The Pogues | Axis | July 2, 1986
By PHOENIX STAFF | October 25, 2006
The Pogues |
Anyone who’d seen the Pogues in London was already aware of the boozy, sharp-edged mayhem this bunch could create with tin whistles, mandolins, accordions, and the like, not to mention the, ah, tipsy mannerisms of ever-swilling singer-songwriter Shane MacGowan. But for most, this, the band’s first Boston gig, was a revelation. Expectations had been building ever since word of a punkish Irish band fronted by the hard-drinking MacGowan started filtering into local pubs. So Axis was a mass of sweating, drinking, Guinness-tossing celebrants as the Irish and punk communities seemed to fuse into one entity — the very same that would give birth to Dropkick Murphys a decade later. The surly, yet poetic MacGowan was at the top of his shambolic form, spitting out anthems like “Transmetropolitan” — “I’m gonna kick up bloody murder in the town we know so well” — and “The Boys from County Hell,” where MacGowan offered the come-on “Lend me ten pounds and I’ll buy you a drink.” Those songs summed up much of the intent. But the showstopper played near the end was the Pogues’ roughshod-but-reverent version of Eric Bogle’s “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda” — a powerful anti-war song sung from the point of view of a legless vet from “a forgotten war.” |
Were you there? Wish you were? Seen better? Tell us about it below.
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In the moment, Regaining Shane, The Irish rovers, More 
- In the moment
The Pogues live in the moment, and last Thursday that moment lasted two hours at Avalon.
- Regaining Shane
It was 1985 and it was time for a new kind of kick. I did not expect to find it with guys playing tin whistle, banjo, and accordion, and a guy who used to sing for the B-level punk band, the Nips ( nés Nipple Erectors) — that would be the dentally challenged Shane MacGowan.
- The Irish rovers
"The Pogues and Boston go together in ways that belong in the realm of the unexplainable."
- 30 songs to spill beer on your iPod to
No song captures the quiet desperation of a hard-drinking, hardscrabble nowhere town better than this one.
- Show and tell
After a brief late-December break from the usual boatload of good shows, the flood picks up right where it left off in early January.
- Trouble at the top
The back of our limo has one of those yellow ribbon decals that say “Support Our Troops” — just above the “Impeach Bush” sticker.
- Got live if you want it
Mai Cramer was a beloved figure in local roots-music circles. For 24 years she hosted the popular show “Blues After Hours” on WBGH radio and was a tireless champion of the music.
- A singer and his songs
Alexi Murdoch’s music has been used for a plethora of TV shows and film.
- The best of times
On Boston Harbor’s Long Island, two miles out in Quincy Bay, the Curley Building stands hulking and decrepit.
- Less
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