Anyone else here ever see the Pogues in concert?

[derby378]

Here's a good St. Patrick's Day thread for everyone. Ever see the Pogues live and in person?

I won two tickets to see them a long time ago in a radio contest. Took my brother to see them with me when they played in Dallas, TX on March 24, 1989. I hadn't really heard anything by them before except for My Blue Heaven, so I approached the concert as something fun to do with my brother while he was still in town.

The concert was held at the now-destroyed Arcadia Theater on Lower Greenville Avenue. The opening act was Phranc, performing on the stage with only her acoustic guitar. Someone tried to get me to buy beer for them, since they were too young to do it themselves. I declined. Besides, the kid smelled like vice.

Then the Pogues took the stage. At first, I had no idea what to think - they were great, but in an Old World sense that somehow got filtered through a pseudo-New Wave worldview. They almost brought down the roof of the Arcadia. And who the hell was this Shane character on the mic, and how come the only word he uttered that I could understand was "fucking?"

As it turned out, this wasn't just a concert - it was an event. A happening. A celebration. Spider Stacy and Shane MacGowan took their turns on the mic as the band played on, a rollicking collection of what sounded like sea shanties and drunken pub anthems. And it was all beautiful.

My brother enjoyed it. My future wife told me she wished I took her, instead. But honestly, I had no idea what I was getting into when we stepped into the Arcadia that night. It was just something to do. In the end, however, hearing the Pogues that night, even though Shane was the only Irishman among them, plunged me headfirst into the beauty and the spectacle of Irish folk music - in all its rough grace and melancholy beauty.

Thanks, Pogues, for a wonderful evening. Wish I had a Guinness on hand to raise in your honor.

:beer: