Shane MacGowan's Popes - Across the Broad Atlantic

Eagle - 2002 - 75 minutes

Due to the foot-and-mouth crisis last year, Shane MacGowan and band had the what-are-the-odds pleasure of celebrating St Patrick's Day on both sides of the pond.

The rich memories of those two shows in New York in March and Dublin in May are gathered together here, and while many may wonder why MacGowan has left it so long to release a live album, once again he wrongfoots the doubters and comes out grinning.

With a set split between Pogues and Popes favourites, the songs sound both regal and ramshackle, with great versions of 'If I Should Fall...', 'A Pair of Brown Eyes' and 'Poor Paddy Works on the Railway' among them. And unlike the cleaned-up sound of most live records, you can feel the sweat and adulation dripping off the amps on this lock in.

The voice may have had better nights, but the singer and his songs seem set for some distance to come.

Harry Guerin

Tracklisting: If I Should Fall from Grace with God - Rock & Roll Paddy - Nancy Whiskey - A Rainy Night in Soho - Poor Paddy Works on the Railway - The Broad Majestic Shannon - Pop's Instrumental - Dirty Old Town - Mother Mo Chroi - Body of an American - Granuaille - More Pricks Than Kicks - Aisling - A Pair of Brown Eyes - Streams of Whiskey - Lonesome Highway - Angel of Death - Sick Bed of Cuchulainn - The Irish Rover - Fairytale of New York