The Pogues, in concert
Shane MacGowan has still got it.
I scored a front-row-center seat to the Pogues concert last night at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston. I was able to get a bunch of pictures that didn’t come out too horribly, considering I was using a P&S and no flash. They’re fairly grainy but I kinda like that in a concert shot. Unfortunately they did not allow professional-grade camera equipment inside; only small digitals with non-removable lenses. I had been looking forward to bringing my Nikon but I was worried they’d want to “hold on to it” for me and I don’t trust people to hold on very seriously to other people’s expensive things. So, these were shot with my little Casio EX-Z1050. And although I really love that camera and it’s super-small size, I really wish it had a viewfinder in addition to the window on the back. It’s hard to get a good shot in low light without having something (your nose and face) to steady the camera. When I went inside to the hall, the usher asked where my seat was and I told him “DD 105″ and he said, “You’ve got the best seat in the house,” and I was all “I know!!!” Thank you to Jessie for not using the ticket. I’m sorry you couldn’t go but I’m so glad I could.
This picture is just the first; there will be more up within a few days. I’m going to see if I can edit them a bit in Photoshop and make them look better.
I had a smashing time and can’t wait to see them again. The entire audience was focusing on them the whole time. Pogues fans are pretty damned happy during a show. I don’t know if it’s the music or the ambiance of being in the room with those guys. Most likely both. There were all ages there: I saw people old enough to be my parents and couples with small children wearing Irish green. Shane seemed to be doing okay. I hope he stays okay. I haven’t read any reviews yet but he didn’t seem drunk to me. Or not overwhelmingly so, anyway. He was drinking something but it could have been a dark-ish beer or it could have been a Coke. Before the show started, I had my IPA (yep, they let you take actual liquor into the theatre at the Orpheum) on the edge of the stage and one of the crew came up to me and asked me to not leave it there, since it might spill “and Shane might be tempted.” That made me totally crack up–I said, “Well we definitely don’t want that to happen!”–but it was sad too. He has so, so much talent and it’s been nearly completely fucked up by booze.
They did two? three? encores at the end and every time they left I kept yelling as loud as I could, “Shane, come back! Come back, Shane!” I hope he heard me somehow. I hope he doesn’t end up like the other Shane. We’ve got things for him to do …
I have a bunch more pictures to put up. Check back here or on Flickr.
Update: both The Boston Globe and The Boston Herald have posted their reviews. The Herald’s was in some ways a little more complimentary and I think more accurate. The Globe said “MacGowan was, inevitably, a mess, but his legendary insobriety hardly merits mentioning anymore.” I don’t think that’s entirely fair. He was not a mess. He was nowhere near a “mess” on the Shane MacGowan Scale of Messiness.
Boston Globe review (published on Boston.com).
Shane apparently went to J.J. Foley’s after the show and closed out the bar. God damn it! I was so tired I went straight home afterward. I should have just pinched myself and headed over there. Next year.
19 March set list–courtesy of Vagabond at pogues.com:
Streams of Whiskey
If I should fall from grace with God
Broad majestic Shannon
Turkish song of the damned
A pair of brown eyes
Dark streets of London
Tuesday Morning
Sayonara
Kitty
Sunny side of the street
Repeal of the licensing laws
Thousands are sailing
Body of an American
Boys from the county Hell
Love you till the end
Greenland whale fisheries
Dirty old town
Bottle of Smoke
Sickbed of Cuchulainn
FIRST ENCORE
Sally Maclennanne
Rainy Night in Soho
Irish Rover
SECOND ENCORE
Star of the county Down
Poor Paddy
Fiesta
***I really cannot get over how bloody fantastic that show was**
Shane McGowan Pogues concert March 19, 2008 Boston Orpheum Theatre theater meowhouse meow house theatre http://www.meowhouse.net