The Pogues: In the wake of the Medusa

Yes They Can
Spring 2009 North American Goodness

The Pogues have announced shows on the North American East Coast in March 2009.

UPDATE: The Pogues have joined the lineup of the Langerado Music Festival taking place March 6-7-8, 2009 in Miami, Florida. Tickets go on sale Friday, December 12.

Public sale for non-festival shows through the usual outlets began Friday, Nov. 28.
General availability of tickets for the Boston show go on sale December 20.

March 6-7-8: Miami, FL Langerado Music Festival
March 9: Atlanta, GA, Tabernacle
March 12 & 13: New York, NY, Roseland
March 16 & 17: Washington, DC, 9:30 Club
March 21: Boston, MA, House of Blues

Discussion is happening here.

— DzM

I'm dreaming of a... Pogues Christmas

The Pogues have announced that there will be the following shows in England, Scotland and Ireland in December, 2008.

Nov 6: The Pogues have announced a third date at the Brixton Academy on Saturday, December 20. Tickets went on sale November 7 at 10:00am GMT.

Tickets for the shows are on sale through the usual outlets.

DJ Scratchy will once again be tour DJ on this, his fourth Pogues X-Mas tour. Scratchy has toured with the best, from the Clash to Joe Strummer's Mescaleros, the Dead Brothers to Gogol Bordello and the Urban Voodoo Machine to, of course, the Pogues.

The Urban Voodoo Machine will be supporting The Pogues on all dates except December 19. The Urban Voodoo Machine will be selling advanced copies of their first release, Bourbon Soaked Gypsy Blues Bop'N'Stroll.

Also joining the tour for various dates are Stranglers, Mumford & Sons, and Flaming Stars.

Saturday, Dec 6: Belfast King's Hall
- DJ Scratchy, Urban Voodoo Machine
Sunday, Dec 7: Glasgow Academy
- DJ Scratchy, Urban Voodoo Machine
Tuesday, Dec 9: Leeds Academy
- DJ Scratchy, Urban Voodoo Machine
Thursday, Dec 11: Newcastle Academy
- DJ Scratchy, Urban Voodoo Machine
Friday, Dec 12: Sheffield Academy
- DJ Scratchy, Urban Voodoo Machine
Saturday, Dec 13: Manchester MEN
- DJ Scratchy, Stranglers
Monday, Dec 15: Birmingham Academy
- DJ Scratchy, Urban Voodoo Machine
Tuesday, Dec 16: Bristol Academy
- DJ Scratchy, Urban Voodoo Machine
Thursday, Dec 18: Brixton Academy
- DJ Scratchy, Urban Voodoo Machine
Friday, Dec 19: Brixton Academy
- DJ Scratchy, Flaming Stars
Saturday, Dec 20: Brixton Academy
- DJ Scratchy, Mumford & Sons
Monday, Dec 22: Dublin RDS Main Hall
- DJ Scratchy, Urban Voodoo Machine

Discussion is happening here.

— DzM, Zuzana

New book about the Pogues'
Rum, Sodomy & the Lash

Excerpts are available here. Enjoy.

From the publisher:

The Pogues' Rum, Sodomy and the Lash
by Jeffrey T. Roesgen

"To listen to Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash is to be taken on a sea voyage with a cast of rabble-rousers, rovers, dreamers, and revolutionaries. Released in 1985 the Pogues' second album seamlessly bounds between oceans and centuries, composing and culling stories of common people; their vices, suffering, and urges; their misadventures and victories. With the vital ode of Celtic folk music and the abandon of punk, the Pogues frame their tales with a spirit that's at once firebrand and solemn. Through the epic imagery gracing the cover to the cast of souls introduced in the songs to the Pogues themselves, Jeff Roesgen's celebration of Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash intertwines a sea-faring fictional narrative with band-informed accounts of the creation of this unique and enduring album.

Jeff Roesgen writes both fiction and about music for tinymixtapes.com. He is working on his first anthology of stories about his young life in Hong Kong. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with his wife and two children."

The book is going to be released in November, 2008. Published by Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.

Amazon: UK USA Japan Germany France Canada

Discussion is happening here.

— Zuzana

Just Look Them Straight In The Eye ...
It’s Box Set Time!

Just Look Them Straight In The Eye and Say... POGUEMAHONE!!

The Pogues have opened the hidden private vaults containing the archive of their recordings not previously released. The result? A five-disc box set titled "Just Look Them Straight in the Eye And Say... POGUEMAHONE!!" The compilation includes rarities, radio sessions, demos, movie incidental music and live recordings. Also inside are the legendary Murder, Donegal Express, Danny Boy, Travelling People, and Fairytale of New York demos, collaborations with Joe Strummer, Kirsty MacColl, Steve Earle and much more.

The complete track list with all 109 songs, all five discs is here.

Amazon: UK USA Japan Germany France Canada

Discussion is happening here.

— Zuzana & DzM

Finding things to buy

T-Shirt The Pogues have lots of things on the market to satisfy your Celtic Punk desires. Seven full-kength CDs, remixed with extra tracks. Collections. A box-set with rarities. Books! Videos! T-Shirts, pint glasses, posters and much more.

But where to buy these things? There are many places, but if you buy from the Amazon links on this page then a portion of your purchase will go toward keeping this site running. That's gotta be a good thing, right?

— DzM

Non-Pogues Projects

Jem Finer & DM Bob, Pirana

Pirana Jem Finer & DM Bob have hit the studio to create Pirana, their second offering. It's available as an MP3 purchase from Amazon USA, and as a CD and Vinyl release from Amazon Germany.

Radiators From Space, Trouble Pilgrim

The Radiators From Space, with Philip Chevron, have released their first CD in over 20 years. Trouble Pilgrim is available in the UK and North America. Designated by Shite'n'Onions as sharing the top stop in the Celtic Punk CDs of 2007.

Modena City Ramblers featuring Terry Woods

The recent Modena City Ramblers release features Terry Woods.

Marseille Figs

Marseille Figs' first release, The Dirty Canon, produced by Jem Finer goes on sale on November 19, 2007. Discussion is here.

Cranky George

Cranky George, James Fearnley's band with Msrs Mulroony and Wood, now has a web site.

The Yuyu

The Yuyu Spider Stacy and James Walbourne music set with animation by Adam Phillips. Discussion is here.

— DzM

Bloguemahone -
Dispatches from the road

James “The Maestro” Fearnley has been kind enough to document life on the road during the 2005 and 2006 shows. All installments starting with London, 2005 are available beginning with:

Sunday, July 17
Shane came into rehearsal ‘professionally late’, as he wittily put it, with that gnashing laugh he has, the first day of rehearsal. I think he’d had to be woken up, in his flat. He wasn’t as sartorial as I’ ve seen him of late, though he still has his brothel-creepers that I became familiar with coming across on the dressing room floor when we were on tour at Christmas, as he felt the need to air his rather curious-looking feet (and to air, with Joey, the top half of his body, at least one evening, where were we? Newcastle I think). He staggered in at four in the afternoon wearing a tophat that looked as though someone had attempted to contain a firework inside it. Continued...

News...

Dec 27, 2008 - Jan 3, 2009	Shane MacGowan guests with Sharon Shannon in Castlebar, Donegal, Cork, Galway, Killarney, Wexford, Ennis and Kilkenny. Dates and venues are here.
Dec 19 & 22, 2008	Shane takes part in the aftershow party in Brixton Jamm, London, performing with The Popes and spinning his own vinyl. Shane also takes part as a DJ at the aftershow charity event in Eamonn Dorans, Dublin. Discussion is happening here.
Dec 6-22, 2008	The Pogues tour England, Scotland, Ireland, and N. Ireland.
Nov, 2008	Rum, Sodomy, & the Lash, by Jeffrey Roesgen, a part of the 33 1/3 book series from Continuum Publishing, is released.
June, 2008	Just Look Them In The Eye and Say POGUE MAHONE!!, a five disc box set of rarities and previously unreleased material, is released in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and mainland Europe.
2007	Spider opens a MySpace page for The Pogues featuring sound samples, photos, and tour dates.
October, 2006	"Pogue Mahone: The Story of The Pogues" by Carol Clerk is released in the UK.