“Dans les brumes d’Irlande · La voix des Cranberries et l’âme d’un pays”(In the mists of Ireland · The voice of The Cranberries and the soul of a country), is a new biographical essay in French dedicated to Dolores O’Riordan, just released this month and available on Amazon.
According to the author, “this book is not a traditional biography. It offers an in-depth analysis of Dolores’s unique voice, exploring how it was forged and examining the importance of her early musical training, particularly the acoustics of her childhood church in Ballybricken and the specific social and media context of the Ireland she grew up in. The book also details the studio methods, especially with Stephen Street, that preserved her vocal clarity on the albums, from the softness of “Linger” to the sonic break of “Zombie”. It also touches on her personal relationship with faith, evident in her performances in Modena and at the Vatican.”
The Ebook version should also be available soon, as well as a possible English translation later.
Another great share on dimeadozen.org a couple of days ago. Please note that you have to be a member of the site to view the page and download.
A major video upgrade recorded at Alabamahalle in München on 24 October 1994. The show was rebroadcast last Friday on German TV “ARD Alpha” and immediately shared in HD 720p on Dime. A very famous concert circulating in trading circles for 30+ years in poor quality now perfect… at last!
Special thanks to user nirtorr.
For those who have no access to Dimeadozen, the video captured by another user (Alexa) is available on guitars101.com and was also uploaded on YouTube.
The MTV Unplugged Alabaster White LP first announced as a Complex Shop exclusive and available on complex.com appears to be not so exclusive after all!
It is now available for pre-order in a few more shops, like cede.ch in Switzerland, jukebox.ch still in Switzerland, wom.de in Germany, jpc.de still in Germany and there is a good chance that more shops will appear soon as well as more continents.
For now, a good news for European customers to avoid US custom taxes!
Conclusion, never pre-order too fast…
Available in a variety of formats, including a CD, a crystal-clear colored LP, a standard black LP, and an exclusive white LP with an alternate cover (only on Complex Shop and not yet available at this very moment). Edit: now available on complex.com
To be honest, these recordings are some of the worst sound qualities ever but at least they exist. The 1994 show even includes “Disappointment” rarely recorded in concert!
A new audio bootleg surfaced on YouTube exactly 30 years after the concert. Recorded by Shayne Stacy on DAT at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre in Irvine, CA, USA, on 31 August 1995.
We are back from Electric Picnic, where we went with Cranberries Mexico, and here is our review!
Following the festival’s announcement on 20 August 2025, we felt it was important to attend Electric Picnic for what was to be a unique performance of the Hogan brothers with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra & a mysterious special guest, especially as Noel hinted in an interview earlier this week that this would be a one-off event with no plan to go back on the road. Such an appearance could therefore well never happen again!
The Hogans had been invited to perform The Cranberries’ repertoire accompanied by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. As Noel explained to the audience when stepping on stage, they had chosen Dermot Kennedy on vocals since neither of them are singers themselves, “Mike and I cannot sing so we asked a friend of ours to join us”. It turned out to be a smart move in our opinion as a female singer might have been perceived as bad taste, a misguided attempt to replace Dolores. Kennedy, on the other hand, is one of Ireland’s most acclaimed voices, blending folk and hip-hop with over a million followers and no need to borrow the spotlight. In fact, we could see on site that many of the younger festival-goers had gathered in front of the main stage more for Dermot than for The Cranberries’ catalogue!
It’s worth remembering that Electric Picnic, very much like Glastonbury in the UK, is Ireland’s largest festival (80,000 people a day!) and sells out within hours before a single act is announced. The audience the band was thus expected to sing to is predominantly Irish, coming each year for the Electric Picnic experience regardless of the line-up. In this context, the choice of Dermot Kennedy seems to us to make perfect sense, even though we weren’t there to judge Dermot’s voice against Dolores’ – it’s fair to note that his wide vocal range allowed him to handle the songs with competence.
On a day alternating between heavy clouds, wind gusts, showers, and rare clearings, we were lucky that the rain stopped just as the Hogans and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra took the stage. After a short introduction from Noel — amusingly, his very first time speaking into the mic “just going to be talking so… this is my first time” — and a warm welcome from the crowd, the show began, surprisingly, with “This Is The Day”… a lovely surprise for us as we were expecting to hear only the most popular hits the Irish audience is familiar with.
This Is The Day
From the very first notes, emotions ran high: the beauty of the orchestral arrangements, the joy of seeing the brothers smiling again after those years of grief (Mike’s emotions perhaps more discreet, but let’s keep in mind it must have been pretty intense and emotional for them too), the sense of closure of being able to enjoy these songs one last time, and of course the constant thought of Dolores.
Noel gave a second speech before “Free To Decide” unfortunately, his mic cut out front-of-house, so it’s impossible to know what he said. Perhaps he introduced the musicians on drums and second guitar (we only caught their first names – Phil and Ben ?), or did he say a word about Dolores, we’ll never know…
After all, this wasn’t so much a tribute to Dolores concert, but as Dermot himself explained later in the set, more of Ireland’s homage to a musical legacy that has shaped Irish citizens lives and history, “to be up here singing songs that are such an important part of Irish music history means an awful lot to me so I’m very very grateful to be here doing this” and that’s exactly how we perceived it too. That’s how special it felt out there, the atmosphere at Stradbally Hall was profoundly reverent, almost contemplative, as if the huge audience — weary after two days of festival and braving the rain — understood the significance of showing up, despite the fact that most Irish people really know only a handful of Cranberries songs to be honest: “Zombie” (immortalized at rugby matches since Dolores’s passing), “Dreams” (adopted by Limerick’s hurling team since 2018), “Linger” and “When You’re Gone”.
So of course, when “Linger” began, Noel invited the crowd to sing along with Dermot, and they all joined in singing along in unison, goosebumps all around. The fact the concert turned into a collective ritual made the trip worthwhile. It was clear this was always going to be a giant singalong rather than a test of the guest vocalist’s prowess — hence perhaps why Dermot’s name had only been revealed a few hours before the show, since this wasn’t what mattered most.
Linger (incomplete)
The emotion was obviously palpable on “When You’re Gone”…
When You’re Gone
Then Noel asked his fellow musicians to speed things up, “a bit… like… a lot…” (lol!) after realizing the set was running late. Here we found Noel Hogan in a role reminiscent of a conductor, much like during the “Something Else” tour in 2017, where the string section relied on him to launch songs and keep track of things.
“Salvation” brought a last chance to jump around to a classic from “To The Faithful Departed”
Another emotional highlight was “Ode To My Family” and just like on the other tracks, Dermot wisely stepped back here, avoiding any attempt to imitate Dolores’ “tu tu lu tu” or her signature live yodels. He left those either to the orchestra or to the crowd, which made the performance feel less painful and all the more genuine. The same happened with “Just My Imagination” where we were spared the elongated “not my, not my, not my…” — again, a choice we appreciated.
On “Ridiculous Thoughts” the strings took over the vocal intro once sung by Dolores, and more recently handled by backing singer Johanna Cranitch.
Ridiculous Thoughts (incomplete)
As the set neared its end, gorgeous orchestral arrangements of “Promises” gave way, to our delight, to “Dreams”, a stunning instrumental medley that took us completely by surprise. And finally, as Noel announced, “This is gonna be our last song, I bet you know what this is gonna be” the band launched into “Zombie”. Once again on these two tracks, the audience carried the song with full voice, turning those into a hymn of collective release.
Dreams
You may spot Dermot Kennedy and Mike taking their in-ear monitors off on our “Dreams” video to listen to the crowd.
For us, it was a beautiful farewell. We left with hearts full — touched, grateful, and somewhat relieved to have been able to say goodbye to The Cranberries’ live legacy in such a poignant and meaningful way. What made it even more special was the humility of the performers, the Hogans, the RTÉ Orchestra, Dermot Kennedy — all stepping back somehow leaving space for a collective embrace of the music itself. Let’s here use the occasion to remind the haters that most of these songs were co-written by the man on stage, Noel Hogan, whose legitimacy to perform them could never be in doubt.
Thank you, Noel & Mike, and congratulations to the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and Dermot Kennedy for delivering this truly epic moment of Irish collective communion — one that we will remember with both smiles and tears <3
Dermot Kennedy is the special guest playing at Electric Picnic today with the Hogan bros and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. This was just announced on the festival official accounts like Facebook etc…
August 27, 2025 | Comments Off on leinsterexpress.ie “WATCH: Cranberries brothers (LOL!!) perform as we get first look inside EP25” | by Axl | The Cranberries
Except the facts that according to the title of the article it must be Mike in tuxedo on the piano, and that we barely hear Noel’s guitar… it’s a nice 47-sec video recorded yesterday at Electric Picnic press day!
August 26, 2025 | Comments Off on Noel Hogan at Electric Picnic today · photos & interview | by Axl | The Cranberries
Today was the Electric Picnic press day on festival site in Stradbally in Ireland, and media were treated to a piano performance by Niall Kinsella in full tuxedo. On the Croí stage he performed hits including Hozier’s rendition of “Take Me To Church” and an acoustic version of “Zombie” joined by Noel Hogan.
Afterwards Noel and Niall spoke to the press seated on stage, see photo below! The interview is for now available on irishmirror.ie (go to the second half of the page), more media might appear in the coming hours…
Bootleg vinyls seem to be trendy again these last months… at least when it’s about The Cranberries. A new one just surfaced a few days ago and is titled “May The Saints & Angels Watch Over You”
A little more interesting than what’s been released lately, this one was recorded in Madrid in April 1999. Back cover says soundboard recording, and you probably all know the show was broadcast on Spanish TV, so no doubt the audio is coming from this source… pirates are lazy people!
As always with bootlegs, there is no store listing and you have to search record shops, eBay, or other websites and apps. Photos below from Vinted!
August 18, 2025 | Comments Off on Fergal recently appeared on the “Today” show in Australia (UPDATED) | by Axl | The Cranberries
Fergal interviewed a few days ago on a morning TV show called “Today” which airs on Channel 9 in Australia.
For now you can watch only a cropped version made for the show’s Facebook & Instagram pages. The widescreen video was only shown on TV, hopefully soon someone will share it somewhere someday…
Thanks to Jason for the info and link!
UPDATE – 18 AUGUST (11:15 PM)
That was fast!
Widescreen format now shared on YouTube.
Special thanks to Jason once again!
Yesterday, and more than a month and a half after the release of the 3LP edition, all the other “No Need To Argue (30th Anniversary)” editions were physically released. For die-hard collectors, there are European and US pressings for each format (2LP, 1LP, 2CD, 1CD) and even a Japanese 2CD edition (SHMCD).
All the tracks except the MTV Unplugged ones are also available on all streaming platforms. Once again, the MTV Unplugged is a 3LP Edition exclusive.
Producer Stephen Street posted a very important tweet regarding the remastered album; so this is not just another reissue again and again:
Order your NNTA30 copy(ies) on the official links here.
And new, new merch is also available on the official shop here (more items than previously announced about 2 months ago).
These past weeks and to celebrate the anniversary, The Cranberries shared quite a few unseen footages from the archives. And now for release day, even 2 more rarities:
First, the “Ode To My Family (Iain Cook Remix)” official music video published in 4K on YouTube, crafted from never-before seen footage from the 1994 original shoot.
Secondly and still on YouTube, 55 seconds of never-before seen music video cuts of “Ridiculous Thoughts”
August 14, 2025 | Comments Off on 18 August: Launch of “Limerick Athenaeum · If Walls Could Talk” | by Axl | The Cranberries
Launch of Seamus Flynn’s new book “Limerick Athenaeum · If Walls Could Talk” next 18 August from 2pm to 4pm at People’s Museum in Limerick.
Special guest Noel Hogan will be launching the book dedicated to the Athenaeum theatre as The Cranberries played there quite a few times in the early years of the band.
The doors of what was known in its last incarnation as the Theatre Royal have been closed since 1997 and Seamus Flynn was the former owner of the venue in its late years.
All proceeds go to Historic Houses of Ireland and Limerick Civic Trust.
More details on heritageweek.ie
August 12, 2025 | Comments Off on More unseen footage from the “OTMF” music video shoot | by Axl | The Cranberries
Iain Cook’s remix of “Ode To My Family” drops next Friday. To celebrate, The Cranberries shared on Instagram yesterday 20 seconds of unseen footage from the music video shoot.
August 11, 2025 | Comments Off on More unseen footage from the “Zombie” music video shoot | by Axl | The Cranberries
Still celebrating NNTA 30th Anniversary, another 45 seconds of unseen footage were shared yesterday on The Cranberries Instagram. As The Cranberries wrote, “A new perspective on a familiar intro”
August 8, 2025 | Comments Off on The Making of No Need To Argue: A Conversation with Fergal Lawler & Producer Stephen Street | by Axl | The Cranberries
Still celebrating NNTA 30th anniversary, The Cranberries shared a conversation with Fergal & Stephen Street on YouTube today.
