The Medusa Fora

Oh, looks like my question about the 1st encore song was just answered! Thanks! Yes, that does look like the same setlist as was played in Osaka--I'll check my list later to confirm.

Good pics, thanks DzM

lovely suit Shane

http://photos.dzm.com/

Thanks Kirk and Mabewa for the reports, and DzM, lovely holiday pictures too!

Awesome concert pictures! At least one of everyone, for a change. But are these the same pants James was wearing at Guilfest, or did he blow the knees out of yet another pair?

Ya, they were very well taken DzM, what part was your favourite and how many times have you seen the Pogues again?

i was at the Tokyo show.

Being from the far-reaches of the World (or so it seems somedays), i had never had the chance to see the Pogues live. Once they came to the big city nearest to me (and across an ocean), but that was post-Shane (the Waiting For Herb tour) and i was too young to make it at the time (though i rued the fate).

i was one of the poor fools that didn't jump on a ticket. Once i saw the Pogues listed for the Fuji Rock Fest, i figured that they could very well be doing a one off in Tokyo. Anything as unique as the Pogues will have a devoted following in Japan. As luck would have it, i fluked out and had the very day of the show off of work (i don't live in Tokyo), so into the city i went, typhoon warnings be damned.

i made a sign that stated i wanted to buy a ticket and stood out front of the venue. There were several other people in a similiar situation. i figured the typhoon would be playing in my favour as it would keep the weak-willed away, freeing up some tickets. After about 40 minutes, a Japanese fan sold me a ticket for face value (6500 yen. One bloke told me he had seen tickets going for 40000 yen on internet auctions), and with his cry of "Let's party!", i was in and caught the whole show! Quite a "dream come true" experience.

Sure Shane reminded me of a an older Andrew Strong (in appearence), but the band were great, and the audience clearly adored the very man. i want go into set-lists as that has been posted already. However, the band did appear on stage to the tune of "Straight To Hell" by the Clash. Ironically enough, the boys DIDN'T play "Sayonara", which i thought would have been quite approprioate for the setting.

The Japanese fans far outnumbered the gaijin, and were quite dressed for the part, mainly in vintage Skin fashion (drainpipe jeans rolled up over Docs), and quite a few were wearing Pogues T-Shirts (as well as the expected Fred Perry polos, Guiness shirts, Eire football jersies and Lonsdale T-shirts). They were screaming out Shane's name even before the band appeared on stage, and heartily attempted to sing along to the choruses of the tunes. A massive mosh pit erupted, but it was all good-natured. Somebody tossed an Ireland flag onto stage that Shane eventually picked up and draped around his neck.

The band hammed up the bows a bit (the setting after all). As far as sound goes, i found the bass and guitars to be a bit too loud, and Spider's tin whistle was barely audible for most songs. However, the banjo and accordian sounded great. The first 2 songs had muddy sound, especially Shane's vocals. Shane disappeared off-stage every 3 songs or so, as one of the other boys would have his moment. At times he sat on a stool in the centre of the stage. He mistimed his cue on one song. The band seemed to be slightly nervous, especially when Shane was on stage, they loosened up a bit whenever he left. There was very little banter between the players, Shane and Spider mainly.

Over-all, the band were spot on, and my voice ended up hoarse from singing along. Nobody wanted to leave after the band did "Fiesta" and it was only after the lights came on, the stage started being dismantled and announcements were made for everybody to clear out that everybody left (this being Japan, people tend to follow any sort of "official" announcement to the letter).

The Osaka show seemed to have a fair amount of interaction between the players, though Shane and Spider had the most going on. Shane seemed to come in a bit off time on a couple of songs, but the band seemed to adjust pretty quickly. Sometimes Shane seemed kinda wobbly, too, but I was consistantly surprised that he would also get it back. They did seem to be a bit more relaxed when he wasn't on stage--he is kind of a loose cannon. Overall, a fine performance from all--I particularly liked James' jumping around--hope he doesn't break anything!

Fantastic Pics DZM. Thanks very much.

dzm--what type of photo album do you use??i would like to get my photos organized as well.

Vanshimajin wrote:i was at the Tokyo show.[...]

Great summation of the show. Captures what I saw pretty damned well.

More about the audience and security: The mosh pit featured (as one might expect) crowd surfers. And surf early and often they did. I saw the same guys pulled out three or four times in some cases. One of them, after being pulled forward by security, would bow to the security, bow to the audience, and look generally very sheepish. And then he'd be back in ten minutes. A rebel being born.

Security was generally very forgiving. I saw them pull many people from the crowd for surfing but they never ejected someone from the show. I also saw them tell at least one person not to smoke the joint he had just lit. That's right. Just a tap on the shoulder and the ubiquitous "X" sign made with the forarms. And the guy politely put it (the joint) out and put the remainder away.

jaffa wrote:dzm--what type of photo album do you use??i would like to get my photos organized as well.

I use a somewhat superficially modified form of Gallery.

The Pogues now leave Japan and I just got back from 3rd / final show at Fuji Rock Festival.
They played on stage for one hour (7000+ crowd) everything apart from Tokyo & Osaka solo show, 'BOYS', 'TUESDAY' 'WHITE CITY' 'O.M.DRAG' 'LULLABY' and 'IRISH ROVER' and Shane & all in good fine form as same as Tokyo & Osaka solo show. Thanks to Kirk and all person who meet me at the shows. I traveled 1800km around Japan this week for attend all 3 shows so f**king week is over now.

Fucking Fine Photos again DZm.I wish i had botheresd to go down ot Gildford now.They always do a good show the Pogues.Funny what people say about the band being more relaxed when Shane is not on stage.I find the Popes are tighter without him .Kind of a loose cannon i suppose.