[from
London UK] I loved this show and so did the crowd –I think this band is
basically the foundation for slam-grass and the gypsy punk movement –
impossible not to dance to a rowdy accordion – and then the old Irish ballads
communicate a sense of warmth and companionship – although not always the
vocalist, Shane McGowan was the center of the show – the band wouldn’t be half
as interesting without his slurred snarling vocals - having just watched the
movie biography of his life (Should I Fall From Grace), I was firstly amazed
that they were charging so much to see a man who was such a high liability for
not showing up or not being able to perform and secondly felt a kinship with
him like I kind of knew him – I figured he must have sobered up if they were
touring like this – not a bit – his spoken words were so unintelligible (partly
because of his accent but mostly because of intoxication) that a band member
would translate what he was saying for the audience – funny and horrifying all
at the same time - like the irresistible draw of looking at a car wreck - he
frequently left the stage between songs and progressively relied more on the
microphone to hold him up – despite all of that, his singing was mostly on
target–it was disturbing or touching that his band members accommodate him as
he is so that he can perform and that his fans almost celebrate his
self-destruction – part of his mystique – oh and he’d gotten his first set of
false teeth recently but didn’t wear them to perform…. someone said the movie about his life should
be shown to kids to terrify them into sobriety – “hghgthzzz” as Shane would say (Photo courtesy of
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