From a lot of points of view the surprising thing is not that he died now it's that he lasted this long. I remember seeing the Pogues back in the 90s in the Joe Strummer period and they were awesome but it was "common knowledge" back then that Shane was extremely ill and not long for the world.
Saw the Pogues play about 10 years. Shane was offstage most of the time and was brought on to stage in a wheelchair for a couple of songs to just sort of sit there and wave. It was sad and I thought he had days to live at the time.
I saw the Pogues in Brixton too, and I couldn't believe Shane could stand - I think I remember that when he was dancing during the break or outro of Fairytale, he DID fall down! He looked like a pickled piece of fish in a glass jar. He made noise, but it wasn't singing.
I saw the 1991 Xmas gig at Brixton Academy with Joe. They played a few Clash songs (London Calling, I Fought The Law, Brand New Cadillac, IIRC). I'm sad to say ... I did not see Shane.
(if they) ...stick (him) in a box ... and shove (him) in the ground ... (I'm sure he'll) stick (his) head back out and shout "we'll have another round"
