OPO: Mekons

"last dance" is a good choice, though.

Where Were You : 16
Chivalry: 9
Trimdon Grange Explosion 8
Last Dance 6
Learning To Live On Your Own 4
Memphis Egypt: 4
Snow: 4
The Building: 6
I Am Crazy: 4
Hard To Be Human Again: 3
Hole in the ground 2
Fight The Cuts: 2
Millionaire: 2
Dan Dare: 2
If They Hang You: 2
Last Night On Earth: 1
King Arthur: 1
Big Zombie: 1
Ghosts of American Astronauts: 1

Nothing at all from Curse... you folks are weird!

Though it's tough not to vote for "Thee Olde Trip To Jerusalem," "Slightly South of the Border," or "Bob Hope and Charity."

almost split my ballot for that one...

Where Were You: 26
Chivalry: 13
Last Dance: 12
Hard To Be Human Again: 9
Trimdon Grange Explosion: 8
Snow: 8
Memphis Egypt: 7
The Building: 6
Never Been In A Riot: 5
Ghosts of American Astronauts: 4
I Am Crazy: 4
Learning To Live On Your Own 4
Orpheus: 4
Brutal: 4
The Curse: 4
Millionaire: 3
Hole in the ground 2
Fight The Cuts: 2
Dan Dare: 2
If They Hang You: 2
Trouble Down South: 2
Letter’s In The Post: 2
Not A Bitter Man: 2
Darkness and Doubt: 2
Chop That Child In Half: 2
Last Night On Earth: 1
King Arthur: 2
Big Zombie: 1
Hello Cruel World: 1
Rescue Mission: 1
Garage D’or: 1
Psycho Cupid: 1
I’ll Have To Dance Then On My Own: 1
Only You And Your Ghost Will Know: 1
Blow Your Tuneless Trumpet: 1
Funeral: 1
Revenge: 1
Oblivion: 1
Fantastic Voyage: 1

Great Mekons gig last night in Washington DC. They did plenty of songs from latest album Horror and a number from Fear and Whiskey and scattered others. Tom called out the fascist US government and Sally expressed condolences to those of us living in the dc area . She was reminiscing about all the rats you used to see climbing on pipes in basement of old 930 Club at its original location, and Jon suggested they were all working now for Trump. Sally countered that rats are actually better than the people who work for Trump. Anyway, the music was great, Susan sang lead and played her violin on “Sanctuary “ from the new one, Rico Bell sang lead on another from the new one , and it was really inspiring to see them all up together.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-mekons/2025/union-stage-washington-dc-35dc1b7.html

ooh, Prince of Darkness ...

I didn't realise Susie sang on Sanctuary. Has she ever sung on any others before?

Not that I know of. She looked really nervous as she moved to the front of the stage Sunday night to sing that and then play violin on it as well. Sally joined in on the singing at one point on the song live .

Jon’s intro of her for that song seemed to imply she hasn’t sung lead on a Mekons song before

One of the funniest (saddest) things about the show here was when Langford quipped that they never would have imagined anything worse than Thatcher and Reagan, so maybe the band had it all wrong and should have been nicer to them, or something to that extent.

Ann Powers in an npr piece mentioned that Susie also has a London trio called Little Sparta

https://www.littlesparta.com/

Mekons recorded an NPR Tiny Desk but it has not aired yet

Great, life-affirming show in Portland OR last night, we got a couple of cool setlist changeups (Beaten And Broken! PRINCE OF DARKNESS!!!) along with all-time faves of mine like "Lyric". Love how they changed the chorus at the end of "Millionaire" to say "I hate them billionaires". Plus I got a special "Luxury Chicken" shirt for Laurie!

Pretty sure the Luxury Chicken shirts were long gone from the merch table by the time I took at peep at it here, but I have enough shirts. How are they made, and how do you think they'll handle going through the wash?

I think they are made with those fabric paint pens? I would wash them sparingly/carefully on first impression.

and yeah we got there right when the opener was starting and 31 of the 35 special shirts were already gone

At the NYC show, they sold out before their set began, but given past demand, I think they were anticipating that because they actually made more backstage just before they went onstage (per Sally between songs), so there was plenty when people headed to the merch table after the show ended (and they were once again going fast).

Last time I saw them at the same venue (the Bowery Ballroom), they were all downstairs in the bar hanging out, but this time I only saw Jon and Sally when I arrived at doors and they didn't hang around for that long, so I guess the shirt making might've been the reason.

And yes, fabric paint pens. If you jump on their Facebook page and backtrack a bit, there's a post where they have the pens. (Probably the one where they announce that they were going to be making shirts from scratch.)

https://www.rootsontherails.com/mekons-on-the-mekong-northbound

THE MEKONS ON THE MEKONG NORTHBOUND!
with JON LANGFORD, SALLY TIMMS, AND MYSTERY MEKONS TBA
JANUARY 27, - FEBRUARY 6, 2027
HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM, PNOMH PENH, CAMBODIA, SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA, ANGKOR TEMPLES, ... and every inch of the mighty Mekong River in between!

Recently, a casual lunch with Jon Langford and Sally Timms on a barge in France opened up a conversation about how much we were loving the barging concept and where else we might give it a go. Then like a bolt of lightning it hit us: The Mekons on the Mekong!!! Why had we never thought of this before?!? We announced the trip, and it sold out in 12 hours, with others clamoring to get on a wait list for any cancellations. Then like a second bolt of lightning we thought "Why not turn around and do it again the other direction?"

So because we love to make people happy, I am so pleased to announce that we are confirmed for The Mekons on the Mekong NORTHBOUND in January of 2027 – a 12 day journey through Vietnam and Cambodia on our very own 28 passenger riverboat, the Toum Tiou II.

The trip will originate in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam with 2 days of exploring this fascinating and vibrant city before we head North up the Mekong on our own chartered boat for an eight night/nine day cruise up the Mekong River, culminating in 2 days in Siem Reap, Cambodia with excursions to the Angkor temples, Ton Le Lake, and hopefully an ethical elephant sanctuary (I’m working on this independently, so fingers crossed I can pull the pieces together). We’ll be making stops along the way to visit temples, farms, artisan markets and a whole host of local attractions. There will also be opportunities for biking, kayaking, and exploring on foot. And of course, every night on board following a delicious dinner, we’ll enjoy live music from members of one of the world’s most indescribable and utterly delightful bands – Jon Langford, Sally Timms, and additional Mekons who have yet to be announced. Here's a link to the detailed itinerary, which pack a LOT into 12 days!

Ain't cheap. And yet ... priceless!

I've never been on an organized trip like this - how much do they usually cost (without a band accompanying the tour)?

It's nothing I would consider, but my wife informs me that this is Premium Mekons Pricing.

which is to say, they usually cost less.

$6K in this case ;)

sounds like a blast, will probably regret not being wildly irresponsible, just like with Mekonville.

The final full-band show in Seattle was a great time, I think the setlist was about the same as Portland with "Only Darkness Has the Power" (RIP Paul Auster) replacing "Prince of Darkness" in the encore. Was really nice hearing the I ❤️ Mekons tracks, which I didn't expect them to dig up, and "You're Not Singing Anymore" sounded great. I ended up getting a "this is the curse..." painted t-shirt. They also announced the minting of just 6 Mekoins, made of cardboard, not sure what they're trading at currently. They also had copies of the Mekons fanzine put together by a rad lady from Austin that I met at the post-tour acoustic mini-Mekons show the next evening. I had kind of forgotten that I had submitted something 5 months ago when I saw a call for contributions, but my brief essay on Journey to the End of the Night is in there.

Everything's coming up Mekons.

https://www.npr.org/2025/08/12/g-s1-79127/mekons-tiny-desk-concert

Nice , albeit a bit more low key take / segment that still resembles the renditions on their recent tour

Touring the US (at least?) again next summer, tix on sale, a few places with early and late shows. Get 'em! (I got 'em).

Saw a pair of 'em in a living room last night!

https://i.imgur.com/USgdDcs.jpeg

Wow, you were up there? I saw pictures/pretzels posted. How was it?

Was really good. I'm not wholly familiar w/ the Mekons (need to work on that) but so very entertaining even for the uninitiated, what with the comedic banter between Jon and Sally. Will check out the full band set when they're back this summer for sure.

They are just so naturally funny.

I saw someone online complaining about ticket prices for these shows and ... fine, fair. But the band is 7 or 8 mostly older people scattered around the globe, just getting then together in one room is probably pretty expensive, and that's not even accounting for wherever Lu is at any given time (I hope he is back from PiL duty for this one).

I have seen them a bunch and while I noticed the higher price for this next US tour, my wife and I decided to go again as they are musically worth it and entertaining -- the banter and yes they deserver to cover their expenses and even make some money

Mekons -Horror made Carl Wilson of Slate's best album of 2025 list

Posted by the Mekons on FB:

HOUSE SHOW WANTED NORTH PENNSYLVANIA OR WEST NY STATE
Are there any experienced house show hosts in the Scranton PA, Wilkes Barre or Binghamton area who want THIS? We are driving from Columbus to North Adams for solid sound on June 25th, looking for somewhere about half way along 80/84 or 86. Can play totally acoustic. Don't suggest Buffalo just wait for the announcement.

ha I saw that, I wish

Sure are a houseful of Mekons and relations here:
https://archive.org/details/aadamjacobs?tab=collection&query=Mekons

(Waco Brothers listed sep. in Jacobs' trove, but not too hard to find.)

holy shit there's a KatJon Band show there, thanks!

Oh yeah---and here's another niche, pretty well-populated: https://archive.org/details/SallyTimms

You get overlaps with some of these, but otherwise unlisted as well, for inst in this:
https://archive.org/details/JonLangford

OH HELL YES

https://archive.org/details/aadamjacobs?tab=collection&query=three+johns

Hadn't thought to look for them, thanks! Pine Valley Cosmonauts also show up if you look for Kelly Hogan---man, she's sung with so many of those Chicago bands, one-offs etc.

Who are the Jelly Bishops?

it's some kind of Three Johns alias

https://www.discogs.com/artist/1739307-Jelly-Bishops

(minus one John apparently)

lmao at one of the Pine Valley Cosmonauts shows from 2002 - Track 2: Rahm Emanuel introduces the band

Oh man a mess of Kelly Hogan shows sounding pristine! <3

yah she is teh best

For a while there you could see these guys, gals and groups all the time here. I'm still starstruck whenever I bump into Langford or Timms.

Haven't listened to "I Heart Mekons" in ages. The production is still weird, but the songs are great.

yep that's a fave

Mekonville in Portmeirion this October…