SPEECHLESS: THE POGUES’ INTENSE CELEBRATION OF RUM, SODOMY AND THE LASH IN LEEDS

LIVE REVIEW | THE POGUES w/ Stick In The Wheel | LEEDS O2 ACADEMY 1st May 2025 by Isobel O’Mahony

When a live performance blows you away to an incredible extent, sitting down to write the review feels like forcing yourself to write War and Peace (a slight oversight as a statement, but I hope the point comes across). You have to write something significant, that encapsulates the moments of greatness passed, which feels impossible today. The Pogues Rum, Sodomy and the Lash record is sewn into both punk and Irish folk history, but nothing comes close to hearing the songs live. Within seconds of Spider Stacy, Jem Finer, James Fearnley and their amazing accompanying band taking the stage, cups were thrown in abandon, covering everyone in lager and Guinness and people were going crazier than you thought they ever would for a tin whistle.

Before the band erupted Leeds’ O2 Academy, transcendent support Stick in the Wheel warmed up the crowd. Their eccentric sound at times was almost like if Blur’s Parklife was being played by (very talented) pirates. Spoken-word sea shanties were often interrupted by vibrant punk guitar, all making for an interesting and brilliantly fitting act for The Pogues to follow.

Usually when I talk about The Pogues, it’s in a pub and I’m focussing on the sheer poetry of late frontman Shane MacGowan and hid under legendary sound, Springsteen calling him one of his favourite songwriters and his music “timeless and eternal”. However, lovingly despite brilliant writing, Thursday night was about intense, beautiful musicality and never forgetting a legacy.

Every track from the original record was intensely celebrated for its 40-year anniversary, the band swapping out vocalists every now and then, each as brilliant as the last. You’ll never recreate or replace the Shane MacGowan’s place in the band, and why would you want to, but each performer brought their own twist to the tune whilst still keeping within the brilliance of each track. Nadine Shah was one of the highlights, ‘roving and a roving’ with the crowd during ‘Pair of Brown Eyes‘ and joining Iona Zajac and Lisa O’Neill as part of the apparent “Pouguettes” in an unforgettable rendition of ‘London Girl’.

‘Rainy Nights in Soho’ was a highlight for all, sung by O’Neill, as one of the most beautifully penned songs ever (in my opinion), but faster tracks ‘The Body of an American’ and ‘Poor Paddy’ created pure chaos that was a clear delight to the band and most of all, Spider Stacy. The clear joy at performing and the reaction from the crowds was evident and he joined the rest of us in wishing that it never did (to be fair, they did do about 3 encores). He told us “I missed you” from the stage, but he and the band more than made up for being gone for the last decade.

Amongst wholesome moments like the original members (Stacy, Finer and Fearnley) sharing a hug and a stunning performance of ‘The Ballad of Waltzing Matilda’ sung by the very talented and very tall John Francis Flynn, were some less wholesome mosh pits, aggressive Irish jigs and spectacularly drunken cheers. As the opening night of the tour, The Pogues have done their legacy proud and I imagine they’ll do their best (and probably succeed) to top each performance the next night. Once being described as “the greatest disaster ever to hit Irish music”, I imagine they’ll continue to cause disasters in each venue and truly (folk) rock the house. Long live The Pogues, and long live the penny whistle.