If you leave a Pogues concert without smelling like beer, you've done it wrong

[chicafrom3]

First off:



OMGSQUEE SHANE MACGOWAN MADE A LEWD COMMENT AT ME!!!!

Okay, that's done for now. Expect it some more later. Definitely the highlight of the evening.

The Avalon, for the record, is General Admission. Which means, again for the record, that all the audience is out on the floor together, and how good your view is depends on how good you are at defending your spot when the fighting breaks out. Niki and me arrived about 6:55 and staked out a pretty good spot--right of center, second row of audience members, more or less. So we had a pretty decent view of the stage.

By about, oh, halfway through the Pogues' second song, Niki and I had shoved our way to the very very front and center. Which means I was getting the shit beat out of me by the people behind me who wanted my spot and I may have internal organ damage and I definitely have bruising but the point is I was DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF Shaney Mac his own self. Like directly in front of. Like if my arms were a couple feet longer I coulda reached out and TOUCHED him sorta directly in front of.

And I made eye contact. I made eye contact with Shane MacGowan and I thought, "Okay, this is the best moment of my life", and it was, right up until he MADE A DIRTY COMMENT AT ME FROM STAGE and pretty much made my life.

Um. Back to the point.

Niki yelled "Chica loves you!" at Shane a couple of times, and I yelled "I fucking love you!" to him a whole bunch of times. I have persuaded teh Niki to the dark side; she now understands why that man is my freaking IDOL. Although she has divided loyalties; Spider won her love with his skillful playing of the beer tray.

She also claims that playing the beer tray requires no noticeable musical skill. She does however concede that it requires skill not to knock yourself unconscious.

Shane was in fine form. Actually more lucid than he was last year at the Orpheum. Which is not to say he was coherent. He's Shane. Had beer, wine, and whiskey on stage with him all at the same time. Because he's SHANE.

He didn't seem to forget any of the words to his songs, either! But, Niki points out, um, you know, how would we know for sure?

He did, however, knock the microphone down into the gap between stage and rail more than once. Security kept running out to hand it back to them. They looked confused. I'm not sure they actually expected Shane MacGowan. Shane was not bothered.

Spider, Phil, and Terry all also got chances to sing lead. And they were awesome. BUT THEY WERE NOT SHANE.

Trying to reconstruct the playlist, not in order:
If I Should Fall From Grace With God
Tuesday Morning
The Boys From The County Hell
Fiesta
Turkish Song of the Damned
The Sunnyside of the Street
The Body of an American
The Gentleman Soldier
A Pair of Brown Eyes
Dirty Old Town
The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn
Star of the County Down
Sally MacLennane
Wild Cats of Kilkenny
The Irish Rover


The opening act was cool. Talented. Fun. Had a sense of humor. Threatened (offered?) to throw a bottle of Jack Daniels into the audience, then recanted because he didn't want to waste the whiskey like that.

Problem was, once the opening act finished, it was for-fucking-ever before the Pogues came out. Because Shane was passed out in the back room. A bunch of drunk Boston Irish in general admission? There was very nearly a riot. And Niki got drunk and got into a fight and almost got us thrown out but we fasttalked our way out of it. XD

Story:

This guy was already seriously drunk, before the opening act even considered coming on, and shoved his way to the front despite the fact that he was a DRUNK ASS. Niki shoved me closer to the front because he was blocking my view and bravely took the position between the two of us. Because she loves me lots. Truth. Anyway, the ass kept grabbing her ass and being obnoxious to everyone. And eventually, Niki snapped and punched him in the face. Thus almost getting us thrown out. Except the guy was so drunk that security let it go. He ran out of beer and left to get more and nobody let him back onto the floor, I don't think.

We bonded with the couple standing next to us at the time. The husband kept yelling at the stage, "Something fucking happen!" At one point his friend announced that if the band didn't come out in five minutes, he was going to rush the stage and give his best Shane impersonation. He promised to be as incoherent as possible, then was reminded of the fact that he had too many teeth to be a decent Shane impersonator. "You're going to have to kick my teeth out," he told the guy in front of him, who agreed.

Niki volunteered me to take off my shirt if the band came out in the next five minutes. I offered to throw my bra on stage. Unfortunately I was not wearing a particularly sexy bra, so this was not much of an incentive, apparently.

During the concert itself, four or five people jumped the rail and tried to rush the stage. I totally would have except Niki held me back. And I couldn't get a decent foothold on the rail. Woe. :'(

One drunk ass in the audience kept yelling at Shane to play "Streets of Sorrow". Finally, Shane got pissed at him and told him "Screw you". Very sexy. MY IDOL, guys. Niki says this is the point when she decided that she would have sex with him if the opportunity ever arose. I would like to point out that I decided the same thing a long long time ago.

Then there was the guy who spent most of "Fiesta" spitting beer at the stage, which Niki notes was a horrible waste of good Guinness. This was after he spent most of the night apologizing to her profusely after she put the fear of God into him for getting into her space one too many times.

The Pogues played two encores. And there's me, shoved up against the rail, trying to hold Niki into place 'cause every time they walk offstage she's trying to leave and I'm trying to tell her, "No, no, they're coming back! They do encores! Really!" Despite her claustrophobia. Because it's THE POGUES. And Shane. Mostly Shane. Yes, I am a fangirl. And a horrible friend.

She enjoyed the concert. Don't let her tell you otherwise. Me, it was the highlight of my fucking LIFE.




More pictures coming when I get them. Hardcore love, kiddos.

&hearts