Shane joins The Pogues for one last gig

A piece of London Irish history has been played out with the culmination of Shane MacGowan's reunion tour with The Pogues.

MacGowan's old band, with whom he wrote and performed most of his best-known work in the Eighties, welcomed their former frontman back for the last time at the Brixton Academy last night - 10 years after he was forced out of the group, reportedly because his famously unquenchable thirst had made him impossible to manage.

MacGowan lived up to his reputation, appearing without fanfare on the stage clutching a cigarette and a glass of something undoubtedly alcoholic.

He delighted his audience with classic Pogues numbers, from Dirty Old Town to Sally MacLennane. The voice was unmistakable. He smoked and swigged his way through the show, sat down whenever he wasn't needed at the microphone, and even wandered off stage every third song, presumably to top up his glass.

But the band saved the best until last. The Fairytale of New York, which MacGowan originally sang with Kirsty MacColl, was the Pogues most successful single. Last night's rendition was made particularly moving after MacColl's death in a boating accident a year ago this month.

MacGowan even put his cigarette out to sing it.