NECK LondonIrish PsychoCeilídh

Howyez, all very last minute, but Leeson's playing a live acoustic version of Blue skies over Nenagh, as part of Portobello Radio's tribute to Shane MacGowan - it's on now! Yikes!

Portobello Radio – The best Music & Chats from West London's favourite radio station Home We celebrate the rich cultural diversity that is the Portobello Road and serve as a hub of the community, streaming its events, offers, news, views and developments. We offer air time to all communities, a regular Latin American show, a Spanish hour, Moroccan, African, Caribbean, Irish & more j...

Howyez, after the tragic news that Shane MacGowan, sadly, died yesterday, we've, kindly been asked to be a part of this event celebrating his talent & influence tonight at The London Irish Centre. We, literally, wouldn't exist without Shane. It was our frontman, Leeson's cathartic, inspirational stint playing in Shane MacGowan & The Popes that led, directly, to Neck being formed.
Leeson feels he "owes Shane so much", so we have to be part of this tribute to such a London-Irish icon & National treasure in Ireland. Right so - time to pack-up & go to the gig!
Here's to Shane!

📣 Our Songs For Shane tribute show at The London Irish Centre tonight is now SOLD OUT folks! In the interests of health & safety if you haven’t got a ticket please do not turn up at the door, thank you! We’re very much looking forward to seeing you all later where we’ll be joined on stage by some very special guests! Doors open at 7:30pm! 💚

Howyez!
We just want to say go raibh mile maith agat / a thousand thank you's to everyone who came along to the gig in The World's End last night & had The Hooley & the craic with us! & some mighty craic was had entirely! & a big shout to very old friend of the band, Christy, who turned-up & helped facilitate a free demonstration - between himself & our 'head gobeen', O'Keeffe - of proper Dublin 'slagging' for the benefit & education of the audience. (as well as Christy giving us all a free demo of his 'mohawks for bald people' invention) ;-)

Jaysus, lads - it was gas! There were people pi***ng themselves laughing (particularly the Irish people there). It's a good job our old drummer, Charlie Keegan (another 'Dub'), wasn't there, or we'd have hardly played a f**kin' note! 😆
But we did manage to play all 3 sets (although it all, inevitably, ran late) & we played really well, sounded great & we were delighted with the rapturous response from everyone! We were genuinely touched... 💚

& it was great to see everyone enjoying themselves so much, people singing along & dancing too! We love ya ta bits!
& thanks also to everyone who bought T-shirts & CDs afterwards too! It means a lot & all helps the cause!

So yeh - mighty craic & an enjoyable night was had by all! Yay!
Loads of love & shenanigans, from the lads & lass in Neck!
X # # 💚☘ 🪕🎻🎸🥁🎤🎼🍻🥃🍻😂🤣 ☘💚

p.s. & Ash took a selfie with the band (a bandie?) while we were playing, so here it is... 😁

Howyez!
We just want to say go raibh mile maith agat mór / a big a thousand thank you's to everyone who caught our set - particularly those who specifically came to see us - & had The Hooley with us in The Underworld on Thursday! (Our 12th time there too!) It was a f**kin' mighty gig entirely! - & thanks again to our old guitarist, Leigh Heggarty (now of Ruts DC!) for jumping-in & giving it some welly! - & we were absolutely delighted with the incredible, rapturous response from all of yez! - With all the roaring, cheering, clapping, bopping about & singing along to the songs! It's what we live for, so it means a hell of a lot, & we were totally made-up!
& a special mention to all of you who bought a shirt or a CD - we were blown away with how much we'd sold, & it's incredibly appreciated!
Bless you all - friends old & new - & thanks so much for such an incredible gig - it makes it all worthwhile!
Them bowsies in NECK X # # 💚☘ 🍻🥁🪕🎻🎸🍻☘💚
(& it was a complete pleasure to play with our mates, Ferocious Dog - not just a great band, but a really decent bunch of lads too!)

Howyez,
We're absolutely delighted to announce that we're going to be playing ANOTHER gig with our old Folk-Punk mates, the mighty Ferocious Dog this Thursday (21st) in Club 85 in Hitchin! (& we'll be playing at 7:55!)
We've played with them a good few times before, & it always works really well, so this will be an absolute f**kin' belter of a gig!
So get yer Hooley boots on, get the drinks in & get yerself down the front! 'Cos it's gonna be as messy as ye like! & it's gonna be f**kin' epic! HOOLEY!!!! - Sláinte!
☘🍻🥃🪕🎻🎸🥁🎤🥃🍻☘️💚
& here's the event yoke:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1622107248209010

Howyez!
We just want to say go raibh mile maith agat / a thousand thank you's to everyone who came along & had the '1/2-way-to-Paddy's-Day' Hooley with us in The World's End last night! A mighty vibe, & the bit of craic! & great to see some familiar faces & some old friends of the band, as well as plenty of new faces too!
We sounded good & we played really well, so we were absolutely made-up with the rapturous response from all of yez! (Including an impressive 'Jakey Wave'! Fittingly, as the song 'Hello Jakey!' mentions Camden Town!), and particularly to the Traditional Irish music sections! It really stirs people & we love the roar at the end of playing them - it really means a lot... bless you all!
😁💚☘ 🍻🥁🪕🎻🎸🍻☘💚
G'luck, sláinte, & see yez all again very soon! 😉
Them bowsies in NECK X # # 💚☘

Howyez,
We're absolutely delighted to announce that we're going to be playing with our old Folk-Punk mates, the mighty FEROCIOUS DOG, on Thursday 28th September in our O'ffical London 'Home Turf', The Underworld, in Camden! (this will be our twelfth time playing in there!!)

We've played with them a good few times before, & it always works really well, so this will be an absolute f**kin' belter of a gig! So don't miss it (or you'll be after kicking yer own arse all over Camden Town...& beyond!

Youse know the drill by now: get yer Hooley boots on, get the drinks in & get yerself down the front! 'Cos it's gonna be as messy as ye like! & it's gonna be f**kin' epic! HOOLEY!!!! - Sláinte!
☘🍻🥃🪕🎻🎸🥁🎤🥃🍻☘️💚

Event Page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/543944617930868

Howyez!
We just want to say go raibh mile maith agat mór / a big a thousand thank you's to everyone who came along & had The Hooley with us in The World's End on Friday night! We were delighted with the turn-out, with a good number of Neck T-shirts in evidence, as well as plenty of familiar faces - old & newer - & we were absolutely made-up with the incredible response from all of yez! Apart from the cheering & clapping, we could see people singing along to the songs all over the pub! That means a lot, so yeh, we were totally made-up! & it makes it all worthwhile! 💚 ☘

& we'd also like to acknowledge the amazing response to the shared postings about the gig in a whole bunch of Facebook groups - from between one or two people to a hell of a lot! We think it's the biggest, collective (& cumulative), response we've had to any gig posting yet! So, we do need to acknowledge that agus go raibh mile maith agat / & a thousand thank you's! Every 'like' (or 'love') counts, so it means a lot when they all build into a pretty impressive number, collectively!
& the venue were happy too! So, job done, & Happy Days!
😁💚☘ 🍻🥁🪕🎻🎸🍻☘💚

& there will be more - & very soon - in our favourite part of Camden, & on our 'home turf '
(so, watch this space...) - G'luck, sláinte, & see yez all again soon!
Them bowsies in NECK X # # 💚☘

(Oh & just a few pics of some of yez - early birds, well before & happy people, modelling our wares after the gig at the Merch stall!)

Howyez!
We just want to say go raibh mile maith agat mór / a big a thousand thank you's to everyone who came along & had The Hooley with us in The World's End on Friday night! We were delighted with the turn-out, with a good number of Neck T-shirts in evidence, as well as plenty of familiar faces - old & newer - & we were absolutely made-up with the incredible response from all of yez! Apart from the cheering & clapping, we could see people singing along to the songs all over the pub! That means a lot, so yeh, we were totally made-up! & it makes it all worthwhile! 💚 ☘

This was a challenging gig, we were only asked to do it 2 & half weeks ago, & with so many people being away: the fiddler was back home in Ireland, Sara-Lou was already booked to photograph a festival, & our first THREE choices of bass-player were unavailable! So half the band on Friday were people we knew who helped us out - at very short notice - to get the gig done! So from us, also go raibh mile maith agat mór / a big a thousand thank you's to Marie McCormack (tin whistle, & a former long-time member of the band: she's playing on our first two albums, & I still play Traditional Irish music with her), Nick Herrick on fiddle (who meself & Marie also play Traditional Irish Music with - we're doing so at 6:30 today, Sunday 27th - in the front bar of The Faltering Fullback in Finsbury Park at 6:30), & Trystan O'Connell on bass (an old friend of the band & he's been to loads of our gigs) - thanks so much, you all did a cracking job & we couldn't have done the gig without your help! 💚

& we'd also like to acknowledge the amazing response to the shared postings about the gig in a whole bunch of Facebook groups - from between one or two people to a hell of a lot! We think it's the biggest, collective (& cumulative), response we've had to any gig posting yet! So, we do need to acknowledge that agus go raibh mile maith agat / & a thousand thank you's! Every 'like' (or 'love') counts, so it means a lot when they all build into a pretty impressive number, collectively!

& the venue were happy too! So, job done, & Happy Days!
😁💚☘ 🍻🥁🪕🎻🎸🍻☘💚

& there will be more - & very soon - in our favourite part of Camden, & on our 'home turf '
(so, watch this space...) - G'luck, sláinte, & see yez all again soon!
Them bowsies in NECK X # # 💚☘

(Oh & just a few pics of some of yez - early birds, well before & happy people, modelling our wares after the gig at the Merch stall!)

Howyez,
Just to let yez all know that, after a lot of to-ing & fro-ing (mainly due to the shenanigans our two previous labels were up to...including, ultimately, taking the album down) we're absolutely made-up to announce that we've finally managed to get our seminal, & highly-rated 2nd album 'Sod 'em & Begorrah!' back up online on our own 'Paddy Plastic' label! Yay! 😉 ✊💚☘ 🧷☘
(& about f**kin' time!) & thanks to the digital distributor for seeing our point of view & getting it sorted!
So it's back up on all the usual platforms, including - as requested, Spotify! (& iTunes, etc)
https://open.spotify.com/album/71eJ2NNLn6d5jCiFZKDVji

It was the first album where we all went into the studio & recorded it in one go (14 songs over a weekend! Over 20 years ago now...) - although we ended-up using 3 songs from later recording sessions. And it was a total Labour of Love...everyone on it is playing & singing out of their skins; our bass-player, Marcus Bush, also did a top job as Producer, & all the artwork was done by myself, or our fiddler, Marion Gray - who also bank-rolled the album (we made it all back for her, by the way...).
She's also one of the best musicians I've ever played with, & is a stunning, instinctive & quick-witted accomp..accomp..backing player.
(gabh mo leithscéal - that was a direct lift from 'Oh brother, where art thou..'...) 😁

It's widely regarded as our best album, & was the only one recorded where everyone was united in the same cause & focussed on the same result, & with no outside events influencing the recording process...which can't help but to be reflected in the music we produced between us...& it was an incredibly creative process, with moments of pure passion, heart & emotion; happy accidents; experimentation that paid-off & high inspiration...when we were mixing it, there were tears just pouring down my face to hear it in all its glory...

It definitely put us 'on the map' (& took us around the world!), as a serious band, & consolidated us as being on the cutting-edge of 'Celtic Punk', being rated, variously, the second- and third-best Celtic Punk album of all time, behind only The Pogues and Flogging Molly!
(Not bad company to be in, particularly as we've strong links to both bands...)

So, we hope yez all enjoy listening to it again, now ye can do...
&, for those of you who still use CDs, who might even want something mór of the album - myself & Marion produced a 16-page booklet to go with it, including pics, lyrics, a glossary (for all the Irish references in the lyrics) & sleeve notes on who played & sang on which track...& I even drew the front cover meself!
http://www.neck.ie/sbcd.html

So, we all hope you all enjoy the living beJaysus out it! & loadsa London-Irish love from meself (Leeson O'Keeffe) & the gang - both those who played on the album & those in the band now, still playing the tracks live for you... X # #
😉 ✊💚☘ 🧷☘

We just want to say an absolutely mahoosive go raibh mile maith agaibh / a thousand thank you's to all of yez who caught our set & had The Hooley with us at The Underworld last night! It was f**kin' epic! You were absolutely brilliant - we were all totally made-up & we can't thank you enough!
& it was great to hook-up with our old friend, Nick, from The Dreadnoughts again! His previous band, Siobhan, toured Germany with us twenty years ago (!) & The Dreadnoughts were brilliant - & absolutely hilarious too! A fantastic night all-round!
One big epic Hooley! Again, we can't thank you all enough & we'll see yez again!
& from the entire band: Leeson O'Keeffe, Sara-Lou Bowrey, Damien Russell, Shea D'Arcy, Marian McClenaghan & Sean Murphy - we f**kin' luv ya!
💚☘️🍻 🪕🎻🎸🥁 🍻☘️💚

Just a quick line to say go raibh mile maith agbaibh / a thousand thank you's to everyone who came to see us & have The Hooley with us in The Birds Nest in Deptford last Friday! & mighty craic with the Aul' fellas in there even loving our Soundcheck so much! 💚
Very much appreciated & I'm sure we'll be back, as a result!!
& a big shout-out to 'Big Pat' Histon, who's been to all our London gigs, so far, this year, as well as one of O'Keeffe's Traditional Irish Trio gigs! Good man yerself, Pat! Agus bualadh bos! 👏 Very much appreciated! 💚☘️🧷 💚

Howyez,
Just to let yez all know that we've finally managed to get our last album, 'Come Out Fighting!' back up online, after our old label, Golf, took it down. 😕🤔
Subsequently, it's now up there on our own 'Paddy Plastic' label!
😉 ✊💚☘ 🧷☘
So it's back up on all the usual platforms, including - as requested, Spotify!
https://open.spotify.com/album/3vZobkiiBcbuMNuaLTRbsD

& we're also working on getting our first two albums 'Here's Mud in Yer Eye!' & 'Sod 'em & Begorrah!' back up there too, but we're having to un-pick the un-Holy mess our previous label made when they put them up there - without our permission, input & outside of the licensing period we agreed to...hence the delay getting them up compared to 'Come Out Fighting!.
But at least that's up there now, so enjoy the living Bejaysus out of it!
😁 💚☘️🧷☘️

Howyez!
We just want to say a big, mahoosive, humungous
Go raibh mile maith agaibh / a thousand thank you's to all of you who came along to The World's End on St. Patrick's Night & had The Hooley with us! It was absolutely MONU-FECKIN'-MENTAL!
(& an emphasis on the mental!) & as messy as ye like!
Unbelievable scenes! We were blown away by the turn-out (as were The World's End, so thank yez all very much for that!) & we were delighted with the reception we got offa yez all, & the Paddy's Day craic was mighty! (we'll even forgive the over-exuberant dancers who fell over the main monitor & banjaxed it entirely (& all the rest) in the process - just as well we know the songs as well as we do, & the Band motto's 'Sure, f**k it...' 😉
One of the very best times that we've played there! (& that's saying something!) Thanks to Robert Elms for giving the gig a plug on his radio show! & thanks to all of you who travelled from to spend Paddy's Night with us: there were people there from Ireland, Switzerland (again! Thanks Orlando!), the USA & Mexico! & a big shout out to the London Celtic Punks crew, who were out in full force! (& thanks to Sean & his mam for the Shamrock!) ☘️
(& thanks to Derek 'Fang' & Denis McCormick for the pics!)
& thanks to all of yez for making it such a mighty, fantastic, memorable Paddy's Night! We luv ya!
Leeson, Sara-Lou, Damo, Shea, Sean (& Charlie...) 😉
💚☘️🇮🇪🎻🪕🥁🍻🥃🥂🍻🇮🇪☘️💚

Howyez!
Lá fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh - Happy St. Patrick's Day! ☘☘️🇮🇪☘️☘️💚

It's that time of the year again, so we'd thought we'd let you know what we're up to over St. Patrick's Weekend!

So, for the day itself - TODAY! - St. Patrick's Day (Friday 17th March) we're made-up entirely to announce that, following the highly successful gig there in January, we're going to be back on 'home turf' in The World's End in Camden Town in London! Yay! & it's f**kin' FREE IN!!!
(although The World's End have Free Entry tickets, in case it's too busy, so there's a link to them)

St. Patrick's Day! Friday March 17th : The World's End, Camden Town, London
St. PATRICK'S DAY with NECK at The World's End – FREE ENTRY!
Facebook Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/713232576843955
Ticket link: FREE ENTRY Tickets at: https://link.dice.fm/z17dd539ca21
We'll be playing three sets, starting at 6pm, 7pm & 8pm

& also, after our mighty first gig there in September, we're also chuffed to announce that we've been asked back to this brilliant Irish-owned venue tomorrow:

Saturday March 18th : Katie Fitzgerald's, Stourbridge
NECK St. PATRICK'S Gig in Katie Fitzgerald's + Darwin's Rejects
Facebook Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/608162990671352
Ticket link: https://www.wegottickets.com/event/566285

So get yer Hooley boots on, get yerself along, get the drinks in – they're both gonna be one hell of a Paddy's Day Hooley! - & we'll see ya down the front!
& to give you the idea of some of the shenanigans you can expect, here's our (highly appropriate) rallying cry! : Every Day's Saint Patrick's Day! ;-)

Every Day's Saint Patrick's Day!
https://youtu.be/t_pCYlQZ2v8

Also, if you get to Sunday 19th & you're still going & looking for some Irish Music, there's also a Neck-related Traditional Irish Music Session at 6:30pm in the front bar of The Faltering Fullback pub, on the corner of Perth & Ennis Roads, off Stroud Green Road, in Finsbury Park (N4 3HB). & that's free in!!
So it'll be a great wind-down (-ish – they can get rowdy too!) to St. Patrick's Weekend...
(Our front-man often plays Traditional Irish Music sessions, & also Acoustic Trio gigs [usually with a couple ex-Neck members] there, as it goes, & it's all mighty craic!).

Every Day Is Saint Patrick's Day!- Neck Every Day Is Saint Patrick's Day by Neck

Howyez! Just a quick line to give yez all a heads-up about the Shirts up on our website's Online Store: we have added some things (like the much-requested male sizes in the 'Celtic Cross' Polo shirts & the new 'F*ck the Begrudgers!' T-shirt), & also we've restocked the Come Out Fighting! T-shirts ahead of St. Patrick's Day now, too.
(& there's another, requested, new design in the pipeline too!) 😉

The only thing we'd say is check we have what you want before you order: we rely on someone else to update the store (we're a holy shower of luddites), but they can't give the time to it they used to be able to now, so sometimes it shows we've got some sizes in stock when we haven't, and also, conversely, sometimes that we haven't when we do actually have sizes available in them.

So, contrary to what it's saying, we HAVE got:

Plastic & Proud 2XL & L (mens)

Come Out Fighting! S (mens)

F*ck the Begrudgers! 2XL & S (mens)

Celtic Cross 2XL & S (men's), S (ladies)

So, the only size we've sold-out of is:
Plastic & Proud M (ladies)

So if it won't let you order the size you need, please just email us directly: [email protected]

& they're all at:
http://www.neck.ie/store.html

Go raibh maith agaibh / Thanks!

We just want to say a go raibh mile maith agaibh mór / a big a thousand thank you's to everyone who came along to The Ropemakers in Bridport last night & had The Hooley with us! Despite us being under the cosh a wee bit, with depleted ranks & a third of the band out with Covid (Sara-Lou) & suspected Norovirus (Shea), we invoked the Band Motto: "Sure, f**k it..." & soldiered-on, regardless - we didn't want to let anyone down, & in these still weird times, we wanted to play a f**kin' gig! (& bualadh bos 👏 to fiddler Marian McClenaghan for leading the line so elegantly!).
& youse lot were brilliant! For travelling from far & wide to see us, engaging with us & making us feel welcome, to nearly the whole place doing 'the Jakey wave' (very impressive!), the great reception we got & all of yez who danced to us, whether doing a jig, having a boogey, just generally throwing yerselves around, or even doing some morris dancing! (a first at a Neck gig! - altho' we did have a whole rake of very impressive line-dancers once in Wolverhampton!)
And also for buying some merchandise too! - Very much appreciated! (particularly as we design all the shirts ourselves)
& we'd also like to extend our thanks to John & everyone at The Ropemakers for being so lovely, friendly, kind, generous & helpful - it goes a long way, & also it's just such a lovely place with a great vibe too. It's important that grass roots venues like The Ropemakers survive & stay open - the scene's lost without them - so hats off to John for keeping faith with live music, even with the numbers being far less than they were pre-Pandemic...bless you, John. ❤ (& everyone like him)
But yeh, definitely victory rather than defeat & a great night - so a big thanks to all of yez, & we hope we see you all again! 💚☘☘💚
(& thanks to Marian for the pics!) 💚

Aaanndd...we've got this! Fantastic news! & this will be a corker!!
Get yerselves involved entirely! ;-)

This Friday! Kick-start the
New Year off with a rare ould London-Irish Hooley! 😉
☘️🧷🍻🍻🎸🪕🎻🥁 ☘️🧷

The O'fficial Event Page...
https://www.facebook.com/events/542122374622410
?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7
B%22surface%22%3A%22page%22%7D]%7D

& Our own Event Page...
https://www.facebook.com/events/502024602030033
?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7
B%22surface%22%3A%22page%22%7D]%7D

Howyez - we just want to wish Athbhliain faoi mhaise dhaoibh / Happy New Year to all our friends, fans, loved ones & families - let's hope it's a mighty one! (& we see a whole rake of yez in it!) 🎊🥂🍻 # # # # # #

Howyez! To all our friends, fans, loved ones & families, we just want to wish Nollaig Shona dhaoibh - Happy Xmas to you all!
& have a fab Crimbo! # # # # # #

Howyez,
We've played some of the best gigs we've ever played in the last few years (when we've been able to, of course) - particularly in 2019 - but there are very few videos of them. 😕 They're either really short clips, not the best, or boring clips of us playing. So we've put them all together in one, mór interesting Video (hopefully). The only issue being that the people who actually know how to do this were busy at the time, so it was left to the luddite (& 'video virgin' - actually that just sounds wrong...) of the band to try & cobble it together, with no previous experience. So please forgive it if it's not the most polished veejoe ye'll see, but hey: it's Punk, innit? 🧷 😉
& we hope you all like it - it's the spirit that counts, as always ✊
☘️ 🧷☘️🧷 ☘️🧷
https://youtu.be/Ja6_N45h8y8

NECK - Mór Recent Live Video Clips Compilation Here y'are - a compilation of mór recent live video clips: even tho' 2019 (& going into 2020), was one of our best years ever, & we played some absolutely bl...

Mighty gig in The Crew on Saturday! Thanks to everyone who came along - from near & far! - & had The Hooley with us! It just seems to get better in there - a good amount of familiar faces & Neck T-shirts in the audience, & we were told that's the best gig we've played in there! And the best we've sounded! (taking our own PA, & having O'Keeffe - also a fully qualified sound engineer - running it, helps...) 😉
Happy days! :-) We just need to get some more gigs & keep spreading the good word!
(& the good word, of course, is 'f**k!') 😉
We'll drink to that! Sláinte! 🍻 We luv yez all!
(& thanks to Donna Marie Devalle-Walker for the pic!) x

Howyez!
We guess this only counts if you've got a ticket now (as it's Sold-Out!), but we're playing Manchester Punk festival on Sunday night! We're in the The Bread Shed & we're only actually closing the stage (!) So we're on at 00:40, so, if you're there, get the drinks in & stick around for some Hooley-sized kick-arse Psycho-Ceilídh shenanigans!
😉 ☘🍻☘

We just want to say thanks very much for everyone who came along to The Floirin last night for the Neck Paddy's Day Trad Irish music session! Particularly Orlando De Martin who came all the way from Switzerland to have a Neck Paddy's Day Hooley (again)! But thanks so much to all of yez for coming along & spending Paddy's Night with us - really appreciated! & also to Marie McCormack & Eliet Mackrel, both revered members of the extended Neck family, who stepped-in to bolster the ranks & play up a storm, on tin whistle & fiddle, (while Ash & Sara-Lou recover from Covid...)
Mighty craic entirely! Go raibh mile maith agaibh / a thousand thank you's to all of yez! 💚☘️🍻☘️