A fairytale of old folk-rockers

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Among the rambling boys of pleasure and ladies of easy leisure reliving their Eighties teenage years at Brixton last night was a smattering of hyperactive kids and good-time Irish roués from the Shane MacGowan school of dentistry, giving the folk rockers' seasonal get-together the air of a rowdy Tipperary wedding.

This winter stint, which restores the band's original line-up for the first time since 1987, coincides with the re-release of Fairytale of New York to mark the fifth anniversary of the tragic death of the song's guest vocalist Kirsty MacColl.

In Ella Finer, daughter of banjoist Jem, they had a spirited stand-in. No one so much as asked after Katie Melua, who duetted with MacGowan on Jonathan Ross last week, and was rumoured to appear.

Of course, it should go without saying that Fairytale of New York, a hopeless, hilarious, utterly charming piece of songwriting, is the greatest Christmas single ever recorded. It was naturally given pride of place in the encore, hollered by the crowd and ornamented with fake snow as MacGowan and Ms Finer tussled in a cockle-warming waltz - before MacGowan fell flat on his arse, dragging the poor girl with him.

It was a comical moment, though tinged with sadness. For the preceding hour, MacGowan frequently cut a sorry figure, arriving late, shambling on and off the stage and frequently consigning vocal duties to his hard-grafting band mates.

But as pathos-filled readings of Dirty Old Town and The Sunny Side of the Street proved, there's still roughshod poetry in the old boy yet. And by the time the rasping horns of set-closer Fiesta kicked in, there was nothing for it but to lose yourself in the boozy benevolence of the crowd.

The Pogues, Buzzcocks