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Dec. 19th, 2007 04:45 pmTo London yesterday for the Pogues. Arrived at Victoria just after 4.30, checked into the hotel and unloaded my stuff, then walked down the road to the kebab shop next to Victoria coach station. As I was perusing the food choices on the overhead boards, the guy behind the counter suggested "Meat and chips?" After a moment's thought I agreed, going for garlic sauce on the meat, salad, and mayo on the chips. Quite tasty.
Got to Brixton Academy just after 7. They'd just begun letting people in; the queue was only halfway round the side wall. As always, several people came along the line handing everybody flyers for various concerts and dance clubs. Got frisked by a steward on the way in.
As it was the anniversary of Kirsty's death, I was wearing my KM T-shirt, but nobody said anything. Thank goodness, I was in the circle this year; stopped at the bar on the landing for a quick drink before making my way in.
They could have chosen some better music to play while we waited than the weird instrumental tunes they went for. At 8 pm the support, The Holloways, came on - they were superb, playing catchy power pop with witty lyrics including a Christmas song.
When they finished at 8.40 we had a 40-minute wait until The Pogues appeared, to a roof-raising cheer, and launched into Streams Of Whiskey. Shame that a bloke in the middle of my row had decided to go to the bar 2 minutes before they came on, so we all had to get up to let him back in with his beers as Streams came to a climax. The band were on absolute top form, Shane's singing was at its very best, and Spider Stacy acted as host for the night, regularly dedicating songs to people including his family members and Josh, the Brixton Academy manager "without whom the whole place would fall apart". Spider rightly got his moment in the limelight, singing the magnificent Tuesday Morning, but though Thousands Are Sailing was dedicated to Philip, it was unusually Shane not Philip who sang it.
Nearly all the songs that formed the soundtrack to my student days were included - I gave it laldy singing along to The Broad Majestic Shannon, The Sick Bed Of Cuchulainn, Bottle Of Smoke and the number that closed the main set, Sally MacLennane. Near the end of Broad Majestic, the lady one seat away from me moved across into the empty seat next to me. I couldn't quite make out what she said, it sounded like something about getting a better view, but I like to think it was my dulcet tones that drew her over :)
We got three encores, all consisting of classic tunes. Before each encore the whole place was doing the Olé Chorus! They made us wait until the third encore before bringing Ella Finer on and playing Fairytale - Ella's vocals were a bit drowned by the music, but everyone was singing along anyway. At the end Spider said "Of course, that was for Kirsty" so I said to the lady next to me "7 years ago today she died." "That was 7 quick years," she replied.
Then they played Fiesta, with Spider smashing himself over the head with a tea-tray the whole time, and that was it.
Top gig, so I hate to complain in any way, but I would have loved Rain Street, White City and The Irish Rover to be included. Still, it's a mark of the quality of their catalogue that there's only two songs I'd have pulled to make way for them - one instrumental and one whose title I can't remember, it was a lesser-known one.
Stopped off at Westleigh Park to pick up my ticket for the Swansea match. Arrived home to find I'd won £50 on the Premium Bonds.
Got to Brixton Academy just after 7. They'd just begun letting people in; the queue was only halfway round the side wall. As always, several people came along the line handing everybody flyers for various concerts and dance clubs. Got frisked by a steward on the way in.
As it was the anniversary of Kirsty's death, I was wearing my KM T-shirt, but nobody said anything. Thank goodness, I was in the circle this year; stopped at the bar on the landing for a quick drink before making my way in.
They could have chosen some better music to play while we waited than the weird instrumental tunes they went for. At 8 pm the support, The Holloways, came on - they were superb, playing catchy power pop with witty lyrics including a Christmas song.
When they finished at 8.40 we had a 40-minute wait until The Pogues appeared, to a roof-raising cheer, and launched into Streams Of Whiskey. Shame that a bloke in the middle of my row had decided to go to the bar 2 minutes before they came on, so we all had to get up to let him back in with his beers as Streams came to a climax. The band were on absolute top form, Shane's singing was at its very best, and Spider Stacy acted as host for the night, regularly dedicating songs to people including his family members and Josh, the Brixton Academy manager "without whom the whole place would fall apart". Spider rightly got his moment in the limelight, singing the magnificent Tuesday Morning, but though Thousands Are Sailing was dedicated to Philip, it was unusually Shane not Philip who sang it.
Nearly all the songs that formed the soundtrack to my student days were included - I gave it laldy singing along to The Broad Majestic Shannon, The Sick Bed Of Cuchulainn, Bottle Of Smoke and the number that closed the main set, Sally MacLennane. Near the end of Broad Majestic, the lady one seat away from me moved across into the empty seat next to me. I couldn't quite make out what she said, it sounded like something about getting a better view, but I like to think it was my dulcet tones that drew her over :)
We got three encores, all consisting of classic tunes. Before each encore the whole place was doing the Olé Chorus! They made us wait until the third encore before bringing Ella Finer on and playing Fairytale - Ella's vocals were a bit drowned by the music, but everyone was singing along anyway. At the end Spider said "Of course, that was for Kirsty" so I said to the lady next to me "7 years ago today she died." "That was 7 quick years," she replied.
Then they played Fiesta, with Spider smashing himself over the head with a tea-tray the whole time, and that was it.
Top gig, so I hate to complain in any way, but I would have loved Rain Street, White City and The Irish Rover to be included. Still, it's a mark of the quality of their catalogue that there's only two songs I'd have pulled to make way for them - one instrumental and one whose title I can't remember, it was a lesser-known one.
Stopped off at Westleigh Park to pick up my ticket for the Swansea match. Arrived home to find I'd won £50 on the Premium Bonds.
