SHANE MACGOWAN & THE POPES

A transcendent singer/songwriter and two-fisted gutter poet whose notorious drunken behavior, rotten teeth and drug-fueled excesses often threatened to eclipse his reputation as a performer, Shane MacGowan was born on Christmas Day, 1957.  When he was six, the family moved to London, where Shane was  expelled  from school at the age of 14 for possession of drugs.

In 1976, after  attended his first Sex Pistols   concert, he formed his own band, The Nipple Erectors  releasing their 1978 debut single "King of the Bop".

The Nips, as they became known,  disbanded in late 1980 and MacGowan occasionally filled in with his friend Spider Stacey's  band the Millwall Chainsaws.

When the Millwall Chainsaws  split, MacGowan and Stacy formed The Pogues.  Hot-wiring traditional Irish music with the energy and passion of punk, The Pogues  quickly developed into one of the most respected and colourful bands of their era, scoring a number of U.K. hits including "A Pair of Brown Eyes" and "Fairytale of New York" and recording some superb LP's .

However, as stories of MacGowan's voracious appetite for alcohol and drugs swelled to mythic proportions, he left the band.  In 1994, however, he silenced critics by pulling himself together to form a new band,The Popes.   After making a fitting St. Patrick's Day debut performance at a London pub, the group entered the studio to begin recording their first LP, dubbed "The Snake", this was later followed by "A Crock Of Gold".  Macgowan also had a minor hit with "Haunted," a gorgeous duet with Sinead O'Connor.  The latest album is "Shane Macgowan and the Popes Live", which documents two St. Patricks Day gigs.

However, you can experience a unique St Patrick's extravaganza at South Parade Pier when Shane Macgowan & The Popes play a Saturday night gig, two days after St. Patrick's Day. To quote one of Shane's immortal lines - "lend me £10 and I'll buy you a drink"!