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Underground > Radio & Music >

Pogues in Concert

15:06 / 15.03.07

Has anyone seen this year's Pogues tour?

I read a New York Times peice on this year's concerts, and they sound promising. Can anyone confirm or rebut this?

15:14 / 15.03.07

A friend of mine saw them at The Academy in Brixton, London just before Christmas and said they were pretty disappointing. But apparently there was some trouble with the mixing desk (an overexcited punter had caused beer to be spilt in it) so they came on way late and by far (even for them) the worse for drink.

So that may have been a one off.

16:01 / 15.03.07

ive seen em twice. Just before christmas just gone, and a couple years back (both times at Brixton academy). Strange gigs, as in a perfect world, i would be seeing them in a small venue, in north london somwhere in the 80s, but then its also not often you get to see your all-time heroes play live, and whilst its not a 'come back' in any sense, they know its a bit of fun and there's no 'new material' or other other nasty surprises like that. Another aspect of it, that marks them out from a lot of other re-unions is that it IS all the original band (if we take it as the '..Grace With God' line up as original), so there's no pony-tailed session musicians lurking in the shadows or replacement members. Indeed, the first time i saw them, they had even managed to coax Cait O'Riordan out from wherever she was to do vocals on 'Fairytale..' and 'Man You Dont Meet Everyday'.
Of course hanging over this is the ever present issue of Shane: Do you shake your head and mutter "such a shame" "wasted talent" as lots of people i know do, or do you celebrate the fact that he is still with us, and has had more years of success as a writer and musician than most could ever hope for, and lets be frank, he was always mumbling, swaying and drinking: he's just older now. Its telling that (invevitably around christmas) there were a lot of interviews with him and he even had a 'yule blog' on the Guardian website, where he came across as intelligent and lucid as he ever was (i.e. very much so). Anyway, as far as the shows are concerned, they were great. Im sure they were coloured by my own personal Pogues-tinted glasses, and there were too many oafish blokes throwing Guinness around near the front, but they were tight(but not too tight!) Shane was standing up and remembered all his lyrics, there was great atmosphere and everyone was having tons of fun, which is what its about, right?
The only other time i had that much fun watching a band having a reunuion was the Misfits with Jerry Only on bass, Marky Ramone on drums and Dez Cadena on guitar. And they did Misfits, Ramones AND Black Flag stuff! woo!

16:13 / 15.03.07

If I had the opportunity (and I'm blaming my 3-year old and 3-month old sons for robbing me of that opportunity-- little bastards) to see them, I would leap at it. But I would be wary.

The NYT article I posted above said that the band-- Shane included-- sounded good. But every live set I've heard of Shane (thanks for YouTube and Kaaza) from the last few years have left me in the "what a shame" camp. I know age takes a toll, but there can be no denying the toll alcohol, smack, and Shane-knows what else has taken on Mr. MacGowan. And, Jesus, the Shane MacGowan documentary that came outa few Christmases ago left me feeling really sad.

Tell you what: Once I get my time machine up and running, I'll take anyone interested to Club 100 to see the Pogues play live and in their prime.

19:44 / 15.03.07

I saw them in 2002 in London and it was a great show. Shane doesn't move much, but they're still great live. Maybe it's different in person than watching a video...

...I have tickets to see them this St.Patrick's Day in New York. I'll let you know how they are!

23:39 / 28.03.07

The New York show was really great. Shane was in a wheelchair, which was a bit odd and sad (he broke his ankle a few days before), and the crowd was a bit violent, but the music was as good as 2002... Shane may be a bit gone, but the rest of the band is still a great band of talented guys, and non-Shane songs like Tuesday Morning and Repeal of the Licensing Laws were fantastic....

The Timaximus, The!

00:05 / 01.04.07

I wrote the following shortly after seeing them last year. The shows weren't disasterous, i.e., they started on time, Shane was standing up under his own power (Powers?), he was mumbling in time and in tune with the music, &c. If I'd been unable to go, I would have regretted it very much, however. I was surprised by how mellow the crowds were. I mean, WTF?

The Pogues 1: (Anaheim) Orange County show, not even sold out (despite a smaller, all general admission venue than the three sold-out Los Angeles shows), many tickets given away on the radio (i.e. the crowd was SUPER-LAME). It's not saying much, but Shane looked better than he did in the movie. The Shanemasters must have him on a pretty tight leash for this tour. Chevron did Thousands are Sailing much better than Shane would have. Fearnly is supercool, but in a different way than Spider.
The Pogues 2: (Los Angeles) Better crowd (still barely rowdy at all), even though I was up in the rafters (I hate the Wiltern). Same set as before (and probably every night). Jem's daughter did the Kirsty part, looking totally grossed out when Shane danced with her, but went along with it anyway. I hate to say it, but The Pogues have been my only "checklist show" that's really felt like just a checklist show. I guess I've been lucky.