Poguetry in Louisiana

I’ve always been a big fan of Irish music and especially bands like the Pogues, who I was fortunate to see on several occasions during the past few decades. When I saw that two of the original members (of the Pogues), namely Spider Stacy and Cait O’Riordan were doing a couple of gigs I hopped in the car and made the 8hr plus drive from Nashville to New Orleans.

Poguetry as they call themselves, backed by the Cajun music outfit Lost Bayou Ramblers, were playing at Tipitinas, a well known musical landmark in New Orleans. I’d been there once before, a few years back to see Prophets of Rage and found it to be an intimate venue allowing the fans to get close to the stage.

First up came the Lost Bayou Ramblers, playing their own brand of Cajun music that got the crowd nodding and toe-tapping. A couple of songs later and the introduction of Spider Stacy and Cait O’Riordan to the stage switched the tempo over to a fast-paced Irish sound with ‘Boys from the county hell’. The ensemble worked it’s way through the set-list of mainly Pogues songs (The Clash’s London Calling being a notable exception) and of course the crowd lapped it up, myself included.

They finished the night on ‘Body of an American’ and all too-quickly it was over as Spider Stacy and Cait O’Riordan departed and the Lost Bayou Ramblers switched back to their more usual Cajun sound.

I enjoyed it and wanted more, luckily they were repeating the experience the following night in Lafayette, so a 2hr plus drive the next day and I found  myself in Lafayette at the Pearl, another smaller intimate venue. The crowd were not quite as numerous or enthusiastic as the night before but it was still a very well-received performance and we sang along to favourites such as ‘Greenland whale fisheries’, ‘Dirty old town’ and ‘Streams of Whisky’.

It was great to re-live some of the Pogues’ music live and Spider Stacy and Cait O’riordan did a grand job of peeling back the years. They only had two gigs scheduled and I had attended both, all-in-all a great weekend and well worth all the driving back and forth!