The Pogues: Red Roses for Me

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Andy Webster wrote in the New York Times: "'He knew he was totally mediocre, he was a measly old poet, Wordsworth, and never made it at anything like Coleridge,' Shane MacGowan said, adding, 'He had really bad teeth.' Mr. MacGowan, the principal singer of the Celtic rock band the Pogues … has sympathy for Wordsworth’s friend Coleridge. … The Pogues are in the United States for their annual St. Patrick’s tour, hitting cities where their fan base and Irish enclaves are strong. … Hours later the Pogues were onstage at the Avalon, playing to a sold-out house. Fans were carried aloft over the mosh pit, as the eight-man band pounded out frenzied jigs and reels with a controlled fury. Workouts like 'Fiesta' and 'Sally MacLennane' prompted stomping and fist pumping; 'Dirty Old Town,' a tune by the folk singer Ewan MacColl … became a deafening singalong. … The group, whose first album, 'Red Roses for Me,' appeared in 1984, is five years into a comeback after a 10-year separation during which Mr. MacGowan sang with another group, the Popes, and the other band members put out middling albums as the Pogues."