Influential Irish band other than U2
Last Sunday I was at House of Blues Anaheim to catch The Pogues for the first time ever (I missed their 2006 reunion tour here). I had many questions beforehand. Would erratic frontman Shane MacGowan fall down in a drunken stupor? Forget the words? (the answers: No and couldn't tell).
Taking the stage at 11:10, the eight piece band opened its 95-minute set with "Streams of Whiskey." The mush mouthed MacGowan emerged smoking like a fiend and didn't look too healthy. He let out with an evil cackle before a brisk "If I Should Fall From Grace With God."
"Turkish Song of the Damned" was endearingly sloppy and led into a jig. MacGowan was coherent during the slow and sway worthy "A Pair of Brown Eyes," colored by beautiful accordion and tin whistle. Although the singer was often hard to understand, The Pogues were, for the most part, spot on instrumentally.
Highlights includes "Dirty Old Town" (with banjo), "Sunny SIde of the Street," "Sayonara" and "Greenland Whale Fisheries." I had to leave shortly after midnight, but the group played six songs in two encores, including "Sally MacLennane," "Irish Rover" and the capper, "Fiesta."
Sadly, radio and MTV faves "Summer in Siam," "Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah" and "Fairytale of N.Y." were absent.
Opener Ted Leo & The Pharmacists impressed by blazing through 11 sharp punkified songs in 35 minutes. "I tend to run off at the mouth but I'm not gonna do that tonight," said Leo at the start. Coming across like The Jam meets early Billy Bragg at times, Leo jumped around and sang passionately on "Me & Mia."
A ripping solo elevated "Coleen," while "Bottle of Buckie" was pure pop bliss. Among the other standouts were "Army Bound," propulsive "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone" and energetic "Loyal to My Sorrowful Country." Simply amazing.
Did anybody catch the bands this week at their LA shows?