Compared to last year's slipshod performance at the Orpheum Theatre, when it was all MacGowan could do to muster coherence, on Friday he exhibited a modicum of restraint (for him, that is) when it came to balancing alcoholic consumption with his ability to deliver rollicking songs like the opener, "Streams of Whiskey," and "If I Should Fall From the Grace of God," which immediately followed. In fact, flanked by his eight enablers, the 51-year-old MacGowan - casually clad in black sweater, slacks, and shoes, and looking healthier than he has in some time - barreled gamely through two dozen examples of the reunited Irish punk band's extensive back catalog.
The night was spiked with highlights: The Eastern-tinged reverie "Turkish Song of the Damned" gave way to a roughly gorgeous "A Pair of Brown Eyes," and it was only a matter of time before we got the churlish, in-the-gutter growl of "Dirty Old Town" - a cover that the Pogues have all but made their own. The night even took a refreshingly pretty pop turn when tin whistle player Spider Stacy stepped forward to sing "Tuesday Morning," a straightforwardly sparkling tune that sounded somewhat out of place, but nevertheless proved a welcome departure of mood.
For much of the 90-minute show, the music - a Celtic clatter of waltzing accordion and sprightly banjo that collided, again and again, with jaunty punk time signatures - felt like a blended blur of life's emotional extremes: joy, laughter, tears, and sorrow. Beating at the music's clamoring heart were the Pogues, who ultimately left us wondering whether there ever was a band so perfectly, equally suited to playing either a wedding or a wake.
