Fans set to feed on power of the Pogues

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Fans set to feed on power of the Pogues
By Len Righi | Of The Morning Call
March 13, 2008
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Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Reprints Post comment Text size: Last year around this time, Shane MacGowan assured the New York Times that an album of new Pogues material was ''almost certainly'' going to be released. Of course, no such thing happened, but then again, the brilliant but erratic singer-songwriter never did commit to a date.

Even if The Pogues never release another disc, the London group's place in history -- as the first band to establish the musical connection between punk's unruliness and traditional Irish folk's rebellious spirit -- is assured.

The Pogues, who formed in 1982, are again back in the States for yet another tour to coincide with St. Patrick's Day, and tonight the octet -- which includes founding members MacGowan, Peter ''Spider'' Stacy (tin whistle, vocals), Jeremy ''Jem'' Finer (banjoist, mandolinist, guitarist and songwriter) and James Fearnley (accordion) as well as long-time guitarist Philip Chevron, who is battling throat cancer -- will play at Philadelphia's Electric Factory.




''It's a no-holds-barred assault on the senses,'' Stacy told The Chicago Tribune recently, describing a Pogues live show. ''It's like a football [soccer] crowd without all the violence.''

One of the constants of a Pogues show is how inconsistent MacGowan can be. His drunken escapades and erratic behavior led to his unceremonious firing by his band mates in 1991, and the band carried on without him for a decade.

At last week's show in Chicago, MacGowan wandered on stage late, wearing a black top hat, black overcoat, cuffed jeans and sunglasses and slurring his words. Still, according to The Chicago Sun Times reviewer, ''The other seven Pogues performed with integrity and depth.''

For hardcore types, however, the chance to see the Pogues hitting on all cylinders remains a powerful lure. According to the Washington Post, on Sunday night, while ''The Wire'' finale was airing on HBO, series creator David Simon was at D.C's 9:30 club ''spending the evening with the Pogues, and 1,200 of the band's closest, booziest fans.''

For the uninitiated, on ''The Wire,'' it is tradition for Baltimore police to hold a wake for a fallen officer by laying out his body on a barroom pool table, singing the Pogues' ''The Body of an American'' and raising their glasses to the dearly departed.

The Pogues, with Marseille Figs, 8:30 p.m. today, Electric Factory, 421 N. Seventh St., Philadelphia, 215-627-1332, 215-336-2000, Ticketmaster.com. Tickets: $65.

len.righi@mcall.com

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