New interview with Noel published today on cleveland.com

The winner of the artwork for the “Salvation” tribute album cover has been revealed on 2fm.rte.ie today. The media also published a shortlist of 12 other album covers.

Congrats to winner Sam Dermody… as well as all the other artists who sent their amazing artworks.

Album to be released in 2021.

Salvation – Artwork by Sam Dermody

40% off Black Friday sale will be live on The Cranberries Official UK store from 0.01am on Friday 27th until 6pm Monday 30th GMT

https://thecranberries.shopfirebrand.com/

Music video director Marty Callner posted on Instagram and Facebook, 2 rare behind the scenes photos taken in the Mojave desert for the “Free To Decide“ video along with a few words in memory of Dolores.

A new interview with Noel and Fergal was published today on pleasekillme.com
Special thanks to Robert for the link.

Almost the exact same title as the forbes.com interview from a few days ago, but new article/interview with Fergal and Noel posted yesterday on americansongwriter.com

New interview with Fergal and Noel published today on forbes.com

New interview with Noel Hogan on “What Goes On”. The almost 2-hour long podcast was published on YouTube today directly by What Goes On.

New interview with Fergal published today on analogue.io

New interview with Fergal and Noel published today on undertheradarmag.com

The NNTA 25th Anniversary Edition is out now. In fact the release is simply titled “Deluxe Edition” for the 2LP and 2CD versions and “2020 Remaster” for the 1CD version.

The Cranberries posted a message on their website and socials earlier today.

New interview with Noel and Fergal published today on spin.com

The Cranberries published the official video for “(They Long To Be) Close To You” on their YouTube account today. The video contains rare photos from the No Need To Argue photo session.

The audio (taken from the 25th Anniversary Edition of No Need To Argue – out Nov 13th) is also available on all streaming platforms.

Read the article directly on hotpress.com

As the Cranberries World team was investigating as to where exactly some scenes of the Just My Imagination video were filmed in order to add this information to the map section, we tried to get in touch with Rick Fuller, producer of the video, who very kindly shed light on this mystery for us and invited director Philip Harder to join in the discussion.

Rick explained that the video was filmed over two days, on 27 July 1999 in Poolbeg, Dublin in the area around the Pigeon House Hotel near the old Poolbeg Generator Plant, and on 28 July 1999 in the Ardmore Studios, Wicklow

The two of them went out of their way to answer our questions and sent us never seen before pictures of the making of the video, as well as pictures of the CD and the microphone used on set, even including the STORYBOARDS. We can’t thank these two gentlemen enough for their kindness and availability.

Do you know what the band’s expectations were for this music video?

Director Philip Harder – Dolores wanted a visual fantasy, where she can magically step out of a rough Irish setting and into a playful fantasy. But each time she goes there and loses herself in her imagination, she is interrupted by reality.

What was the inspiration behind the video for Phil Harder and yourself?

Director Philip Harder – My wife Isabelle told me a story of walking with a Walkman, listening to music and imagining a surreal world.

How was the location (Poolbeg Power Station, Pigeon House Hotel etc…) chosen for the shoot?

Director Philip Harder – Since the Cranberries are Irish, and I recently lived in Dublin, we knew these areas would offer great locations with an industrial edge, all within a few blocks of each other.

Why did you choose to use such old cars?

Director Philip Harder – The Citron that the guys drove was a very rare car that one of the crew members had access to. The microphone Dolores uses was designed for the video to match the shape of that car. The rest of the vehicles in the background were designed to make the video feel out of time which reminded me of Ireland in the early 1980’s, or perhaps a classic Cranberries-style music video like the vintage stock footage in Zombie.

How would you describe your collaboration with the band?

Director Philip Harder – I spoke with Dolores on the phone after she read the treatment which described her listening to music and falling into an imaginary world. Dolores was really excited to shoot the video with this concept in mind. Dolores is a pro. She made many videos before this. On the shoot we were very collaborative, discussing scenes in detail, including the settings and background actors as well as cameos by her band mates. Dolores seemed to love acting and playing a “character” in the video. She gave it her all to act out the part and always gave feedback on how she wanted to be portrayed. On set I followed her lead to make her feel comfortable in the role. As I recall we discussed in detail every scene we shot.

Philip & Dolores

How was the atmosphere on set? Dolores once explained she declined to shoot a scene where a car would have stopped right before hitting her [Interview for German NBC show GIGA].

Director Philip Harder – Dolores actually shot the car scene and I explained how to do it, (there’s a photo of me directing her for that scene) but for safety we used a long lens and editing to make the car appear closer than it was. Dolores really liked the fantasy we were creating and loved acting the part. She also really enjoyed working with cinematographer Matty Libatique, who shot films for Spike Lee, A Star Is Born and many other well known movies. Matty and Dolores really hit it off on set. At one point we were using an experimental, high contrast black and white film for the band performance. The film quality is either black or white with no gray scale. I was concerned the film would exaggerate Dolores’s freckles and could become black dots all over her face. I brought this up but she referred to Matty for advice. Dolores said that since she and I both have freckles I might be bias. Matty told Dolores her freckles were beautiful and we should exaggerate them. She in turn looked at me and winked, as if to say I told you so.

Philip & Dolores

DP Matthew Libatique

What’s the best memory you have from this experience working with The Cranberries?

Director Philip Harder – After the shoot Dolores invited my wife and I to her home in Limerick. When we arrived she showed us around her entire property. She was an amazing, gracious host. (I think it’s an Irish trait!) Later we drank Guinness in her private western bar, sitting on saddle bar stools. That night Dolores set us up in one of her guest cottages. In the morning she was leaving for a tour so called us from her helicopter to wake us and let us know there was a servant with breakfast waiting outside our door.

Philip Harder (center) and Rick Fuller (back) with the band

Do you know how the video was received by the band?

Director Philip Harder – The band loved it. We saw Dolores on tour in the states. After the show we met up again, Dolores went on and on about the fantasy world we created in the video. She could only imagine the imagery when we were shooting so she was very pleased what we were able to create through our fantasy images and experimental film techniques.

What does the song mean to you, and how does the imagery of the video represent that?

Director Philip Harder – I think the feeling comes not only comes from the lyrics but from Dolores’s unique vocal delivery. Even though this is more of a pop song, I felt the images needed a contrast between edgy or perhaps grungy industrial settings, smoke stacks, rough neighborhoods etc. which can magically disappear by just using your imagination. Reality transforms into animated fantasies of color.

Producers Seamus Byrne (left) and Rick Fuller (right)

All photos courtesy of Producer Rick Fuller.

A very heartfelt thank you to both Philip and Rick for providing us with all these materials and info, it was a pleasure to (re)discover all these gems!

Please note that none of the items shown above are for sale, we’d be grateful if our readers could behave well, show respect, and refrain from sending inquiries to these already very generous gentlemen.

Another interview with Noel and Fergal over Zoom video, this time on “Bringin’ it Backwards” and posted on YouTube today.

New interview with Fergal and Noel on “Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz” recorded on 19 October 2020 and published yesterday on the YouTube account of the host, Darren Paltrowitz.

Read the article directly on limerickleader.ie

The Cranberries have just announced on their socials (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) the launch of the new official lyric video for Zombie. Will you notice the small mistake in their message!

New merchandise appeared on The Cranberries official website today. Five new items to celebrate the NNTA 25th Anniversary release.

A never heard before demo of “Dreams” from 1990 was published 2 days ago on YouTube. According to YouTube user AGMP – a concert promoter in the UK – this one was produced and paid for by EPIC RECORDS who were considering signing the band.

This very rare version has a spoken intro and differs from all the demos we already know of, although it does sound a bit like a less mixed version of the Xeric demo without the intro.

Stuart Clark, from Hot Press, once mentioned that “Dreams” had a spoken word intro for a brief period, so this is likely the version he was talking about! PURE GEM.

Thanks to Cranberries Library for noticing.

The full video of “Kyle Meredith with…” was posted yesterday on the Kyle Meredith’s YouTube account. The incomplete version is still available though!

Since October 9th, The Cranberries have published on their socials three mysterious teasers stating that something is “coming soon” on October 23rd.

Since many of you have been questioning us as to what we believe is going to see the light of day on October 23rd, we’ve decided to make our thoughts public.

Let it be clear straight away, we do not believe this could be the documentary the band has mentioned several times.

A month away from the release of the “No Need To Argue” 25th Anniversary Edition, we believe that we will be presented with a new video that will serve in promoting this anniversary release.

The first teaser published on October 9th clearly hints that there is a new “Zombie” video coming out.

The second teaser, published on October 13th, shows live images from the “Beneath The Skin – Live in Paris 1999” video, which seems to point out that the video is to be a live video of “Zombie”.

In the end, third teaser, published yesterday, obviously features shots of the homecoming Theatre Royal performance of the band in Limerick in December 1993.

The video is quite easy to identify as The Cranberries had already released “How” from this show as bonus on their “Beneath The Skin” DVD.

Screenshot from the Zombie teaser

Screenshot from BTS dvd – “How” at Theatre Royal

We also know that the full show was filmed by the promoter of the gig, who is the source of the “How” video, so we have no doubt the footage seen on this new “Zombie” teaser are from the same source.
Last but not least, the promoter of the concert tweeted back in April 2020 that he had found his old Cranberries video files he had been looking for and that we “might see it and some other rare footage at some stage”, hence why we have reason to believe that the band is going to publish a new live video of “Zombie” on October 23rd featuring some never before seen footage from the Theatre Royal concert in order to promote their upcoming anniversary release of “No Need To Argue”.

That being said, given this video was recorded with one camera only and shows only one single angle, it is likely this “Zombie” live video could feature footage from other shows in order to make it look more dynamic.

Time will tell…

UPDATE – OCTOBER 23

The Cranberries – Zombie (Lyric Video)

Fergal and Noel appearing on “Kyle Meredith with…”
The video was published today on the Kyle Meredith’s YouTube account.

Note that the video seems incomplete and cuts out in the middle of the interview. A bug or something went wrong, or maybe a second part will be published later. Wait and see!

In the mean time, the complete audio interview is available on consequenceofsound.net as well as Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public | RSS

A rare audio bootleg of The Cranberries opening for the band Suede at The Huntridge Theatre in Las Vegas has recently surfaced on dimeadozen.org (FLAC files off master tape). Thanks to taper Scott Tillotson and user cpscps for sharing.

For those who don’t have an account on Dimeadozen, the show was also shared on YouTube.

Read the new interview with Fergal Lawler published today on udiscovermusic.com

Below, the very first images of the NNTA remastered double vinyl that weirdly arrived on due date through Amazon. Time will tell if the other versions (CD, transparent vinyl…) will be released on November 13th or earlier.

Source: Shannon Du-fort, Facebook group The Cranberries International fans.

UPDATE

7 more photos of the album, a bit clearer and you can now read the 5,000 word essay on the history of the album written by the band’s archivist Eoin Devereux. The essay is printed on the 4 sides of the inner sleeves, click on images for larger view.

Made in Czech Republic by Universal International Music in Netherlands, so this is the European version.

Special thanks to Philippe Nadeau from Canada for the pics, who received his copy yesterday from amazon.ca (just like Shannon).

As announced last week on the great podcast “This Must Be The Gig”, the lyric video of “Daffodil Lament” is here. It was posted in HD 1080p on YouTube/Vevo this morning.

New audio interview with Fergal and Noel on the episode 111 of “This Must Be The Gig” and published yesterday on consequenceofsound.net

The 1-hour podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Radio Public, Stitcher.

(A video of Daffodil Lament will be released soon including footage of the recording session in Oxford in 1994. Also, the 25 years of NNTA, the impact of seeing U2 as teenagers, and the power of a good cover.)

Thanks to The Cranberries Newspaper on Facebook for the link!

Universal Music Hong Kong just released a limited and numbered edition of “Stars The Best Of 1992-2002” for the first time ever in hybrid SACD.

Limited to 1,000 copies, the album was released on 2 September 2020 and is available in Hong Kong – and almost everywhere online – for the price of 200 HKD (more or less 25 USD).

Back cover says printed in Hong Kong and manufactured in Japan, but the edition is definitely a Hong Kong exclusive (label reads Universal Music Hong Kong on the actual CD) and shouldn’t be released in Japan.

Thanks to Stephane HongKong for info and below pics.

The Cranberries shared a message this morning on their socials (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) with a never before seen photo of D.

Today would have been her 49th birthday!

Dear Dolores,

This year, in a quite unbelievable context, you would have turned 49 on this very day.
More than ever, the world misses the dreamer and passionate poet you were.

As always, and like our fellow fans, we, the Cranberries World team members, keep you in our thoughts on this special day, for you will forever live in our hearts.

We love you, Dolores, always.
Happy Birthday!

Photo credits: “In The End” + Bob Berg (New York City, 1993)

Fans who have already placed their “No Need To Argue (Remastered)” order on udiscovermusic.com and recordstore.co.uk have been receiving emails since last night to inform them that the release date has now changed to November 13th.

One may note that Amazon hasn’t yet sent emails to customers and still mentions September 18th as the release date, although this is likely to be amended in the upcoming hours and it should probably be the same for all the other stores.

Thanks to Lorenzo for the Record Store screen shot.

UPDATE – AUGUST 30

Today, The Cranberries posted a message on their socials (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) regarding the new release date. The last line of their message is a little longer on Facebook and Instagram, “We are so sorry to disappoint, but this is very much out of our control, and we hope you all understand.”

The previews of the artwork of the NNTA (Remastered) editions, LP and CD, appeared for the 1st time today on eBay.
One may note that unlike the “EEIDI 25th Anniversary Edition” there is no mention of a “25th Anniversary Edition” nor an “Expanded Edition” on the artwork, just an ordinary sticker.

Sources: eBay, eBay

The song “Ode To My Family” returns to the animated sitcom “Family Guy” next season. Trailer available on YouTube now (OTMF starts at 0:15).

irishexaminer.com published a small part of the interview with Noel Hogan broadcast from Limerick on Virgin Media (TV) this morning.

30 years ago today, The Cranberry Saw Us – not yet The Cranberries – played their first concert with Dolores O’Riordan as new lead singer replacing Niall Quinn. They were opening that day for the band They Do It With Mirrors. The show took place in Limerick at Cruises Hotel in the Ruby’s Club.

Happy Anniversary!!

The 2LP, 2CD, 1CD versions of “No Need To Argue (Remastered)” are now available to buy on The Cranberries official online store but not the Transparent Vinyl version (yet?).

Interesting fact, the edition on the store is simply titled “Remastered” and not 25th Anniversary nor Expanded, even if description reads “Remastered and expanded versions of No Need To Argue”.

If you missed the livestream of The Cranberries on Facebook it is available for replay:

https://www.facebook.com/TheCranberries/videos/3240665482666616/

The band and their host Pr Eoin Devereux were live from The Strand hotel in Limerick (where Dolores gave her last ever interview) to announce the release of “No Need To Argue (Expanded Edition)”.

Photo credit: The Cranberries (Instagram Story)

Photo credit: Pr Eoin Devereux (Twitter)

REMINDER:

Three versions are already available for pre-order on Amazon UK to be released on 18 September 2020.
2LP: £25.22
2CD: £11.99
1CD: £7.99

These versions are also available on udiscovermusic.com, thesoundofvinyl.com and recordstore.co.uk, where you can even buy a fourth (and exclusive?) Transparent Vinyl version.

udiscovermusic.com – 2LP (Transparent Vinyl): €26.99

thesoundofvinyl.com – 2 LP (Transparent Vinyl): €26.99

recordstore.co.uk – 2 LP (Transparent Vinyl): €26.99

Amazon.co.uk just revealed that a 2-disc version of NNTA will be released on 18 September 2020 featuring the below tracks:

DISC 1:
1. Ode To My Family
2. I Can’t Be With You
3. Twenty One
4. Zombie
5. Empty
6. Everything I Said
7. The Icicle Melts
8. Disappointment
9. Ridiculous Thoughts
10. Dreaming My Dreams
11. Yeats’ Grave
12. Daffodil Lament
13. No Need To Argue
14. Yesterday’s Gone (MTV unplugged)
15. Away
16. I Don’t Need
17. So Cold In Ireland
18. (They Long To Be) Close To You
19. Zombie (A Camel’s Hump Remix by The Orb)

DISC 2:
1. Song To My Family (Magic Shop Demos)
2. So Cold In Ireland (Magic Shop Demos)
3. Empty (Magic Shop Demos)
4. Ridiculous Thoughts (Magic Shop Demos)
5. Everything I Said (Magic Shop Demos)
6. Yeats’ Grave (Magic Shop Demos)
7. Serious (Demo)
8. Away (Demo)
9. I Don’t Need (Demo)
10. Dreaming My Dreams (Liverpool Royal Court 14.10.1994)
11. Daffodil Lament (Liverpool Royal Court 14.10.1994)
12. The Icicle Melts (Liverpool Royal Court 14.10.1994)
13. No Need To Argue (Liverpool Royal Court 14.10.1994)
14. Empty (Liverpool Royal Court 14.10.1994)
15. I Can’t Be With You (National Stadium, Milton Keynes, 30.07.1995)
16. Ridiculous Thoughts (National Stadium, Milton Keynes, 30.07.1995)
17. Zombie (National Stadium, Milton Keynes, 30.07.1995)

The description reads:

“Expanded reissue of No Need to Argue – the second studio album by Irish alternative rock band The Cranberries. Originally released in 1994, the album was the band’s highest-selling shifting over 17 million copies worldwide and contains the band’s most successful single Zombie. The expanded 2LP features the remastered album plus three b-sides, Yesterday’s Gone and the band’s cover of the Carpenters (They long to be) Close to You. Includes a 5,000 word sleevenote on the history of the album written by the band’s archivist Eoin Devereux who wrote the sleevenote to the reissue of their debut album.”

This obviously should be the 25th Anniversary Edition [Remastered and Expanded] although it is not specified for now. We should know more about it in the upcoming hours.

Thanks to Yann for the link!

UPDATE – JULY 8 – 6:10 PM (BST) 

Official title: “No Need To Argue (Remastered and Expanded)”
To be released on 2CD and 2LP.
Release date confirmed.
Press Release here.

UPDATE – JULY 8 – 8:20 PM (BST) 

Amazon UK has now added the titles on their pages concerning this “Remastered and Expanded” edition (no 25th Anniversary edition references anywhere!) and they clearly mixed up their listings between the Double LP and the Double CD editions. There is also a 1CD edtion, and all 3 versions are available for pre-order now.

Prices:
2LP: £25.22
2CD: £11.99
1CD: £7.99

No sign of a boxset nor a dvd!

UPDATE – JULY 8 – 9:30 PM (BST) 

These versions are also available on udiscovermusic.com, thesoundofvinyl.com and recordstore.co.uk, where you can even buy a fourth (and exclusive?) Transparent Vinyl version.

udiscovermusic.com – 2LP (Transparent Vinyl): €26.99

thesoundofvinyl.com – 2 LP (Transparent Vinyl): €26.99

recordstore.co.uk – 2 LP (Transparent Vinyl): €26.99

Would you like to design the cover of the new album “Salvation” to be released early next year?
Your design to be sent by Friday, 7 August 2020.

Read all details on the article published today on 2fm.rte.ie

With consent from The Cranberries, this tribute album will feature 11 of the best and brightest names on the Irish music scene including Aimee, Moncrief, Sorcha Richardson, Walking On Cars and Sinead O’Connor, each performing their own version of a song from the band.

The Cranberries on “Facebook Live” next Wednesday at 7pm BST. The band just announced it on their socials (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter). Ask your question(s) directly on The Cranberries Facebook.

The Cranberries posted on Instagram today 2 photos of the test pressings of NNTA 25th Anniversary Edition. There is no information about the tracklist yet.

These are test pressings for the band. Official vinyl, cd, boxset etc… made for the 25th Anniversary Edition are still soon to be released (possibly September/October Fergal said in the interview for LíR Media TV).

Catalog numbers: 5391296, 5391297

New interview with Fergal Lawler published on Facebook and YouTube just a few days ago.

Dear fellow Cranberries fans and collectors,

First, we would like to thank all of you who went out their way to share their thoughts with us by emails, PMs, on our socials or on our website, regarding the eBay listing, analyzing all possible details.

As the auction is to end tomorrow, here is our last recap on the Cranberries World’s plans and all the infos we gathered these last 8 days.

First thing you all need to know is that we contacted eBay so as to make sure we would be covered by their « buyer protection » if these tapes turned out not to be as claimed.
They answered that bootleg concerts are not allowed to be sold on their platform.
A quick look at eBay’s policies and you’ll see that « Counterfeit copies are illegal and not allowed on ebay, examples include Bootleg recordings from concerts. These items may infringe on someone’s copyright ».
Digging deeper, we found out that Paypal lists « items that infringe or violate any copyright » under the « things that are not covered under the buyer protection ».
It is also specified that counterfeit and illegal items are to be « confiscated » and not returned to the seller in case buyer were to ask for a refund, meaning those tapes would be lost forever.
As a consequence everyone has to be aware that buyer is very likely not to get any refund if these tapes do not feature the content that is listed!!!
The financial risk is thus huge, as it now means losing several thousands of dollars.

Nonetheless, The Cranberries World team, with the help of other fansites and fans, has decided to keep going with the initial plan providing that we receive the samples seller stated we will all obtain, as these are more than ever essential to prove what’s on these tapes.
Therefore, we do ask that fans refrain from bidding so that the final price won’t be ridiculously high, especially since we believe that there’s only about a 1% chance that these items are legitimate.
As we now know, seller should be able to send those samples shortly before – or AFTER – the end of the auction, which means we might only be able to make our mind on whether or not these recordings are genuine in the hours following the auction!
If the samples are not received before it ends, our plans are to try to win these tapes whatever happens, and insist on receiving the samples before we send any money to the seller. If he still can’t provide those samples – which we have been asking for since June 5th – 48 hours after the auction ended, we will most likely withdraw, as we believe 12 days are far enough to find a way to send some samples!

Below are the pros & cons that shed light on why the Cranberries World team wants to remain super cautious and won’t be sending any money if samples are not received:

CONS

• Seller is a new eBay member
• This listing was oddly listed once, deleted, and re-listed
• Seller initially told us he had no way of playing the tapes as he had « no VCR to play the tapes on », yet he stated in the listing that his sisters’ “VCR played PAL tapes and I can include it with your purchase if you would like“
• When we suggested he used his sister’s VCR to send us samples, he explained that is was no longer working
• How could this seller list what’s on the tapes and state the video were of good quality if he had in fact no mean of checking the content himself ?
• Seller won’t send screenshots before auction ends despite numerous requests from us and others since June 5th (10 days)
• Seller says in the listing that “Her notes indicate that any show her friends sent to her from outside America was filmed in something called PAL format (…) Anything she filmed was in something called NSTC format” but this is nowhere to be found on his sister’s notes, he also told us there was no other notes and nothing on the back of the note we own, so where did he get this detailed information from?
• NSTC is wrong, it’s called NTSC, which he should know as it’s the VHS format in his own country
• The sister would have been in her early 20s when the note was written but the style is very childish like from a very young teenage girl, yet she uses professional grading terms for the tapes
• The dates on the notes are written in the European way « day, month, year » but she was an American and would have written it « month, day, year ».
• The writing around the edges of the notes seems to be saying some sort of message, these along with the writing on the audio tape seem to have some meaning for buyers, such as “Can you afford to buy that diamond? Still Can’t“
• On the note The Newcastle 1992 concert says “confiscated” but the performance is still rated and the concert is still for sale on the listing
• Seller says that some tapes are master tapes and other are copies sent from UK. Where are the originals of the copies? Why haven’t they been traded to other people?
• How come no big Cranberries collector has never heard of the existence of these shows before, nor ever traded with this US woman or her UK friends? We’re not dealing with a few unknown shows here, but approx 80% of this list is new to all collectors who got in touch with us – even die-hard ones!
• How come does a collector who trades tapes with her UK friends does not own any of the common bootlegs that were shared back in the days? How odd her 90s collection features only boots that are rare in 2020?
• How come her UK friends who filmed the shows back in the early 90s do not know that Coventry isn’t in Scotland but in England?
• How could her British friend would have known about the Cranberries playing support act in Ireland in the 90s when the band hadn’t yet released any material?
• Why did the seller go into such personal and intimate details about his sister’s passing when these are not necessary for a sale?
• In the original picture on the listing, all the label sides of the tapes were turned away from the camera, was this deliberate?
• In the new pictures of the tapes that the seller added, the labels are showing but they look brand new, modern printed, and don’t seem to feature on the original picture
• In the same original picture there is one tape at the back of the left box that has no labels on
• The tabs are still on all the tapes (no serious collector would leave them on in case they accidentally taped over them, especially if masters copies!)
• How odd that the only audio tapes she owns have the only unknown Cranberries song on it?
• How could she write the only few known lyrics to this unknown song on the Glasgow tape when they were only deciphered last year when the tape was cleaned up?
• Seller is not answering when asked to send samples of the audio tapes
• Seller states the tapes were stored well and are in good condition but he can’t verify this and they look dusty and are not in their cases
• Seller told us his sister « left the damn VHS tapes everywhere, had to put them in and out of the rewinding machine to find the date at the start of the VHS (…) our house was a disaster when she came home on school breaks » – this doesn’t sound like looking after the tapes
• Seller is not able to tell us what’s the length of the videos and confirms he hasn’t seen them all
• eBay listing features Féile 1991, but it’s very likely The Cranberries did not play there in 1991
• Seller uses the Uncertain CD as a proof but a lot of people have the Uncertain CD and it is easily available online
• Seller told us he wants to be careful with what his sister would have wanted him to do with her collection, yet he writes he’s ready to throw away the Uncertain CD and audio tapes if buyer don’t want them
• Seller couldn’t tell us his sisters surname because he’s not sure if she used her maiden name or not, all we know is that she was “Jennifer“
• Seller can’t provide sister’s concerts tickets (does anyone know any big fan who doesn’t keep tickets as a souvenir?)
• There are 7 bidders, the 2 that are doing most of the bidding seem fake as they have 0 and 1 feedback : seller making price climb?
• Seller sort of confirmed he’s bidding himself as he states he accepts offers and that “If we come to an agreement, you may make the bid on eBay (…) I will accept your bid and end the auction early with the sell to the highest bidder option”. To do so, he would have to bid just under the agreed price to settle the auction this way.
• Seller says his sister’s tapes are master copies, but they are full size VHS, so how did his sister manage to take a full size camcorder and illegally film so many shows without being caught – unless she was authorized by the band (?)
• Seller only offered to meet him in Boston to check the content on the tape the day before the auction ends
• Seller told us he would be happy if those tapes were shared with the world when he is not supposed to know of our plans – does he read CW? He is not supposed to as he is not a Cranberries fan (his sister was, not him)
• Seller is happy to write words, words, words and some more stories, but never actually sends any convincing proofs

PROS

• A friend of us does remember trading tapes with someone from Massachusetts in the 90s
• A few of these bootlegs have been identified by fans as « possibly existing » : Indiana 99, « Edinburg gigs », Wembley 99, Glasgow 94, and possibly Killarney 2003
• The fact seller agreed on providing more pictures of the tags on the tapes (although it weirdly took him 4 days to take these pics)
• The sister’s note looks old and faded, with notes that look like those of a real bootleggers
• Seller found an Uncertain CD showing she was an old fan
• Writing on the audio cassettes seller found this week fit the writings on the notes and look faded too
• Ebay listing states there’s a Feile 91 video but the actual tape doesn’t seem to feature a Cranberries concert, only a Van Morrison concert
• It is possible that unknown material exists and don’t circulate, some rarities still surface from time to time
• It is common to hear of fans who lost interest after 2003
• If real, price expected is absolutely fair
• Seller is open to send samples/screenshots and meet bidders in Boston to play 10 tapes (yet no one has seen anything yet)
• Why ? Why would someone lose so much time with such scam ? Why would they pick The Cranberries when some other bands could trigger much higher bids ?

UPDATE – JUNE 14

AUCTION HAS ENDED EARLY AT 5.45 PM UK TIME TODAY LIKELY BOUGHT BY A U.S. CITIZEN

UPDATE – JUNE 15

Dear all,

It’s been some intense 10 days for our team, working extended hours to try and find out what was the best way to verify the content of the tapes and make sure these videos would go to the fan community.

As you know, the seller decided to end the auction early, resulting in these tapes slipping through our fingers.
We understand this might be a regret for many of you reading this, however we don’t feel this way as we did consider every single possibility to get our hands on these tapes, including making private offers to the seller; but the financial risk, knowing that eBay hinted that we wouldn’t get any refund through their buyers protection if the content turned out not to be as claimed, was much too important for us considering we were perfectly aware that this would be a matter of several thousands dollars. We were therefore left with no other choice than awaiting convincing proof(s) before engaging financially in this.
It goes without saying that we did also contemplate travelling to Boston to check 10 of those tapes by ourselves or asking friends to do so, but the worldwide Covid-19 situation made it impossible to work out.
If there’s no regret, there are some elements of frustration though, as this means none of us might ever know if these videos were genuine.
The mystery remains unsolved!

Once again, we’d like to thank every single one of you who went out of their way to help us.
Special thanks from our webmaster to: the Dolores O’Riordan Spain team who has been by our side since the earlier stages of the auction, Justin at Cranberries Library, Luis, Jay, Alex, Alan, Andrea, Danny, Claire, Tex, Maurizio, Sören, Paul and Patrick.

Last, we have to say that if we were to go back in time, we wouldn’t have done things any differently, as we truly believe that the most intelligent strategy to obtain these (possible) treasures was to go public and offer the biggest collectors to work hand in hand with us on this.
We’re quite happy of the response of The Cranberries community on the matter, which encourages us to pursue our work at Cranberries World in an effort to build the most exhaustive database about the Cranberries and, of course, keep Dolores O’Riordan’s memory alive.

Thank you.

Dear fellow fans and collectors of The Cranberries,

We’re calling upon your help today as we have recently come upon what could be considered a priceless eBay listing:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Cranberries-VHS-Concert-Collection-1990-2003-92-concerts-inc-masters/313107213106

Useless to say, we immediately got interested in this treasure which we believe is worth A LOT given how many rare and never-heard-of-before bootlegs it features.
We thus got in touch with the seller to ask for more details before putting so much money into this, we asked for screenshots to check on the quality of these shows and verify if the content listed on eBay corresponds to what really is on these tapes, but the seller fails to send any and states he can’t manage to play the tapes himself.

So we would like to know if any of you, any collectors, have ever known of the existence of these boots or ever traded with this woman from Massachusetts before, and could therefore confirm that if we were to buy these tapes, we would get the shows the seller states are featured on them?

We don’t want to take any risk spending a huge amount of money on something whose content we can’t verify before buying, so we would also like to ask all of you who trust us, not to bid on this auction to help us win it, in return for which we commit to freely and openly share these boots with the fan community if they turn out to be the valuable gems listed here that all of us would surely like to own.

If you have any information or would like to discuss this with us, please feel free to contact us at:
contact [ at ] cranberriesworld [ dot ] com

UPDATE ON WHY CRANBERRIES WORLD IS SO SUSPICIOUS:

• this ebay seller is new to ebay (never a good sign)
• seller says he has no way of verifying the content of the tapes as the VCR he is giving away in the listing is not working – how can he thus affirm the tapes are in good condition ?
• not only can’t the seller provide any sample or screenshots, but he also won’t send pics of his sister’s notes or the tags on the tapes – these must exist otherwise how would he know what’s on the tapes ?
• the seller states his sister’s UK friends filmed the 2 star ** shows, which makes it very surprising these persons would have attended and filmed some early days gigs in Ireland, when the band was still a support act then and had actually never put anything out. As UK citizens, how would these UK friends know about The Cranberries at all at the time ?
• how could her tapers friends, who are UK citizens, not be aware that Coventry is in England and not in Scotland, especially if they attended these shows themselves to film them ?
• seller states the Feile 91 concert features on these tapes, though it’s very unlikely the band actually ever played Feile festival in 1991 !!!
• this person was obviously a major collector of Cranberries bootlegs, trading with some friends abroad, yet her list does not feature bootlegs that were very common and easy to find in the trading circle back then. Why would she only own super rarities and not be interested in commonly shared shows ?
• if this person was trading with other bootleggers, how come some of the biggest Cranberries collectors who were involved in the 1990s trading circle have never heard of most of these bootlegs before, nor even exchanged with these traders in the past (the sister, or her UK friends) ?

Happy to hear everyone’s thoughts to help us find out if this is all genuine or not.
Please note that whatever happens, we’re still willing to buy these tapes and make sure by ourselves what’s the content on there, to share it with the Cranberries fan community if this happens to be a gold mine.

UPDATE – JUNE 10

The seller just added 8 more pics on eBay. Don’t hesitate to let us know what you think about them (Authentic? or Fake?)

Pink sticker: * on the list
Green sticker: ** on the list

…and from our side, the seller also sent us (one of?) his sister’s notes. Don’t hesitate to let us know how you understand it (the initials, the ratings, the lyrics around etc…)

UPDATE – JUNE 14

As many of you noticed, the seller updated the description 2 more times these last days (on the 11th and the 13th) and also added new pics of cd/cassette/LP that will be included with the VHS… or thrown away if winner does not want them!!

We will publish an important update later today…

The Cranberries posted on their socials today (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) regarding the #blackouttuesday

More behind the scenes photos from the “Something Else” photoshoot in 2017 in Cancún Mexico shared by joanna.cran.pic on Instagram today. Thanks to her as always for these gems!