: 'Ah, yeah…..well there'll be gigs coming up - yeah ?'.
MR: Your DVD was released this year and it documents your life….did you prefer this documentary to the BBC's 'The Great Hunger'?
SMacG: 'Well 'The great Hunger' is crap; it is a load of old po-faced BBC pathological rubbish…..yeah?'
MR: What about movies, have you seen your old friend Johnny Depp in the 'Pirates Of The Caribbean'?
SMacG: 'He has always been my friend yeah?...still is…It was okay, but I preferred 'From Hell'… you know'
MR: You have collaborated with some great artists throughout your career, Joe Strummer, Kirsty McColl………
SMacG: 'Yeah and they're all dead….I must have the kiss of death........./laughs/.'
MR: If you had the chance to collaborate with anyone nowadays who would it be?
SMacG: 'Anyone? ……it would have to be…it would probably have to be……….Pete Waterman, Stock-Aitken-Waterman…….there's a good chance they'd die……/laughs/'……I've been doing loose collaborations………yeah…….in fact I'm thinking of giving the whole thing up…….'
MR: What, music?
SMacG: '…….well I get very tired……and just want to get away from it sometimes…….'
MR: You were reared in rural Ireland then spent the second half of your youth in London….which had the bigger influence on your songs - the rural aspects or the urban aspects………?
SMacG: 'ah….everything…….people…….the biggest influences for my songs is from probably hanging around bars and the people I meet…….you know what I mean, characters'
MR: 'So tell me about 'Sally McLennanne' who was this?
SMacG: '…its about a pub my uncle used to run in Dagenham, yeah?..........I used to stay in it when I was a kid…….they would have one pub for the English and one pub for the Blacks and Irish mainly……..it was a rowdy kind of place…you know…….but Sally McLennane is the spirit of the pub……right!'
MR: You have written a lot of songs about London, can you tell me about the song you wrote about Ireland and the Famine, the one you gave to Ronnie Drew?
SMacG: '…….well they are gone now, the dunes, they got blown in a storm a few years back…….when I wrote the song they were still there though…..they are in Mayo…..right in the bleakest part……they didn't have any earth, they had rocks and sand, where they had to bury the dead in the famine…..yeah?......I had a friend up there and …..ah… me and some other friends went up there visiting and stuff, you know?, years ago, when I was about 14 or so yeah? …….and we went to the dunes right?.....well there are plenty of family graves around here (Tipperary) and everywhere in Ireland yeah?.........but it was particularly horrific……we were all a bit pissed and stoned and 'codding' about a bit……..we got up on the dunes and these bones fell out - which I've seen before too, right?...........then we started to get that feeling of panic……sort of voice inside saying "go away - fuck off !"……and we fucking ran like hell…….well we froze first and then ran like hell……..I mean it was probably more scary for the people that were under the dunes……./laughs/……it was one of those things that stunned us. It was one of the grimmest places I've been….and the bleakest feelings I've had yeah? ….I used to think about it a lot…….you know what I mean? And I ended up writing a song about a guy who comes back…who survived the famine....and sees the bailiff and the landlord…..and goes drinking in Westport yeah! /laughs/'
MR: You never recorded this song……but Ronnie Drew has…?
SMacG: 'Yeah, he recorded it three times now....... '
MR: Another song that you wrote about your home and Ireland was 'The Broad Majestic Shannon'……..tell me what inspired that…..?
SMacG: '….the widest part of the Shannon is just down the road from where I live……right….yeah?.......and all the places in the song are local places…….Shinrone…...yeah'
MR: Okay, what about 'The Sick Bed Of Chuchulann'…….tell me about this song…..what inspired it…….?
SMacG: '……it's about Frank Ryan…..who was the leader of an Irish contingent in the Spanish civil war…..yeah…….do you know the lyrics?.....well it is about an old 'dosser' dying right?........you always get old dodgers dying on the street………but the people don't think that they lived through a whole century and was at war and all…….so like….well the first verse is self explanatory……then he gets on the death train…..he's in Germany……in Cologne……the second verse is more real life……me and my Dad were drinking in the Euston Tavern and a small wiry Irish guy walks in…..yeah……you know the kind……a really pissed up Irish guy….really small, you know what I mean, small but well built……black greasy hair…..right!…..very determined, very angry and very drunk……they wouldn't serve him……he was actually offering to buy the bar a round of drink………..yeah……then he jumped over into the bar and started smashing up all the bottles…………it took four big fat English bastards to drag him outside and kick him senseless……..we could hear the thumps from inside……….and then they came back in and sort of clapping their hands you know "a job well done" and then he comes banging through the door again and kicks the hell out of them…'.
MR: You have written songs like the 'Birmingham Six' and maybe even 'Paddy Public Enemy Number 1'. Would you class yourself as a political artist?
SMacG: '…..ah…no…..I write about life…yeah?, the things that are going on in life around me at the time…..like the traditional style of writing…….and politics is a big part of life in Ireland….yeah….'
MR: We know you like Patrick Kavanagh and especially 'Raglan Road. Tell me what other Kavanagh stuff you like and what about 'If ever you come to Dublin Town'?
SMacG: 'Can you not work it out?...........well he is predicting what they are going to be saying about him when he's dead…….in years…..yeah………and he was right about everything………they did call him an old pervert cause he used to hang around schools, yeah?.....they did call him an old "culchie"……he was taking the piss out of them…yeah?.......have you ever read Tarry Flynn? I think that's the best…..I don't like the great hunger much…….it's really depressing, right !.........Tarry Flynn is really funny…..it is a story based on himself, right……you know….stuck on the farm up in Monaghan……his mother thinking he's around the fucking twist writing poetry…..its about all the goings on yeah…..all the land deals they are trying to sort out……and worrying about getting the daughters married off yeah?…….it's a real savage piss-take, of not so much country people but of………it shows exactly what happened….how life was then……you should read it……'
MR: What about the other poet, Seamus Heaney. He is similar to Kavanagh. Do you like him?
SMacG: 'Yes…I do like Seamus Heaney……I like the way he never apologies for anything he has written…..Seamus Heaney does take the piss out of various things too…..but he never knocks Ireland……'
MR: You are just forty-six passed there, you have been in the music business for 30 years now……
SMacG: 'well I have been singing all my life…but I have been in bands since I was 16 or 17…….and I have been a professional musician since I was 25, in other words that's when I give up my day job…..that's when The Pogues got loads of money…..with publishing and all…..with the first album…..right yeah?'
MR: Fairytale of New York is playing everywhere you go this time of year. Do you ever get sick listening to it?
SMacG: 'For some reason I never get sick of that one……I get pissed of having to sing it all the time……yeah……but that's alright because most people seem to know it and it's good to hear them singing it…..'
MR: Does it ever annoy you that the general public just know you for 'Fairytale Of New York' ?
SMacG: 'No….like I'm bloody lucky they know me at all…you know what I mean…..'
MR: What is your take on the current music scene nowadays?
SMacG: 'I don't think you need to ask me that one…I mean all fucking popular music is in a lull……every where…….'
MR: Not too many bands seem to play Irish music anyway?
SMacG: 'Well I am still playing it…./laughs/'
MR: So what about 2004…..what does that hold for Shane MacGowan?
SMacG: '…….i have ideas for a lot of things…….I am in no rush….I mean I am in no hurry to put out an album……Id like to get back to touring in Europe…..I like Germany…..'
MR: What about America….will you tour there again…..?
SMacG: '…..ah….no I'm fucking sick of America…..well maybe a gig in New York……'
MR: Okay Shane, thanks for your time and information to FOS
SMacG: 'Cheers…..'