"After the uproarious bash which was the 40th anniversary of our first record, Red Roses for Me, we wanted to do it again." The Pogues announce first UK headline tour in 13 years, celebrating 40 years of their classic album Rum Sodomy & the Lash

(Image credit: Kieran Frost/Redferns)

The Pogues are reuniting to undertake their first UK tour in 13 years, celebrating 40 years of their classic album Rum Sodomy & the Lash.

Spider Stacv, James Fearnley and and Jem Finer will be joined by special guests for the six-date tour, which begins in Leeds on May 1, and will visit Birmingham, London, Glasgow and Manchester before closing in Newcastle on May 8.

These will be the band's first dates since the death, on November 30 last year, of former frontman Shane MacGowan.

MacGowan was sacked from The Pogues in 1991, after which Spider Stacy fronted the band for two albums, 1993's Waiting For Herb, and 1996's Pogue Mahone. MacGowan subsequently rejoined the band in 2001, and the group toured annually from 2004 to 2009.

The Elvis Costello-produced Rum Sodomy & the Lash was released on August 5, 1985, and sold 100,000 copies in the UK, peaking at number 13 on the UK albums chart. It contained the singles A Pair Of Brown Eyes, Sally MacLennane and Dirty Old Town.

The Pogues Rum, Sodomy & The Lash tour 2025

May 01: Leeds O2 Academy
May 02: Birmingham O2 Academy
May 03: London O2 Academy Brixton
May 06: Glasgow Barrowland
May 07: Manchester O2 Apollo
May 08: Newcastle O2 City Hall

Tickets go on general sale at Friday 22 November at 9:30am. A ticket pre-sale will be available on Wednesday, November 20) for fans who sign up to a mailing list by 5pm today, November 19.

Spider Stacy will also be curating a 40th anniversary performance of The Pogues’ debut album Red Roses For Me at Dublin's 3Arena on December 17. Joining him onstage will be members of Fontaines D.C., Lankum, The Bad Seeds, Goat Girl and more.

Stacy curated a similar show in London at the Hackney Empire in May.

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A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.