The 40th anniversary show for the Pogues’ debut album, Red Roses For Me kicks off with the record’s opening track, which was for many fans, the song that first unsealed the wild, anarchic and fantastic world of The Pogues. In a previous Hot Press piece, I wrote - “‘Transmetropolitan’ takes you by the hand like Virgil and shows you another London. One that lies beneath Kings Cross, Brixton, Hammersmith, Camden, Whitehall, Soho, Tottenham Court Road, Mill Lane and Pentonville. Spider Stacey’s whistle, Jem Finer’s banjo and James Fearnley’s accordion and the one-two, one-two of Andrew Ranken’s bass drum and snare make you need to dance.”

The Pogues at 3Arena. Photo Credit: Jason Doherty

Tonight, by its first couplet, the crowd are hoofing it about the place – the proof, as they say, is in the pudding. You miss the mighty Shane MacGowan tonight, beyond doubt. But Stacy, Finer and Fearnley head a meaty posse of musicians strung out in an impressive line that includes honorary Pogue James Walbourne, piper Fiachra Meek, banjo man Jordan O’Leary, bassist Holly Mullineaux and George Vjestica who performed here alongside old-MacGowan pal Nick Cave less than a month ago. Another row of bolster – the twin drum cannon of Fontaines’ Tom Coll and another Bad Seed Jim Sclavunos combine with a three-piece brass section to reinforce the front line.

Add to that a succession of eclectic guests stepping into the MacGowan frontman role with varying degrees of anarchy and poetic majesty. Lankum’s Ian Lynch tackles the careening ‘Greenland Whale Fisheries’, Kojaque leads an octet of vocalists on a raucous ‘Boys From the County Hell’, while Iona Zajac booms out ‘Poor Paddy’. Stick in the Wheels’ Nicola Keary absolutely nails ‘Dark Streets of London’, utterly capturing the debut Pogues' single; while its transcendent performance is more than matched by Nadine Shah’s marvellous rendition of ‘The Auld Triangle’ which wonderfully descends into a Velvet Underground style wig out, Jem hunched over his medieval hurdy-gurdy, drives the track stratospheric.

The Pogues at 3Arena. Photo Credit: Jason Doherty

Forty minutes in, the band have raced through ten songs and the jib is up. Junior Brother struts in from the Kingdom of Kerry, clutching a bodhran and bangs out a fine ‘Sea Shanty’, before a pair of Mary Wallopers wallop out ‘Waxie’s Dargle’. Darragh Lynch duets with Spider on the wild ‘Down in the Ground Where the Dead Men Go’, Grian Chatten heaves into ‘Streams of Whiskey’ and they wrap on ‘The Irish Rover’. It’s been quite the whirlwind.

The Pogues at 3Arena. Photo Credit: Jason Doherty

Before the encore, Shane’s soul mate, Victoria Mary Clarke, clutching a single black rose, bravely steps out on stage and delivers a powerful tribute to the great man, poignantly requesting us to remember him on Christmas Day, his birthday, which we will. Thereafter, the band hurdle back on with Charles Hendy and Radie Peat for ‘Fairytale of New York’ before the whole kit and caboodle wedge the stage for ‘Dirty Old Town’ and another reprise of ‘Streams of Whiskey’. Interviewing Spider in anticipation of this show, he said, “We just want to go out there do the songs proud, do Shane proud – and give everybody a good night and a great start to Christmas.” Mission accomplished.

The Pogues at 3Arena. Photo Credit: Jason Doherty