BY EDWARD BURCH

The anticipation ran high as the lights dimmed on a drizzly Texas evening. The outdoor amphitheatre at Stubb's was packed for what would be The Pogues' first appearance in Austin in 20 years. In that time, the band has weathered a few changes. They were briefly fronted by the late Joe Strummer (signified that evening by blasting "Straight to Hell" over the PA just before the band took the stage), during one of the periods that Shane MacGowan was unable to tour--okay, kicked out of the band. One might fairly ask what could be interesting about seeing a band whose last album of new material appeared in 1996. Yet with a handful of stellar works to their credit, and a frontman of notorious and legendary regard, anyone with a love of punk, drunk, and high-energy Irish music was assured a show unlike any other. The Pogues did not disappoint.

The band takes the stage, with Shane donning dark eyeshades, wearing rumpled black shirt and trousers, and barely balancing a sloshing beverage in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He grabs the microphone, but the stand fails to support him. The Pogues have yet to play a single note. This is the tightrope that the band will attempt to walk this autumn evening (and, one assumes, for the remainder of their career). But as they open with "Streams of Whiskey" (in which MacGowan had clearly bathed recently) and continue with a rousing take on "If I Should Fall From Grace With God," fans can't help but fall in love with them.

The pattern for the concert went as follows: Shane comes out to front two or three songs, and then leaves the stage (to refill his drink, use the restroom, grab a smoke, etc.), at which point one of the other band members gets to sing lead. One such number, Philip Chevron's "Thousands Are Sailing," a beautifully forlorn immigration tale, was as moving that evening as it was the first time I heard it--if not more so. To hear the force with which tin whistler Spider Stacy can still let loose with a howling banshee shriek suggests that he needs The Pogues as much for primal scream as he does for a musical outlet (also, during the final encore of "Fiesta," Stacy's method of adding percussion consisted of repeatedly slapping himself upside the skull with a jelly-roll tray). Yet, Stacy also does a superb job with his "Tuesday Morning." Each time Shane returns to the stage, he might be wearing an oversize Artful Dodger top hat, or his fly might be open for a good portion of the set. But dammit, he's gonna sing "Bottle of Smoke" whether or not it's on the set list.

The band is a tight musical unit, and most of the members are sober these days. But not Shane. Watching the band attempt to hold a show together in the face of MacGowan's strident alcoholism, it's not hard to miss the intra-Pogue tension--a clear mix of frustration and resignation. Shane seemingly lives the life of careless, dependent disregard to which most of us can only vicariously aspire. But in those moments of the show when it comes together--whether the explosive catharsis of "The Sick Bed of Cuchculainn" or the remorseful cautionary tale of "The Old Main Drag"--it is a wonder to behold. It is quite possible that Shane would be incapable of performing these songs sober (his is likely a case of state-dependent learning). I do not begrudge MacGowan his dipsomaniacal habits. I only hope that he finds a way to push aside the demons every once in a while, just as his and his band's music seems to do for their fans.

***

Opening the show was Nashville's Justin Townes Earle. Earle performed solo acoustic, featuring songs from his recent Bloodshot releases, The Good Life and Midnight at the Movies, as well as offering up a few new numbers.  In solo acoustic presentation, Earle's honky-tonk showmanship was given a chance to shine through, without being terribly overbearing. He seamlessly shifted between "puttin'-on-a-show voice" introductions and sincere song delivery, echoing the package shows of a previous generation. Earle's show was a fine time, and a wonderful way to relax before the onslaught to follow.