Poetry and power pop join forces in Paul Muldoon & Rogue Oliphant’s Free at Noon concert

What do you get when a Pulitzer Prize-winning Irish poet joins forces with a college rocker turned music historian, and a member of The Pogues? You get Paul Muldoon & Rogue Oliphant, the band that took the stage at Ardmore Music Hall today for one of the year’s most unique Free at Noon concerts.

“Finding a really good name for a rock band is hard,” the stately-voiced Muldoon told the crowd. “Modest Mice? Somehow that had been taken. Tame Impala? So that’s how we settled on Rogue Oliphant.”

Self-deprecating humor aside, Muldoon took things incredibly seriously when it came to his presentation of the band’s upcoming album Visible From Space. Each song was introduced with a summary of its themes – love, death, redemption – followed by an unaccompanied recitation of some lyrics before the band kicked in.

And what a band: Cáit O’Riordan of The Pogues, Bush Tetras, and Elvis Costello’s late 80s band, played bass. Warren Zanes — leader of The Del Fuegos who went on to be Tom Petty’s biographer as well as the author of a 33 1/3 book about Dusty Springfield’s Dusty In Memphis — played guitar. The group was rounded out by guitarists David Mansfield and Chris Harford, and drummer Ray Kubian. The vibe was rousing and rumbling power pop in the spirit of Dream Theater and Big Star, and Muldoon told the audience before each song which member of Rogue Oliphant wrote the musical arrangements for his lyrics.

Visible From Space releases next Friday, September 12th via Soul Selects, and can be pre-ordered here. Rogue Oliphant travels to Nashville next week for Americanafest, which will be simulcast by World Cafe. Find more about Muldoon’s events and lectures here and check out photos from the Free at Noon below.