Well they did say Mike was putting the finishing touches to some "very special" MPO releases and today just how special they are was finally revealed with the announcement of not one but three new releases set for pre-xmas!
Firstly we have the five disc set
"In The Poppy Fields : Collected Works" which gathers all the Poppy Fields recordings but each track has been remixed and revisited by Mike to make it sound completely fresh. It isn't a straight forward re-issue project by any means. The track lists and full details can be found on the Alarm site and store so I won't repeat them here - instead check out the link
http://thealarm.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/mike-peters-the-alarm-xmas-bundle-2012
Disc 1 & 2 are the collected "In The Poppy Fields"
Disc 3 is "In The Poppy Fields" Live at the Gathering
Disc 4 continues the Gathering set and also features the "Fun In The Sun" documentary recordings and 2 demos and a B-Side.
Disc 5 is a DVD featuring 44 min gig from San Siro Stadium from 2002, the half hour Edward Henry Street film by Mike and a 15 minute making of.
PRICE £39.99
Then we have a 51 track double CD recorded at 12 different venues on last years Mike Peters acoustic tour called "30th Anniversary Acoustic Alarm Tour 1981 - 2011" this was an amazing tour and personally it would be great to see soundboard mixes made available of each night as downloads but for now this promises to be an awesome document of a very special solo tour.
PRICE £19.99
Finally we have the expected document of this years Gathering which comes as a four disc set split between two CDs and 2 DVDs. So that's four and a half hours of video footage and two hours forty of audio!!!
PRICE £24.99
Now I'm sure many of you will want to buy all three releases budgets and/or Santa permitting and I don't blame you! If you can get all three then there is a bonus and incentive to do so this year. Firstly you get a £5 saving on the overall price making it £79, secondly you will get free postage but the most important incentive comes in the form of a bonus CD "Talking Sleevenotes" which has Mike reading an 8000 word very personal essay surrounding "In The Poppy Fields" as well as featuring some rare and unreleased tracks.
PRICE £79.00
Mike delivered an amazing set, the beauty of these shows is the unpredictable nature of the set list each night making each show genuinely unique. Coming on to the crowds "Blaze Of Glory" chants you knew it was going to be a great night from word go. After being hit by a technical issue with one of the two guitars he had (that would plague him all night - meaning only one could be used) Mike came into the audience to treat us to "This Train" while it was being sorted - for the record I think the guitar was ok, it was the cable or the box it was going into that was the problem! So after 2 tracks Mike announced that he had played what he wanted to play so it was over to us to decide what else he played. A little different from the last acoustic shows in that he didn't just take shouted out requests but wanted to find out why the person wanted to hear it. It was good to see many Big Country fans turning out to support Mike as he helps to continue the Big Country legacy and it is obvious he is happy to play BC tracks but did change the requested track for one that would work better in an acoustic setting. Joe Silva came back to the stage joining Mike for what would normally be the encore but as the venue is under a strict 10pm curfew tonight no time is wasted in the niceties of going of stage to milk the applause. The night ends with a seasonal run though of the John & Yoko classic "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" before Mike announces he isn't finished but due to the curfew he will be taking the show to the plaza outside the venue walking with the exiting crowd to start an acoustic sing along outside of "In A Big Country" and "45 RPM". As the venue is part of a shopping precinct the sudden appearance of a Welshman touting a guitar and bringing a couple of hundred close friends with him it alarmed the precinct security somewhat! So Mike lets it stand at an impromptu open air two song encore and we go away happy after witnessing an amazing night!
Here's an early Xmas present for Scandinavian fans (well those in Norway at least!), Mike has added four new dates on the end of the Red Poppy tour - all in Norway. The dates are....
The International Swingers the "super group" consisting of James Stevenson, Glen Matlock, Clem Burke and Gary Twinn have released a four track EP available from the bands website http://www.theinternationalswingers.com/shop . 
