Pogues and Poguettes
I’m sure Ezra will write a more thorough and informed review of tonight’s Pogues show, as of the two of us he is the bigger fan, but I enjoy them, too, so here’s my quick rundown. The somewhat older crowd was a pleasant sight after all the relatively kiddie crowds we’ve seen at other shows (I’m thinking mostly of when we saw Belle and Sebastian at the Orpheum and the all ages Of Monteal show last week). We didn’t really go in for the opening bands too much, but instead opted to have a few drinks and gaze at the merch. Well, we did more than gaze–two semi-punk-rockish t-shirts came home with us. They’ve got to get the most out of the 12 (or however many) shows they’re playing. The merch was pretty good, as far as these things go.
After hearing over and over that Shane is notorious for missing gigs, I was quite pleased to see him lumber onstage. He is a funny looking guy, that’s for sure, but a sight for sore eyes, I guess you’d say. We couldn’t actually see the details of his face from where we were, which may have been a blessing. On top of his accent, his speech was pretty mumbly-slurred, so it was rough to follow what he was saying much of the time, but I think he did a fine job singing most of the songs. Some even sounded particularly good. I’m not as great with the titles as Ez is, but I recall that they played “If I Should Fall From Grace with God,” “Turkish Song of the Damned,” “Thousands Are Sailing” (which I loved), “Bottle of Smoke” (which I also loved), “The Sickbed of Cuchulainn” (a favorite), “Dirty Old Town,” “Sally Maclennane,” “The Sunny Side of the Street,” “Sayonara,” “Rain Street,” “Fiesta,” and “Fairy Tale of New York.” I’m sure that’s not everything.
I think the most amusing moments came at the end when they played “Fiesta.” Spider repeatedly whacked himself square in the face with some sort of aluminum pan (sort of like an old cartoon character repeatedly whacking himself with a frying pan), and after dribbling a bit of it on the stage, Shane balanced a bottle of whiskey (I assume it was whiskey) on his head for a good long bit–probably a full 15 or 20 seconds.
While I’m sure it was incomparably great to see them fifteen or twenty years ago, I feel that the space in my life for live Pogues has been well filled. If by some chance I ever get to see them again, that would be yummy gravy indeed. If not, this show was the stuff.
