The Medusa Fora

Philip, with the up and comming tour, what sort of time span would you guys put aside for rehearsing. Would you plan to meet up hours,days,weeks or months in advance, would you all meet together or in smaller groups, would you play any warm up gigs etc?

moose wrote:Philip, with the up and comming tour, what sort of time span would you guys put aside for rehearsing. Would you plan to meet up hours,days,weeks or months in advance, would you all meet together or in smaller groups, would you play any warm up gigs etc?

Up till recently, we've rehearsed for 4 or 5 days before tours, but we only did one day before Washington in March. It is becomingly increasingly obvious to us that we do not actually need to rehearse, and tend to do so only for the Crew's sake. Last Christmas, we did a week before the UK, but as it kept getting interrupted by promo duties for FoNY, it was next to worthless. We all arrived armed with the hope that we might try some new old songs, but we never found any we really liked playing. Nice though it was to revisit Dark Streets of London, Billy's Bones, And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda, London You're A Lady, Misty Motning Albert Bridge and a few others, none of them seemed better than what we already had in the show, though I think we did get Sayonara and Sunnyside Of The Steet in these sessions. By the time Shane arrived and led us through an unwise medlley of Summer In Siam and PIL's Rise, we had grown heartily sick of rehearsals.

Thanks Philip

Yeah thanks for the insight Philip

It was good to hear Sayonara and Sunnyside Of The Steet on last years setlist, so maybe we will get a few other surprises this year

Irish Rover wrote:maybe we will get a few other surprises this year

*cough* Kitty *cough*cough* Kitty *cough*

philipchevron wrote: It is becomingly increasingly obvious to us that we do not actually need to rehearse, and tend to do so only for the Crew's sake.

Wow Concerning the recreation of me own band which means "rehearsals, rehearsals and only rehearsals"... the sentence above sounds loike a beautiful dream. Its amazing when one band becomes so experienced and great that rehearsals are not a must before the gig.

philipchevron wrote: By the time Shane arrived and led us through an unwise ........ and PIL's Rise, we had grown heartily sick of rehearsals.

Eric V wrote:

philipchevron wrote: By the time Shane arrived and led us through an unwise ........ and PIL's Rise, we had grown heartily sick of rehearsals.

I concur...
May The Road Rise With You indeed... Fun story Philip. Thank you very much. AnGeR Is An EnErGY...

I remember rehearsing more times than gigging! That sucked...what's the point. Some of our better shows were performed unrehearsed.

Behan wrote:I remember rehearsing more times than gigging! That sucked...what's the point. Some of our better shows were performed unrehearsed.

Living on the edge, that's the way Brendy! Why rehearse spontaneous genius?

mmm very interesting, how i would love to be a fly on the wall at a rehersal session, has any of this been recorded for the dvd i wonder ?

rumsodomyandthelash wrote:mmm very interesting, how i would love to be a fly on the wall at a rehersal session, has any of this been recorded for the dvd i wonder ?

Goodness me, yes. Nora films the slightest flinch.

there is a DVD of it all?

IrishRover wrote::shock: there is a DVD of it all?

I think it depends on what the meaning of teh word "is" is. I think he's teasing us. But who knows; if the footage from the recent shows gets sorted out and the band is happy with the product, then maybe we will see that nugget and so much more. Which makes me ask...

Philip -- Do the Pogues own the footage, or did you sign some kind of deal with the people shooting it that gives them the right to release what they want (with some kind of control by you guys, maybe informal?) The reason I ask is because you have confessed to be a bunch of perfectionists, taking forever to release live recordings, and I'm wondering if some other party gets to "help" you get past the "oh I don't like the way I looked/sounded there" or "could you put in some footage of me doing that thingy thing, because I really liked the way it felt" or some such?

No disrespect intended. Just want to know if it is at all reasonable to expect a DVD in the next couple years.