We were in Boston in 2008 which was the first tour back for Philip after his initial battle with throat cancer. The Orpheum theater in Boston is all seated (no standing) and we had seats in the front row so my young daughters were able to lean on the stage. They were 5 and 6 at the time. When Philip sang 1000's that night he dedicated the song to my 2 little girls by name. I had not expected it and the whole family was elated. Have since tried to find a YouTube clip of the dedication however the only clip I could find of that night had the dedication cut off (if anyone had video from that night, would love to get a copy for my girls). After the show we headed backstage courtesy of Mr. C's generous gift of after show passes (he never refused my requests and gave them freely for at least a dozen shows I attended). The girls bumped into Joey Cashman on the stairs/hallway which led to the after show gathering, Joey had ash on his forehead as I recall and I think his appearance startled the girls. After a bit Spider, James and Darryl came out and posed with the girls for a nice souvenir photo. Never actually got to shake Philip's hand and thank him until we saw The Pogue's in Austin, TX when he made the effort to come out and say hello to one of his favorite raft mates Teritta (thanks TK). Can't thank Philip enough for all his kindness to the Cadillac family, I think I am still a bit in shock...

I've written at length about Philip and indeed this forum on a blog i've recently set up. Please feel free to read. Thank you

http://markashurst.wordpress.com/

[quote="deisecelt"][quote="Last Post"][quote="philipchevron"][quote="Guest"]Hi Phillip
Are you in a position to confirm if any Irish dates will be added to the schedule many thanks[/quote]


The tour is now complete[/quote][/quote]


That says it all.
I see a pic in today's Star Phil, Shane and Brendan Bowyer in Las Vegas last week. Great to see Mr C was living life to the full right to the end.[/quote]

The picture was taken years back.

When I first came on this forum. I didn't believe that the person registered as Philip Chevron was the real Philip Chevron. It wasn't until he wrote something (can't remember what but it was one of those things that only he would know about the band) that I realised that it was really him.

I had received previous replies to my posts from him but I always remember when I got made redundant posting about it on the [i]Thread for things that don't deserve threads[/i] thread. I can't remember the exact wording and was surprised he took the trouble to reply. Once I was made redundant, I didn't have any internet access for about six weeks until I was eventually connected at home.

Just before the Christmas tour in 2006 (the one where the sound was really bad). He posted he'd lost the guest list and asked that people PM him so that he could sort the list out. I replied to the post saying how much I'd like to go but hadn't asked for back stage passes and said 'Maybe next time'. He PM'd me asking me which show I was going to and said he would arrange it and he did. It was the Manchester gig and the night after Tommy McManamon had died. Philip came to the front of the stage to sing [i]Thousands are Sailing[/i] and did his dedications. The first name he said was mine. I cried my eyes out with joy.

After the show, I met him backstage and thanked him and had a photograph taken. Philip looked at it and said that it was too far away and got Jake to take another which Philip approved of. We left him to it and went to meet other members of The Pogues. All the time, Philip kept turning round and looking at us as if he was seeing if we were OK. We went and sat down and when it was time for him to leave he even came to say goodbye. Six months later we heard the news that he had throat cancer and I was so glad that I replied to that post because I would probably never have met him.

The next time I met him was September 2011 outside the Old Vic in London, where he was doing the music for [i]Playboy of The Western World[/i]. We were outside having a fag in the interval and Jake had seen a short guy about his size shuffle passed us while I was looking the other way. He was convinced it was him. I looked the other way and Jake disappeared. I spotted him a short distance away talking to Phil and Phil was looking at him blankly. I went over and Phil instantly recognised me. Jake did most of the talking, I was too shy. I did however managed to say 'you look really well' to which he said 'thank you' and asked me how my playwriting was going. Then he excused himself and went off to talk to some colleagues.

I was never one to PM him. I always thought that he'd want to be left alone and I respected that point of view, the only thing I would PM him for was back stage passes. One time the back stage passes were not at the box office and Philip was so apologetic and sweet about it. He had put my name down but said that sometimes mistakes were made.

In July, I PM'd him for the final time. A couple of months earlier, I had decided to write a play for him to try and help me cope with my thoughts and feelings about what was going on. I decided that I would tell him. I felt that if I didn't tell him and it got performed and he didn't see it or know about it I would feel terrible. He PM'd me back instantly with just the words 'Good Luck!'.

Back in 2008, I downloaded a pile of Horslips bootlegs. Knowing Philip to be a big fan, I PM'd him to offer copies if he was interested, even though I remembered him saying here he wasn't a big fan of live recordings. But he was quite excited about some of them, so i burned copies off & mailed them to him. We had quite a back & forth about Horslips on the PM and he said some funny things (i'll post it all on the forum). He PM'd me back later to let me know the boots were a hit on The Pogues tour bus.

I'd said no payment necessary of course, but if he happened to have a copy of the 7" of The Radiators w Agnes Bernelle doing "Kitty Rickets" to spare i'd been looking.... Well, he said he didn't, but DID have a copy of the LP he produced for her, "Father's Lying Dead on the Ironing Board", a rare and pricey piece itself (since released on CD, i think) which he sent me as a thank you. A great record, by the by, and a gift now quite treasured by me.

Like the rest of you, his generosity in answering every stupid question I had was above and beyond the call, and deeply appreciated. His personal responses about our lives, his engagement in the, er, lively political discussion, his full participation as yet another member of this here raft was a lovely thing, and set this place apart from any other such place i've looked at. I will never forget when i complained in the "moaners" thread that the radiator in our van had just died, and on my birthday no less. In short order, Phil chimed in and wished me "Happy birthday from a live Radiator!" :) What a sweetheart.

[quote="Last Post"][quote="philipchevron"][quote="Guest"]Hi Phillip
Are you in a position to confirm if any Irish dates will be added to the schedule many thanks[/quote]


The tour is now complete[/quote][/quote]


That says it all.
I see a pic in today's Star Phil, Shane and Brendan Bowyer in Las Vegas last week. Great to see Mr C was living life to the full right to the end.

[quote="Raymond Meade"]I first spoke to Philip on here around 2007 after he'd replied to a kind of fan mail of mine. He was charming and patient and answered all of my questions about guitars and songwriting.............

https://soundcloud.com/raymondmeade/waiting-for-lucy-feat-phil[/quote]

Fantastic story and insight 8)

I trust Philip would not mind me sharing our private messages which started when I told Philip that I was a little disappointed my memory had not been picked for the Paris DVD liner notes. Conversation went as follows:

Philip: Actually, I'm pretty sure your "memory" did make the cut, as I chose it myself. Have you heard otherwise?

Clash Cadillac: No I did not hear otherwise. Just made an assumption since I read somewhere that the "winners" would be contacted by e-mail and I did not get an e-mail. I guess now I had better pre-order a couple of more copies for my girls. Thanks a million for the update.

Philip: I think what probably happened is that they continued to "disqualify" the non-European entries, a decision I blithely overrode when they asked me to judge the entries. I don't suppose they'd have the balls to cross me on this at this stage, but they're a record company, so best not take anything for granted.

As many have commented over the last day or so, Philip always had a way with words. And yes, the record company did not have the balls to cross him :D

[quote="Raymond Meade"]

https://soundcloud.com/raymondmeade/waiting-for-lucy-feat-phil[/quote]

Thank you for sharing!

I first spoke to Philip on here around 2007 after he'd replied to a kind of fan mail of mine. He was charming and patient and answered all of my questions about guitars and songwriting. He encouraged me to mail him some of my own music, which I duly did. This led to my most cherished memory which was when he flew into Glasgow a couple of years ago to play guitar and sing some backing vocals on my album. It was a remarkable act of kindness but typical of the man. He was the very definition of a true gentleman. We kept in contact right up until 2 weeks ago... Another favourite was meeting in Sheffield to attend the World Snooker Championships semi finals... it was a treat any time I spent time in his company. He was such a brilliant man & I'm going to miss him so much, I'm certain we all will. He made this forum different from any other I've encountered. If anybody would like to hear what we came up with together then please click below and download for free or just listen through it... I love Philips voice on it. RIP my friend, it was a real pleasure to know you and your talents. Ray x

https://soundcloud.com/raymondmeade/waiting-for-lucy-feat-phil

[quote="philipchevron"][quote="Guest"]Hi Phillip
Are you in a position to confirm if any Irish dates will be added to the schedule many thanks[/quote]


The tour is now complete[/quote]

When I joined this community in January 2009 I couldn't believe that the man himself would reply to some of my posts and answer my questions. No doubt he was a true gentleman from the heart, always taking time for the fans to communicate with them. My greatest memories of Philip took place here as well: Once Mr. Chevron answered to my post that I couldn't make it to the Brixton December Show in 2010 because of school exams, but I had already booked hotel and flights and had already received my Pogues tickets. He said he was sorry and wished me good luck for those exams - will never forget it. And once I posted some music in the Tribute Section (some recordings where I sang and my brother played guitar) and Phil replied to that as well and said that he liked it and it was good. That was a true honour, coming from a musical genius who wrote so many brilliant songs and was a phenomenal musician. RIP Phil, will never forget you!

Tiny and simple thing to do, but I think Mr Chevron knew exactly what it meant to fans and is why his gestures were so frequent and well intended. It took very little effort but he knew the significance of his actions.

Truly inspirational man right upto the last breath.

When i first found this site in 2004 i lurked around and read everything but didn't register. I, like everyone else, was surprised that members of The Pogues regularly posted and freely interacted with the fans. I was sceptical at first that these posts were genuinely from James, Spider and Philip but yes, it turns out they were.

I signed up in 2006 and posted a few times. At that stage i'd been a fan for nearly 20 years and then it happened........ Philip replied to one of [i]my[/i] comments..... [i]Philip fucking Cevron!!!!![/i] :shock:........ The guitar player in The Pogues!...... Philip Chevron had an opinion on something i said!

In March 2009, The Pogues were to play in Boston, I had plans travel over with 3 friends for the gig but alas it didn't work out for me but the lads went. I decided to chance my arm and send Philip a private message to see would he say hi to them before he sang [i]'Thousands'[/i]. A reply came back the next day, just two letters........

"OK"

But those two letters were more than enough :D And so it happened, Philip took centre stage in Boston and no piece of paper or notes written on his hand were needed, he just dedicated the song as he said he would. Three people from Co. Tipperary were made to feel very special in Boston that night.

Thank you Philip 8)