Frustrating Pogues

[Disgruntled Canuck]

Nothing like dropping cash on the entire Pogues discography and several tours and now torn shirts and having Philip say they're not heading to Canada because the financials won't work out.

Ridiculous.

So the last time you headed to Toronto you had 12 people show up? Get a better promoter.

So between the late 80's and 90's the promoters made too many $ off of your backs? I'm to feel bad about that? Get a better Manager.

U2 and Bon frigging Jovi attaracted over 50K fans each in the past several months. Also, indie bands regularly sell out local 2K joints (of which Toronto has many).

Is it $ or are you afraid you've lost your fan base?

A former Canadian fan - I'm sure you're not unhappy to lose anyways from the sounds of it.

Loving it in the damn cold -

Jamie

[Eckhard]

Calm down, mate.

I don't know which part of Canada you're from, but Boston or NYC aren't that far away from the eastern parts of your lovely Country. And even if you came from Vancouver Island or some isolated village in the far North:

Ever heard of the invention of planes?

Sure, it costs. But over the last years plenty of Europeans have travelled all across the continent to the British Isles in order to see the Pogues or just Shane and that other band.

Right, there have been people asking Phil to play in this country or that, preferrably directly next to the person's house, but I have not yet heard of "disgruntled Bosnians, Danes, Portuguese, Angolans, Thai, whatever" that ended their fan affair with the Pogues.

[Disgruntled Canuck]

:shock:


Calm down, mate.

I don't know which part of Canada you're from, but Boston or NYC aren't that far away from the eastern parts of your lovely Country. And even if you came from Vancouver Island or some isolated village in the far North:

Ever heard of the invention of planes?

Sure, it costs. But over the last years plenty of Europeans have travelled all across the continent to the British Isles in order to see the Pogues or just Shane and that other band.

Right, there have been people asking Phil to play in this country or that, preferrably directly next to the person's house, but I have not yet heard of "disgruntled Bosnians, Danes, Portuguese, Angolans, Thai, whatever" that ended their fan affair with the Pogues.

Eckhard - I stand by what I said, although will tone down the language a bit.

The Pogues can play wherever they want - I just didn't think of Toronto as being the equivalent of wanting them to play my neighbour's back porch when they make their infrequent trips to North America.

Mr frustration relates to the fact that my relationship with the Pogues has been defined by Philip as a purely financial transaction. I am not asking them to run a show at a loss - if anyone ran a Pogues show in Toronto at a financial loss then they really shouldn't be handling money!

I'll drop it but I wanted to share my 5 cents with the band...

Disgruntled Canuck

[georgecat]

How can you be frustrated with the Pogues that they want to make money on tour, but you are complaining about spending money on a plane ticket to see them elsewhere?

Seems a little backwards.

[Disguntled Canuck]

How can you be frustrated with the Pogues that they want to make money on tour, but you are complaining about spending money on a plane ticket to see them elsewhere?

Seems a little backwards.

Not at all backwards -

I am not complaining about them making money on a tour - more power to them if they do. I am frustrated that they seem more concerned about how much money they will make on a tour before they visit.

My decision (not even communicated) whether or not to spend money on a plane ticket is irrelevant.

The Pogues have a major fan base in Toronto they have decided to neglect for reasons that are purely financial based on some gig he played here a few years ago on his own with 12 folks attending. Sounds like he had some pretty lame promotion.

Canadian Pogues fans deserve better!

Disgruntled Canuck

[DzM]

I'm sorry you're all upset and stuff Mr. D. Canuck. Those of us on the West Coast of your neighbor to the south know your pain.

Is there anything I can do to re-gruntle you?

[philipchevron]

We get literally dozens of offers every week, so many that our management office does not even consider offers that are not worked out on something more substantial than the back of an envelope. We play where the promoters pay our asking price. Yes, it really is as simple as that. So far, these promoters have been in the UK, Dublin, Japan, Ackzena and the East Coast of the USA. There is no doubt that for every one of these promoters there has been an element of calculated risk. As the astonishing speed with which the March US dates sold out indicates, some promoters can be shown to be cannier than others, and we have never lost money for a promoter in the past 5 years.

Trust me, your Canadian dollars are every bit as welcome as US Dollars, Euros, Pounds and Yen. If any of your local promoters is willing to do serious business with us, we have yet to hear from him.

On the U2 crack, may I remind you that there are FOUR people in that band. There are EIGHT of us - everything is automatically twice as costly for us as it is for almost every other major band in the world.

I am a theatre fan. I travel the world in search of good theatre when finances allow and often when they don't. It would be terrific if Stephen Sondheim opened his new show or Tom Murphy his new play in Nottingham. But it's not going to happen, so I either have to figure out a way to get to New York or Washington or Dublin or Galway or else I have to stay at home.

I will not be making this defence again, so please put it somewhere accesible if anyone else feels like having a whine.

[Eckhard]

Eckhard - I stand by what I said, although will tone down the language a bit.

The Pogues can play wherever they want - I just didn't think of Toronto as being the equivalent of wanting them to play my neighbour's back porch when they make their infrequent trips to North America.

According to Mapquest Toronto - Boston is 549.81 miles

From my place to Manchester: 578.85 miles

[dawson]

What do you expect? the pogues to go on a 200 date world tour just to accomadate all the fans? they have already done that.. thats what split them up cant see em doing it again their not spring chickens nemore! save up and come to england for a christmas tour!!

[Disgruntled Canadian]

Phillip -

Although I wasn't quite expecting a response from you, thanks for stepping up to address my rant on this, and good point re: the 8 man band thing.

Toronto really loves the Pogues so it baffles me why you're not in town. Unlike some of my fellow posters, this fan can't afford jetting around to see you guys play the States.

Apologies for the disgruntledness - I retract my statements re: losing faith in the Pogues - Phillip - thanks for being a stand up guy and addressing me head on.

TORONTO - can someone step up to get these guys playing in town soon? What the heck - we can pony up the cash for any one of a hundred lame bands but no one will lay out the cash to finance a Pogues show?

By the way - I love theatre too - work in it as well. The arts aren't a job - they're a passion - the struggle is using the art to pay the bills.

Hope you catch a show in Toronto sometime - some of the best theatre in North America.

Disgruntled Canuck

[dawson]

go to the bank with a business plan maybe they might see sense DUDE

[sheva]

There's no question that the fan base is there - of the people I know who are going to the shows here next month, the majority are Canadian. I think it's worth talking to some folks in the biz locally - maybe start with people at appropriately-sized venues.

Personally, I love Toronto, and would love a good excuse to visit there again!

[glonn]

Disgruntled Canadian,
Cheer up baby, save your whining for after the US wipes the ice with your boys in Torino!

[dave 81]

It's obvious from posts on these pages that there are fans all around the World who would love to have The Pogues play in their Country. Unfortunately, this likely won't happen.
I've been enjoying their music for many years, and the opportunity to see them in The U.S. just couldn't be passed up this time.
We're spending a small fortune on a trip from Florida for these events, and you have the audacity to take a cheap shot at the band because you're not willing, or able to travel a few hundred miles!!!!
To quote Spider from an unrelated topic, "you sir, can fuck off."
Go see a hockey game eh?

[Eamo]

"you sir, can fuck off."
Go see a hockey game eh?

loves it!