Pogues in Denver!!!!!!

The first time I saw the Pogues perform was eight years ago, at the Brixton Academy in London. It was part of their first (and at the time, presumably only) reunion tour, so I didn’t really think twice about flying halfway across the world to see them. It was a terrific show, absolutely worth the trip, but I figured that would be it – I saw them once, and never again. I never imagined that they would continue to play together on a part-time basis, and I never in a million years would have imagined that this could happen:



That’s right. This time, the Pogues came to me. For the first time in their 25+ year history, they came to Denver, for a single, sold-out show.

I’m pleased to be able to say that the intervening eight years have not taken their toll on the band. In fact, if anything, I’d say they’ve gotten better. Even Shane, who many suspect is only alive due to some sort of Keith Richards-style deal with the devil, seemed a lot stronger and more present than at the earlier show. To be honest, the first time I saw them I wouldn’t really have understood more than 5-10% of the words coming out of his mouth if I didn’t already know what they were supposed to be. This time, I could easily make out ¾ of what he said, and that monstrous, inhuman howl of his (see “Sickbed of Cuchulainn”, for instance) shook the building. He also seemed much more interactive and playful with the performance, even engaging in a (very) little bit of commentary between songs on occasion and, when singing “and they ruined my good looks for the old man drag,” flipping up his sunglasses to give us a look at his *ahem* good looks. I also want to make a note of his awesome sweater, this gigantic fuzzy monstrosity (and I say that affectionately). I can’t imagine how much booze that thing must have soaked up over the course of the tour.



The rest of the band may have been a bit older and more tired, but they didn’t really show it. Sure, James Fearnley wasn’t quite the explosive onstage presence he was last time, but he still took a leap off the riser and did a couple of slides across the stage on his knees (all with a 20 pound accordion strapped to his chest). And yes, there was a bit more sitting down between songs, but the important thing is that when they played, it was every bit as powerful and lively as it ever was. The Pogues, as instrumentalists, are an incredibly tight and skilled group, which I supposed you would have to be with Shane MacGowan on the microphone. When he decided that the second verse of “If I Should Fall From Grace With God” started two beats later than everyone else thought, they adjusted so quickly (and uniformly) that it was almost imperceptible.




The setlist was a good mix of songs, similar to but probably better (although slightly shorter) than the more “. . . Fall from Grace”-heavy set that I heard at the Academy. Granted, I kind of missed hearing “Medley” and “Fairytale of New York”, but, after listening to many, many covers and live recordings of Fairytale, I’ve come to realize that if you can’t get Kirsty MacColl to sing it, there’s not much reason to play it. And if you don’t have a time machine, Kirsty isn’t singing. As for “Medley”, if that’s the price I have to pay for “Kitty” and “Sunnyside of the Street”, I can live with it. I liked the order of songs a little better here than last time as well, with the terrific crowd-pleaser “Fiesta” finishing off the last encore instead of the more sedate “The Parting Glass.” Fiesta also contained one of the highlights of the evening, as Spider Stacy switched over to his secondary instrument:



Yes, that’s a beer tray. And yes, he played it with his head.

The night fell in to a pretty consistent pattern – Shane would sing a few songs, then go take a breather offstage while someone else stepped up to since their signature song. All told, five of the eight performers wound up taking a turn at the microphone, which is something I really appreciate about the Pogues. A particular treat of the live shows is getting to hear Phil Chevron sing “Thousands are Sailing” which he wrote and which is clearly built for his voice, but which was sung by Shane on the album. The album cut is also great, of course, but Phil’s version is something you don’t really get to hear outside of a show.



The crowd was good, enthusiastic and active but not, for the most part, crazy. The demographics skewed a bit younger than I expected – I figured I’d be one of the youngest there, but I was probably more toward the middle of the bunch. One group that was particularly amusing to me included a fifty-something year old man, who was jumping up and down and pumping his fist in the air through the show, and his wife and two college-age daughters, none of whom seemed happy to be there. Seems like kind of a shame to drag them along when that’s three tickets someone who wants to see the show couldn’t have, but I suppose that’s just the way things go.

Overall, it was a fantastic show (if you hadn’t picked up on that fact yet), worth every penny and then some. I don’t know if they’ll ever be back to Denver (I suspect not), but they certainly made this one count. I could not be happier with the show than I am right now.