The Pogues Calling It Quits?

BY Alex HudsonPublished Sep 1, 2010

Folk punks the Pogues have had a rocky career, mostly thanks to frontman Shane MacGowan's drinking problems. Still, despite a rotating cast of members and a temporary breakup during the '90s, the group are still together almost 30 years after first forming. This December, following their Christmas tour, the Pogues may be planning to disband once again.

Jam! Showbiz reports that the band's performance at Brixton's O2 Academy in London on December 21 will be the group's last show. This is part of a seven show UK outing that is being billed as the "Farewell Christmas Tour."

Despite the "Farewell" tour label, founding member Spider Stacy wrote a post on the Pogues' official message board assuring fans that this wouldn't be the last show of the band's career.

He wrote, "This is the last Christmas tour for the foreseeable future. That's not to say we won't be showing up at festivals here and there or maybe even the odd gig around the UK and Ireland, and certainly in Europe. But we're tired of dragging our weary, freezing carcasses around these drowning islands every December, so we're going to give it a rest before you get tired of it too."

In other words, this may not be the Pogues final show, but it might be your last chance to hear the Pogues play "Fairytale of New York" the week before Christmas. There's still no official comment from the band or their management.

UPDATE: Stacy has now followed up with the following message: "Hey newsroom boy don't get yer kecks in a twist, take a deep breath and flick back a couple of pages and read slowly..Does it say we're splitting up? No it doesn't. And sorry to disappoint but there's absolutely no internal arguments going on, spirits are high in the Pogues camp. … I'm used to shoddy journalism,it flows right over me, I do enough interviews with people who may or may not have run an eye over our shit wikipedia entry but know that Shane likes a drink. Yawn."

Tour dates:

12/13 Glasgow, UK - O2 Academy
12/14 Newcastle, UK - O2 Academy
12/16 Sheffield, UK - O2 Academy
12/17 Manchester, UK - Apollo
12/18 Birmingham, UK - O2 Academy
12/20 London, UK - O2 Academy Brixton
12/21 London, UK - O2 Academy Brixton

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