Probably a silly question...but, I noticed that Shane MacGowan is performing in Glasgow while there. I'm COMPELLED to see him, but am wondering, should I expect a half-ass decent show from him or not?

Who fucking cares. The man is a walking amusement park, including his mouthful of funhouse mirror teeth. Go.

Good luck getting anyone to go with you. Shane McGowan? In Glasgow? The whole thing will virtually be an IRA rally.

You have a chance to see one of the few humans on the planet who can eat a handful of acid after already having already reached a lethal state of alcohol intoxication and STILL (mostly) remember the lyrics to a gaggle of songs well enough to slur them across a crowded room with conviction, and you ask this question? Go, silly young person, go.

See? I KNEW it was a silly question!! I mean...christ, when will I ever get a chance to see him? IRA rally or not, I'm fuckin' going to see him. It'll be a win-win situation -- if he gives a great performance, I get to say I was there! And if he gives a shitty show, I can STILL say I was there!

I've been to a gig that (unbeknowst to me) was pretty much an IRA rally, in Dublin (arguably less tense than Glasgow as far as This Sort Of Thing), and it was pretty alarming, I must say. Have fun, but do be careful.

Awww, c'mon, it can't be THAT bad, can it? I don't even look Irish!

I saw him once, in 1989 with The Pogues.
But it was outside of Chicago, so I can only speak to the performance aspect of your question...
He was a great frontman (even if he did wander off the stage a few times, in mid-song). A lot of fun to watch and, of course, the songs are genius.

I saw The Pogues twice in mid-80s and late 80s in Montreal. Both were great shows but the second one had Joe Strummer subbing for Shane McGowan. The show with Shane saw him reasonably coherent throughout. I recall in one of the shows, they did try to turn it into a Quebec indendence rally; I guess you can take the band out of Dublin, but...

[img][650:520]http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper225/stills/dei7k4xy.jpg[/img]

Gah, is that really him? What's that from?

i was half convinced this thread was confirming his death.

In the interests of full disclosure:

In the pre gig hang out period, enthusiastic IRA-themed chanting (everybody now, oooh, aaah, up the RA!), which would recur during lulls. Funny - to - hostile looks at all those not participating. At lyrically appropriate moments, (Ima vote for 'Birmingham Six' here), everyone dropped to the floor to have a bit of a pray for hunger strikers, or other 'cause' related deaths, with the more fervent shouting out names. Be near a wall for this if you're not going to participate so you're not so obvious. Keep your mouth shut. We left, and two guys followed us for a block or so muttering. No harm done, but not a fun night out.

In Glasgow, you'll have the bonus of hostile groups on the other side, who may not think too much of those going in or out of such a gig (or what they think of as such a gig), rather than the tacit acceptance so many ROI folks have (or had at the time, I should say--can't speak for the atmosphere now).

Still, it's Shane, well worth seeing in the abstract. I don't know if their crowd in Glasgow is really like that or not.

Hmmm...maybe I should wear a Che Guevara shirt or something. Sounds like I'm in for an experience either way.

I had moved from Belfast pretty recently, too, so I may have been a little twitchy still. I felt relaxed and fine while I was living there (and really it's a ridiculously safe city for the most part), but when I moved away I realised I had been just a bit on edge all the time.

I know what you mean. About a year ago I had a chance to see The Fall. Mark E. Smith can be as bad or worse than Shane. Depends on if he's been drinking or even if he just woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

I had heard that he had put together a pretty good band and a local music magazine said all reports were that he was "behaving".

One of the worst show I've ever been to. Didn't think my wife would ever talk to me again after subjecting her to that.

Fuckin' music magazine apologized in their next issue for the recommendation.

Steve