Pogues' worse-for-wear singer still has it! 03/16/06 NY Show

[Alex]

Pogues' worse-for-wear singer still has it

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BY RAFER GUZMÁN
Newsday Staff Writer

March 18, 2006

The Pogues, the band that invented the enduring genre of Irish folk-punk, kicked off their first U.S. show in more than 15 years just in time for St. Patrick's Day Thursday night with "Streams of Whiskey," and it was as good a manifesto as any. On its face, the jaunty Irish jig is about a fanciful meeting with Brendan Behan, the IRA terrorist turned playwright. But singer Shane MacGowan wasn't much concerned with politics or literature.

"There's nothing ever gained by a wet thing called a tear," MacGowan ruminated in his slurred, gargly voice. "When the world is too dark, and I need the light inside of me/I'll walk into a bar and drink 15 pints of beer."

Few rock singers - living ones, anyway - are as synonymous with alcoholism and substance abuse as MacGowan. Throughout the 1980s, as the band proved that punk rock could be played with a tin whistle as well as an electric guitar, MacGowan fashioned himself into an almost mythological version of the hard-drinking, hell-raising Irishman. He was the classic causeless rebel, picking fights with anyone who looked like an authority figure, even if that person was merely minding the pub door.

The Pogues released a handful of landmark albums, including "Rum, Sodomy and the Lash" (produced by a kindred soul, Elvis Costello), but MacGowan's behavior eventually caught up with him. He developed a heroin habit to complement the alcohol and wound up missing a string of high-profile gigs (as the opening act for Bob Dylan) and his bandmates let him go, though they've reunited occasionally in recent years.

The rest of the Pogues soldiered on, and Thursday night it was obvious the years without MacGowan had served them well. Thanks mainly to Jim Fearnley's accordion, Spider Stacy's tin whistle and Terry Woods' trilling mandolin, the seven musicians formed a tightly knit unit that sounded more like a traditional Celtic group than a bunch of rowdy punk rockers. (The band has plans to release a live CD and DVD.)

At 48, MacGowan is noticeably worse for wear, puffy in the jowls and midsection, and waddling rather than walking. Still, his charisma was palpable. Though Stacey and other band members took turns on lead vocals (allowing their singer to slip away and refill his cup with who knows what), only MacGowan could really galvanize the crowd.

Though his snarl has softened, he still found the emotional core in his vulgar, beautiful songs. On "The Old Main Drag," he described the romance of discovering London as a youth ("With a fiver in my pocket I went down to the 'dilly to check out the scene") and the disillusion that comes with age ("I know that I am dying and I wish I could beg/For some money to take me from the old main drag").

The evening closed with the band's best-known song, "Fairytale of New York," a duet between two down-and-out lovers. Ella Finer, daughter of banjo player Jem Finer, took the part made famous by the late Kirsty MacColl. At the end, swirls of fake snow showered the couple while they danced.

THE POGUES. The Dylan Thomas of punk returns. Thursday through tomorrow at Nokia Theatre Times Square. Seen Thursday.

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Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc

[CraigBatty]

Hmm. A better review. Better.

[Simon Maguire]

And this live CD and DVD I hope it will be released in Thge U.K and Ireland or else......

[CraigBatty]

And this live CD and DVD I hope it will be released in Thge U.K and Ireland or else......

Yeah, what 'e said. An' it better get to Oz an' all! Not like the bloody Catweazle DVD......

[Heather]

Thanks Alex.

[Quincy Dan]

Got the instruments right, as far as I can see on a quick glance.

[Irish Rover]

Cheers Alex