Today on WHO NAMED THE BAND: The Mahones, playing tonight at the New City Legion.

The Mahones

This popular Canadian band – which recently had a song on the Mark Wahlberg movie The Fighter – straddles the giant, stinky crack in the Earth between Celtic music and punk rock. And they’ve been been rocking the pubs across Canada for more than two decades. Man, that’s a lot of dark ale down the hatch. But where did they get their name? Rumour has it that the name the Mahones comes directly from one of the band’s heroes: The Pogues, which used to be called Pogue Mahone, which is derived from the Gaelic “póg mo thóin,” which translates to “kiss my ass.” In short, while the Pogues represent the “kiss” part, the Mahones are named for the other end. Unless Gaelic syntax is ass-backwards. Who the hell knows?

Enough of this nonsense. Discuss the issue over a pint or five.

Tickets are $15 at the door. The opener is River City Rat Band, subject of a WHO NAMED THE BAND feature for another day.