Pogues!
by TedMM on 3/26/11Terminal 5 - New YorkSince it was a general admission show, where everyone was going to be standing, we got there massively early, I had a Guinness or two while waiting, and we made sure we got a great spot. Second level, right up against the side railing, perfect view of the whole stage. At about 8:00 the opening act went on stage. Titus Andronicus (oddly enough, they're apparently from my home town of Glen Rock, NJ). Looking them up today, they've gotten lots of positive reviews for the two albums they've put out, but they were not good. The lead singer/lead guitar player could neither sing nor play guitar well, and their energy on stage was not positive. The singer and the girl guitar player/fiddler tried to fake it, but their attempts at energy came off as very fake and forced. The whole crowd was pretty much non-plussed by them, except for a couple of really drunk people. Then, after about a half an hour of switching the stage around and such, out come the Pogues. First, the band all runs out, full of energy, and then a minute after everyone else is in their places, out shambles Shane MacGowan. When he spoke, you could maybe understand a couple of words out of every sentence. For the couple of songs he wasn't singing, he staggered off stage, where he was kept by his handler and then sort of pushed back on to stage when it was his turn to sing again. Other times he sat down in front of the drums, and for a couple of songs had a chair brought out for him. In one great moment, a water bottle fell down on the stage, he tried to kick it, and missed. He smoked, he drank (a glass of what could have been anything from water to vodka, all I can attest to was that it was clear) At the end of the show, he went to smash and break the chair he had been sitting in, and it took all he could manage to get the back to break off. It could have been sad. It could have been funny. It wasn't. It was incredible. For all that he was visibly diminished, and at a point where the ravages of decades of whiskey and drugs had taken a huge visible toll, he was still amazing. From the moment they started with Streams of Whiskey to the end of the show, there was never a moment where you didn't feel like you were in the presence of greatness, and with there being only two more shows in this tour that's expected to be their last, there were definitely times where the emotion of the band was palpable. The energy on stage, was great. Even though he was incomprehensible when he wasn't singing (and occasionally when he was) MacGowan's personality and artistry shone through every moment he was out there, and they played a fantastic show. All in all, it was an experience that was amazing and unforgettable.