The future members of the Pogues first met when MacGowan (vocals), Peter “Spider” Stacy (tin whistle), and Jem Finer (banjo) were together in an occasional band called The Millwall Chainsaws in the late 1970s after MacGowan and Stacy met in the toilets at a Ramones gig at The Roundhouse in London in 1977.[6] MacGowan was already with The Nips, though when they broke up in 1980 he concentrated more on Stacy’s Millwall Chainsaws, who changed their name to The New Republicans.[citation needed]. Shane and Stacy performed their first gig as The New Republicans at Richard Strange’s Cabaret Futura in London’s Rupert Street Soho in the early months of 1981. Also on the bill that night were Soft Cell.