Over on the Pogues‘ MySpace blog, founding member Spider Stacy tells the rather unfunny story of losing Shane MacGowan before Voodoo Fest in New Orleans earlier this month.
well, I was right about the voodoo festival. sometimes people can push you a little too far and sometimes shane can be a complete fucking idiot. comes with the territory. as does disappearing for 24 hours in a city not best known for its low crime rate. big, big thank you to spiro from seattle who actually found him slumped in the lobby of the sheraton, which isn’t where we’re staying, and used one of his own tickets to get him into the gig. Some people who witnessed the ensuing flodden of a performance might feel he would have been better advised to just leave him there but nawlins is not the best place to be wandering around if you look like a target. And I’d like to thank the crowd and apologise for my bad humour – macgowan ripping my sunglasses off my face after we’d all been worrying that he’d been fucking murdered was too much. 3-0
The audience, not surprisingly, noticed things were not right…
The situation is made even sadder by the fact that in his previous post, Stacy was defending MacGowan against naysayers: “or is shane not allowed to get sick like other people? is it that he is only allowed to be off his face?” He concludes ominously—and presciently: “still, it could all go completely wrong at the voodoo festival.”
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Video: The Pogues, VooDoo Fest 2009
LIFE magazine was there:
Thw wearin’ the wearin’ the wearin’ o’ the green. I’m off to old Kilarney to bonk me sis Colleen.
“nawlins is not the best place to be wandering around if you look like a target”
I wish he could further explain what his definition of a target is.
How many times has MacGowan been booted from the Pogue. I always used to wonder what insane behavoir would be required to get kicked out of The Pogues?
I remember watching MacGowan on a TV appearance with The Popes (maybe 10 years ago). He was too drunk to hit is ques and keep up with the song. One of the guys in the band was singing “back-up” for literally the entire song…word for word.
The Pogues are still fucking brilliant, though.
Me Momma gave me money to buy a new suit of green. But I spent it all on whiskey and boned me sis Colleen. When I got to mass on sunday Father Patrick grabbed me by the throat. He said ya lousy hobo ya ain’t got no sleeves on your suit coat.