The Pogues @ Ogden Theatre, Friday, 10/23/09 – Reverb
October 25, 2009After firing [Shane MacGowan] in 1991 because of his troubles, the band steadily declined into breakup by 1996, depriving millions of fans of their singular Irish folk punk, seemingly forever.
Fourteen years later, that move has proven almost clairvoyant, and the full eight-member band proved as much at the Ogden Theatre on Friday night with a resplendent performance of more than 25 songs that more than wiped the slate clean.
MacGowan, with a full set of new teeth, looked paunchy – even hefty (so different from the skinny, near-toothless punk we’ve all come to know and love over the years) – and seemed much more worn than his 53 years.