-Thisislondon: Brixton review

[Guest]

have you ever been to the planet earth?

[moose]

no, but ye can't oimagoine hoiw much oi woish oi was.
oi sadly wasn't goifted woith a blessoin' to be boirn oin the free woirld and go where oi woish to be ! so, even moire a reasoin to be doisgusted whoile readoin' the revoiew of thois so called joiurnaloist..

surely a critic's greater obligation is to the bigger picture.

very noicely put Philip;

Well Irish, i find it quite ironic that you are preaching about being born in a free world, but then you are slagging off a journo for exercising his right of freedom of speech.

[The Duke of Ingmar]

no, but ye can't oimagoine hoiw much oi woish oi was.
oi sadly wasn't goifted woith a blessoin' to be boirn oin the free woirld and go where oi woish to be ! so, even moire a reasoin to be doisgusted whoile readoin' the revoiew of thois so called joiurnaloist..

surely a critic's greater obligation is to the bigger picture.

very noicely put Philip;

Well Irish, i find it quite ironic that you are preaching about being born in a free world, but then you are slagging off a journo for exercising his right of freedom of speech.

Very good point indeed, moose !

And of course a reviewer should not only be writing to fans. Basically he should write to all readers who want to know what a particular gig was like. (I like reading about gigs I didn´t attend or I would never think of attending). And to me it´s okay to write that a performance was shambolic - if it was shambolic. Us Pogues fans know what to make out of it . But to me it feels right to somehow "warn" other people what can happen at a Pogues ging - even in these days it´s just a rare occasion when Shane can´t pull together. I saw the Pogues three times in December 2006, Nottingham and Birmingham were brilliant but again it was Manchester where he did perform quite poorly (which could have been excused because Tom MacManamon had died one or two days before).

And yes, the only real shame is that the rest of the band is hardly mentioned in most reviews. But most journos tend to look only at the spectacular - and that´s what Shance is more than 99,9 % in the music biz, right - and I feel that most of us would do the same, if we were journos.

All in all, of course I prefer reading a great review of a Pogues gig, but it doesn´t bother me too much reading a bad review. It doesn´t gonna change my view of the band who are the best there was, the best there is and the best there ever will be.

[hurlage01]

I've always been a fan of Aizlewood's writing and out of the 3 Brixton gigs this year Thursday was by far Shane's least best. Would love Aizlewood to have been there on Friday (the 2nd best gig I've ever seen the boys play, after St Patrick's Day 1988) and I'm sure he would have given a more positive review. He knows what he's talking about and he writes in a good style.

I'd much rather a bad review of The Pogues written well then a good review written badly. See this as an example from the posted review of the Bristol show: ''Hit after hit, their set was a classic tale of why their music means so much to so many. Tears in people’s eyes as they played A Pair of Brown Eyes and thumping vibrations as they played Paddy.''

Very positive towards the band but toe-curlingly bad writing.

[Jon]

You get what you look for with a band like The Pogues. Within the space of a few minutes, Mac can frustrate you with his seemingly helpless performance of a rowdy old Pogues song he should know backwards (and appears to only know backwards), and then break your heart with the Johnny Cash-like purity of that night's "Rainy Night In Soho". I may be wrong, but I think that's kinda worth a few paragraphs in itself.

I'd use it as my forum sig! Nice words, Phil.

[BANSHEEs HOWL]

Right, lets get a few things corrected about fridays gig at the academy......

firstly, its Ella Finer, not Anna.

secondly, at no point did Shane put a bottle on his head!?! hes a msuician, not a circus monkey!!

This was the first time i'd had the chance to see the pogues since an amazing night in Brighton on the "if i should fall from grace.." tour, over 20 years previously.

the band (minus, sadly Mr Chevron) took the stage to the strains of the Clash' "straight to hell" and proceeded to launch into one of the most ferocious, furious and moving 2hours plus of sheer brilliance that its been my privilige to witness. The opening riot of streams of whiskey was folowed hard on its heels with a powerful if i should fall from grace, a beautiful Broad majestic shannon, a demonic Turkish song of the damned and for me, the highlight of the night, A pair of Brown eyes.

the band themselves were on magnificent form, fingers flying over fretboards trying to chase down and tame these fabulously feral tales of debauchery and love. sometimes it seemed everything was on the verge of collapsing into a mess, but somehow, through sheer luck and hope, it never did. these are songs that will still be sung with passion and vigour in a hundred years time, unlike many of todays "rock gods." to paraphrase Ray Winston in Scum "Oasis? I shit 'em!".

and so to Shane.

i like so many others, held my breath as he shambled to the mic. Would he be legible or sound like someone who lives in bins and shouts at cars? "Merry F***in Xmas" is the first words out of the mans lips as the band chase launch into the first number ... last one to the chorus gets the next round in!" Shane opens his mouth to sing and..... doesnt let anyboby down. while he could never be mistaken for Sinatra, his voice was clear and powerful when called upon, and soft and tender when it was needed. ok he slurred a few and was out of sync with the rest of the band at the start of "body of an american", but that aside the old Macgowan banshee howl was still as its always been. ie perfect for these songs. its true he might have needed Spider to interpret between songs, but thats always been the case.

the set list? stunning (no Thousands are sailing or Boys from county hell), Poor paddy was a highlight as was Kitty, Lullaby of London, Metropolis, Sayonara and Sally Maclennane and so many others. Irish Rover (sung for dearly departed Ronnie Drew) and Dirty old town and Fairtytale were all awesome.

for those that came to see a debacle and to slate one of the great poets of our time, you must have been dissapointed to have had to make something up. Why do you bother?

Ladies and Gentlemen, please be upstanding for the Pogues. You are in the presence of Greatness.

[Hometownhero]

In the interests of accuracy:

Right, lets get a few things corrected about fridays gig at the academy......

The review is about Thursday's show

secondly, at no point did Shane put a bottle on his head!?! hes a msuician, not a circus monkey!!

Well, to be fair, he did put a bottle on his head on the Thursday night....twice that I remember, it may have been more but neither time did it stay there very long

I actually agree with alot that the review says; this was the 6th time I have seen the Pogues, the first being back in '85 and on Thursday Shane did put in the worst overall performance I have seen.

Having said that, the rest of the band were spot on and a very enjoyable evening appeared to be had by all, even the potential problems of Brixton's notoriously bad sound couldn't marr a tight musical performance and indeed praise must go to the sound engineers for producing the first show at brixton in 4 years where I have not needed to use my earplugs.

As many people have said, with Shane, ya pay your money & ya take your chance, personally, the rest of the band is worth the money alone, Shane just adds to the value however he performs.

[Banshees howl]

god, I feel like such a doofus!

You are of course absolutely correct! The review was of thursdays gig, not Fridays which I was lucky enough to be at! My unreserved apologies for any offence caused.

Still, I stand by my comments on Fridays gig......... For me and thousands of others it was a triumph and a delight to behold.

For me, one of the most poignant moments was early on when shane turned to "the clobberer" and said "we have a god on the drums tonight" well said mr macgowan, well said.

[Clash Cadillac]

I'm not a critic and it doesn't especially bother me what they write about the Pogues anymore, but I if I were reviewing the Pogues on a fairly regular basis, I like to think I would have moved on from the Groundhog Day obligation of "the band was great, the singer was drunk, tears were shed for the Famine".

No but you should be. I am not trying to be an ass kiss here but although I have only seen a few shows on Broadway and probably less than 30 shows in my life, I love reading your posts in the Going To The Theatre thread. I think to be a good critic requires a high degree of intellect/worldly experience, a deep a knowledge of the subject matter and a clever way with words. Even then to compose a review that the casual reader finds interesting is no small feat. I have wondered many times if you have ever been approached to add theatre critic to your resume? It is almost a crime that your reviews only get exposed on this forum. Or do they?

[Aine]

A review of a band should be a review of just that--not a brief reference to one or two members or to the band as a whole. Sure Shane draws a lot of attention, but I just hate that the masterful playing of the other members gets such short shrift. The Pogues owe much to Shane's incredible songwriting and at times his poignant or rousing singing, but they are indeed a band of eight.

[Banshees howl]

Banshees howl

i have to agree.... Shane does get a large amount of press / attention. its only because of the voyeuristic nature of the human condition sadly. i was at a friends house last night and the first 3 questions i got asked were 1. how were they, 2. was shane drunk and 3. has he had his teeth done yet! sad i know, but for many its all they know of The Pogues.

personally i love the band because of so many reasons. i love the imagery and poetry of the lyrics, i love the vast number of musical styles from trad Irish to turkish via bebop. And most of all, as a musician myself, its the musical virtuosity of master players like Terry Woods, Jem Finer and Philip Chervron.

its fair to say, listening the the Pogues made me want to experience the writings of Joyce and Behan. I've started investigating Lorca, and tracking down the original versions of so many great songs that they've introduced me to. this band has had a profound effect on me and my life. if i sat and thought about it there are probably only 3 groups that i constantly find myself being drawn back to, never getting tired of the music. Thats The Wailers, The E Street Band and The Pogues.

i'm a guitar player and have been playing for twenty years next year. i first wanted to play when i heard the Doors for the first time and fell in love with Robbie Kriegers playing. the only other time i've been so moved was when i first heard Terry Woods and i knew from that moment i had to learn to play the Bouzouki.

it annoys me when people cant see beyond the personna of Shane. i know he's larger than life and he IS a lyrical genius. However the Band are one of those incredibly rare things ........ 7 Master musicians with a poet of great talent thrown in for good measure.

long may they continue to thrill us all.

[Jon]

Is it time to roll out the Frank Zappa quote regarding Critics / Music Journos yet?

[philipchevron]

I'm not a critic and it doesn't especially bother me what they write about the Pogues anymore, but I if I were reviewing the Pogues on a fairly regular basis, I like to think I would have moved on from the Groundhog Day obligation of "the band was great, the singer was drunk, tears were shed for the Famine".

No but you should be. I am not trying to be an ass kiss here but although I have only seen a few shows on Broadway and probably less than 30 shows in my life, I love reading your posts in the Going To The Theatre thread. I think to be a good critic requires a high degree of intellect/worldly experience, a deep a knowledge of the subject matter and a clever way with words. Even then to compose a review that the casual reader finds interesting is no small feat. I have wondered many times if you have ever been approached to add theatre critic to your resume? It is almost a crime that your reviews only get exposed on this forum. Or do they?

Ach, they're just first draft noodlings. If I were to take time to be a great critic - a Ken Tynan, a Fintan O'Toole, a Ben Brantley, a G. Bernard Shaw, I would be occupying time and space in my life which I consider best spent in other ways. I suppose if my "reviews" have any purpose at all, it is as reminders to self of what I do and not hold dear. But you're right - a critic should, ideally, be aspiring to the same state of grace as the artist. I suspect too many of them aspire only to the per-word count, but they're not really critics in the first place, are they?

[Clash Cadillac]

But you're right - a critic should, ideally, be aspiring to the same state of grace as the artist. I suspect too many of them aspire only to the per-word count, but they're not really critics in the first place, are they?

Right, just a paycheck.

[IrishRover]

...ideally, be aspiring to the same state of grace as the artist. I suspect too many of them aspire only to the per-word count, but they're not really critics in the first place, are they?

well spoiken Philip,
oinstead of beeoin' oin the state of grace loike artoists, sadly many oinly exoist oin the state of currency.