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| "The Sick Bed Of Cuchulainn" |
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Though I’ve been a fan of The Pogues since my early
teens, I never saw them in concert. And with Shane MacGowan’s death in late
November, my thoughts of one day seeing them were put to rest. In honor of
Shane MacGowan and St. Patrick’s Day, a group got together to perform Pogues
numbers at the Pocock Brewing Company in Santa Clarita, California. The group
included two members of Hot Club Of Los Angeles – Jake Bluenote on vocals,
banjo, guitar and tin whistle; and Carl Byron on accordion and keyboard – and their
presence was a big reason why I attended the show. The group also included Pat
Mac Swyney on tin whistle and octave mandolin, Leslie Yeseta on bass and
vocals, Dawn Lunsford on guitar and vocals, and Theresa Snider on drums.
The show was scheduled to start at 3 p.m., and though I
got there an hour early, the music was already in progress and the place was packed.
The venue’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration was in full swing a day early. Well,
all right! Jake Bluenote and Pat Mac Swyney were on stage, performing as a duo.
And for the last song of their set, Leslie Yeseta joined them. Their set
wrapped up at 2:31 p.m., and the other members immediately began setting up for
the full band set. The venue had a lively and loud crowd, but some harsh
feedback got everyone’s attention momentarily, as the soundcheck continued. I liked
the place immediately. It had good folks, good vibes and good beer. I started
with Letter Of Marque, an IPA, then switched to Union Brown Porter, and
later tried Mahna Mahna. And, yes, it was named after the song heard in an
episode of
The Muppet Show back in
1976 (though the song is a bit older than that), and that’s why I wanted to try
it. It was delicious.
At 3:11 p.m., Jake said, “
Greetings!” And without another word, the band went right into its
first song, “The Sick Bed Of Cuchulainn,” the lead track from The Pogues’ great
LP
Rum Sodomy & The Lash,
released in 1985. They followed that with “Streams Of Whiskey.” The sound wasn’t
perfect in that room, but the spirit certainly was. The first set also included
“The Ghost Of A Smile,” “Cotton Fields,” “Haunted,” and “Dirty Old Town,” that
last one featuring some nice work by Pat Mac Swyney on harmonica at the
beginning. They also played “Venus In Bother Boots,” a good punk number by The
Nips, the band Shane was in before The Pogues. Jake played guitar on that one,
and also on the last song of the set. And what an interesting number they chose
to close the first set, “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death,” which is a poem
by William Butler Yeats, delivered as spoken word. The first set ended at 3:57
p.m. The band returned at 4:32 p.m. for the second set, which featured songs
like “If I Should Fall From Grace With God,” “White City,” “The Old Main Drag,”
“Lullaby Of London,” “Danny Boy,” “Boat Train,” and “The Rake At The Gates Of
Hell.” Leslie sang lead on “I’m A Man You Don’t Meet Every Day.” That was
followed by “The Body Of An American” and then “Fairytale Of New York.” “Fairytale
Of New York” is far and away the best Christmas song ever written. It is so good
that it is welcome throughout the year (something you can’t say about most
Christmas songs). These guys did an absolutely wonderful job with it. They
followed that with “The Parting Glass,” and concluded the show with “A Rainy
Night In Soho.” The show ended at 5:49 p.m. Apparently, this was planned on
being a one-off, but they had such a good time that it now looks like the band
will be doing this again. And that is good news. I’m hoping next time they’ll
do “Sally MacLennane.”
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| "The Sick Bed Of Cuchulainn" |
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| "Streams Of Whiskey" |
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| "Billy's Bones" |
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"Cotton Fields"
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| "Dirty Old Town" |
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| "I'm A Man You Don't Meet Every Day" |
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| "Fairytale Of New York" |
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Pocock Brewing Company is located at 24907 Avenue
Tibbitts in Santa Clarita, California.
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