House of Blues, Anaheim, Oct 28 2007

[Guest]

I was at the San Diego show Friday, and HOB show in Anaheim last night. I really don't know what guest is talking about. I've seen the Pogues five times since they reunited, and there was nothing too unusual about the sound last night. I'm not an expert in these things but at Shane's request via had gestures the vocals were turned up after the second song, and I thought it was bit overpowering at least where I was standing. There were a few missed lines but Shane seemed to be in good form and as DZM said in a good mood. (at one point he was unaware that he was trying to light his cigarette with another cigarette) I will say that the audiance was not the most spirited and fun, but that could be chalked up to it being a Sunday night, the band making us wait an hour after Ted Leo went off and/or the $62+ surcharges ticket prices keeping the youngsters away. Philip singing 1000 Are Sailing was greatly missed both nights.

[soulfinger]

Exactly when did 8 to 10 adult MEN forget how to tell time? !

Around about the time you learned to count with such accuracy.

Sartorial standards were bound to fall without Mr C!

[georgecat]

HAHAHAHAHA THIS IS HILARIOUS!!!

And last night was an amazing show. A million times better than last year's Anaheim.

I also agree that the next time a band is so late on stage they owe us our money back!!! I mean who are they to make us have another drink, have more time to buy their merch or hang out with our friends and talk to new Pogues fans? Who do they think they are showing up an hour late. A whole hour of my life!!

[Doktor Avalanche]

This reminds me of all the "guests" spewing vitriol last spring when Shane broke his leg.

Get some balls and register.

[Buschman]

I was at the HOB show and thought the band played fine and Shane's singing was as good as ever...certainly Shane sang better than last Sunday at the Filmore. I guess if someone were expecting "perfection" from the Pogues they were in the wrong place, but from my experience none of us here are attracted to that. And how Guest could accuse anyone else in the band of being off-beat or off-key is insulting: the band is always in good form...the wild card is always Shane.

Besides the absurd comments about wrinkled clothes, though, I think Guest has the right to criticise, even if he is mostly wrong! Personally I think people cut Shane too much slack...you have to assume it was because of him that the band started so late, which caused all of us to have a fucked up Monday. And if I was to criticise the Pogues, having seen them play 10+ times since the reunion, I would have to say that I don't know why they have to play virtually the same set every show...with the inventory of songs (even if you don't include some of the great Popes material) it would be a more fulfilling experience to at least have some intrigue about what song is going to be played next, show after show, by mixing it up a little.

With that said though, I was just happy to see Shane show at all last night, as my daughter think's she saw him do a header right before they took the stage! Anyway, see you all on Wednesday!!

[Mick Molloy]

Spider was just gross. His clothes were a wrinkled

No way I´m going to another Pogues show unless they start using an iron!

We did have an iron once. Jem was most particular about it. Can't remember what happened to it.

Maybe Shane threw it at Elvis Costello one time

[Guest]

HAHAHAHAHA THIS IS HILARIOUS!!!

And last night was an amazing show. A million times better than last year's Anaheim.

I also agree that the next time a band is so late on stage they owe us our money back!!! I mean who are they to make us have another drink, have more time to buy their merch or hang out with our friends and talk to new Pogues fans? Who do they think they are showing up an hour late. A whole hour of my life!!

Whatever, waste of space. I know this little loving circle jerk needs to continue for you all to have somewhere to ball lick the band in the hopes you can become two notches below Victoria Clark-pathetic star fuckers. That show was shit, even the OC Register was kind to those losers and wrote "at least it wasn't a train wreck"

I am certain that the mods comments are because they are Smithers type drones who live in Second Life pretending to be Shane or other members of the band. These lazy, unprepared stunts that were pulled last night were edgy or funny 20 years when the tickets only cost $15.00 to $18.00(US). Now at $75.00 a ticket, gas costs, parking, babysitting fees and dinner it added up to a LOT of money. I have a right to expect at the very least my time and attention to be respected. The band would have been upset if attendees of the show were rude and disrespectful to THEM. THAT I remember a great deal in 90/91 when things went to hell. It looks like it is well on it's way to happening all over again.

Fuck You All.

[georgecat]

Have a nice day!!

[DzM]

Whatever, waste of space. I know this little loving circle jerk needs to continue for you all to have somewhere to ball lick the band in the hopes you can become two notches below Victoria Clark-pathetic star fuckers. That show was shit, even the OC Register was kind to those losers and wrote "at least it wasn't a train wreck"

(For those curious, the OC Register article is here: http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment ... m-probably)

The OC Register complaint seems to feel that Shane is incomprehensible and that the band seems bored. OK. Your opinion seems to be that Everything About The Whole Things Sucked Ass. Also OK. No skin of my back.

If you come here more often, read other threads, and interact with people rather than just rant you'll see that there is a fairly healthy exchange between many of the band members and the users of these fora. There is some deference, but I think the sycophancy and ball licking you accuse us of isn't nearly so pronounced as you think it is.

I am certain that the mods comments are because they are Smithers type drones who live in Second Life pretending to be Shane or other members of the band.

Yes, you've found me out. Finally my secret is free. "Yessir, Mr. Chevron! I think that's a Great Idea!"

My comments about the show are sincere though. I had a good time. I'm not a musician and I have zero qualification to criticize the musicianship of anyone on the stage. What I heard was a band playing tightly and a Shane performing better than he did earlier in the week. Fewer missed queues or dropped lyrics. I also heard James Fearnley, when they first came on stage, say "I'm sorry we're late." What I saw was a crowd of people being entertained. I saw dancing, I saw singing, I saw smiles and flushed faces looking elated to be there.

The band are as annoyed about the tardiness as you are. Most of the audience seemed, to me, to enjoy the show. It doesn't matter though - you're pissed off, and nothing I or anyone else says will change that the band was late, or that you hated the show. So - there it is. I'm sorry you had a crap night. I hope that no other band that you like disappoints you.

These lazy, unprepared stunts that were pulled last night were edgy or funny 20 years when the tickets only cost $15.00 to $18.00(US). Now at $75.00 a ticket, gas costs, parking, babysitting fees and dinner it added up to a LOT of money.

Other than the cost of my ticket I have never held any band (or any other performer) responsible for my costs. You're living in a dream world if you think that a performer owes you extra effort because you had to hire a babysitter, buy dinner, and stay up late. Grow up.

If you want to complain about $65+ ticket prices, fine. There's a thread already well populated with people complaining about that.

I have a right to expect at the very least my time and attention to be respected. The band would have been upset if attendees of the show were rude and disrespectful to THEM. THAT I remember a great deal in 90/91 when things went to hell. It looks like it is well on it's way to happening all over again.

I agree - the audience deserves to have a show reasonably on time. But I'm also adult enough to recognize that, sometimes, Shit Just Happens.

In my perfect little world William Elliott Whitmore would have been sent back out to play until the lateness was addressed. The rest - well - Again, I thought it was a good show once it started.

Fuck You All.

Back atcha guy.

[LittleCupcakes]

HAHAHAHAHA THIS IS HILARIOUS!!!

And last night was an amazing show. A million times better than last year's Anaheim.

I also agree that the next time a band is so late on stage they owe us our money back!!! I mean who are they to make us have another drink, have more time to buy their merch or hang out with our friends and talk to new Pogues fans? Who do they think they are showing up an hour late. A whole hour of my life!!

Whatever, waste of space. I know this little loving circle jerk needs to continue for you all to have somewhere to ball lick the band in the hopes you can become two notches below Victoria Clark-pathetic star fuckers. That show was shit, even the OC Register was kind to those losers and wrote "at least it wasn't a train wreck"

I am certain that the mods comments are because they are Smithers type drones who live in Second Life pretending to be Shane or other members of the band. These lazy, unprepared stunts that were pulled last night were edgy or funny 20 years when the tickets only cost $15.00 to $18.00(US). Now at $75.00 a ticket, gas costs, parking, babysitting fees and dinner it added up to a LOT of money. I have a right to expect at the very least my time and attention to be respected. The band would have been upset if attendees of the show were rude and disrespectful to THEM. THAT I remember a great deal in 90/91 when things went to hell. It looks like it is well on it's way to happening all over again.

Fuck You All.

As to that OC Register review, well, if you read the Register you're kind of a dick in the first place. Not because it's libertarian, but because it's poorly written. Anyway, "bored and restless"? I guess I'm a Pogues ball-licker, but I missed that bit.

I once stood for a Linton Kwesi Johnson show for 3 hours. Well worth it of course. Bitching about a late start to a rock show is like bitching at the sun for being so fuckin' hot anyway.

Very good show, I thought. Shane was in great shape (perhaps the bus delay prevented the intake of mass quantities?), the band were great as usual, and the sound was fine.

There were no false starts, and everyone seemed to be having a great time up on stage. Crowd energy perhaps wasn't the finest, but it was just fine with me, and the relative calm in the audience didn't seem to detract from the quality of the show.

The "bring on the encore(s)" crowd noise was despicably lacking.

The setlist, for some reason, seemed particularly good that evening. The right songs in the right places-especially finishing with Cuchulainn and starting the encore with Sally.

Now, WEW was the shit. That man puts one a great one-man show (BTW, DzM, that was me screaming for more songs, and Carlo got WEW to talk about the banjo) and I thank DzM for his insistence on watching WEW perform.

Ted Leo wasn't bad, but pretty generic sounding. Really, there's no practical difference between Green Day, say, and Ted Leo.

And good to see the SoCal Medusans once again.

Now we'll have to see about Wednesday/Thursday.

[fluke]

Man.. Dzm, first of all thanks for having the rest to react in a clear way to these posts. My language barriere but also my irritation prevents me from that.. This will probably qualify in 'guest' opinion that i'm a star fucker but I do honoustly believe that I am open to any other point of view. I do relate to the points stated by Buschman earlier.
It IS a pity to have such feelings after ANY gig offcourse.
But the tone this 'guest' uses is in my opninion totaly unfair. Nobody around here deserves that. As stated earlier: register and channel your frustrations!

[Guest]

My wife and I have been seeing the Pogues in Los Angeles and Orange County for longer than I'll admit. Yeah there were a few things wrong last night. For what the HOB charged for tickets, they might have spared us heatstroke with a bit of AC.

Anytime the band graces us with a visit we are happy. Last year we caught the Grove show and the last one at the Wiltern. The Grove show had us worried that Shane may not make the Wiltern show a few days later. Even with Shane taking his "breaks" the band is wonderful to listen to. We walked away from that show thinking we may never see the band again after that tour.

The Wiltern show brought us back into the fold and had us hoping for the bands return to Southern California. Tina and I both thought the Wiltern show was in the top three shows we had ever seen. We've seen tons of great music over the years.

We were glad to see Shane having fun. But we also missed Mr. Chevron. The set did wobble a little here and there, but it was way better than most of the crap out there these days.

Can't wait until Thursday night.
Bill G

[orrok61]

Thanks everybody,you're making me feel like I was there after all!

[CharlesB]

I don't see how you can say this show was bad. I've seen Shane and the Pogues/Popes about 8 times total now, and this show was much better than the ones last year at the HoB or (shudder) the Popes tour from years ago, when Shane was two hours late and looked as if he might nod off on stage when he finally did arrive.

It wasn't perfect, but fuck what live music is. Shane missed a few lyrics but he was energentic and seemed to be in a great mood. I thought the set list was much better than the last tour (+old main drag, kitty, rainy night in soho, sunnyside of the street and - fairytale of new york) with the exception of the missing Thousands are Sailing.

The one big drawback over previous shows was the crowd...I realize that any show's overall experience is heavily influenced by what people are in a five foot halo from you during it, but the kids near me seemed testy last night. Of course, it didn't help that I was about four feet away from that heckling crack addict and her freakish, Bobby Peru-looking boyfriend. A couple of fights almost broke out on my side.

Under the best of circumstances, the House of Blues is a shoebox patrolled by Nazi youth, but I had a great time aside from the horrible heat and a few members of the crowd.

[Chaitscasey]

The one big drawback over previous shows was the crowd...I realize that any show's overall experience is heavily influenced by what people are in a five foot halo from you during it, but the kids near me seemed testy last night. Of course, it didn't help that I was about four feet away from that heckling crack addict and her freakish, Bobby Peru-looking boyfriend. A couple of fights almost broke out on my side.

Under the best of circumstances, the House of Blues is a shoebox patrolled by Nazi youth, but I had a great time aside from the horrible heat and a few members of the crowd.

true story.