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The Pogues @ M.E.N. Arena



in a fairly shambolic performance, there were moments of brilliance. The main event - given the time of the season - was Fairytale Of New York, the ubiquitous Christmas song that reached number three on re-release last year.

If some people in the crowd went solely to hear it, they had a long wait - it appeared with a blizzard of fake snow in the second and final encore.

But it was worth it, Ella Finer (daughter of Pogues guitarist/banjo player Jeremy Finer) filling in the Kirsty MacColl part with aplomb.