Hooligan / Jobseekers / Mohican Jack -
live @ Thomas House, Dublin, 04/05/13
I first met Bono in the late 70s when I was a mere four years old. I’m not sure quite how I got to meet him but my Dad’s family lived near him when he was growing up in Finglas. Anyway, I asked my Dad who that guy was and i was told he was the singer of a punk band. Whatever that was. Ten years later in the late 80s, I had discovered punk was The Sex Pistols and their ilk, and Bono was not the singer of a similar sounding band.
With this in mind, I tottered along to a gig in the Thomas House on Thomas Street to see a punk band called Hooligan. Not a genre of music I am used to listening to, and having seen footage of punk gigs in the late 70s, and having recently read Peter Hook’s autobiography with stories of punk gigs in the 70s in Manchester that would make you run a million miles away, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
I arrived as the first band, Mohican Jack from Belfast were wrapping up with the final song in their set, the title of which was "Fuck The Police". The music, surprisingly to myself, wasn’t bad at all and I was very impressed when I learned that it was the bands second ever gig, their first supporting the Outcasts in Belfast in Auntie Annies in April, they were as one audience member succinctly put it "tight as fuck". A band to watch out for.
By the time the second band, Jobseekers, came on, the place was filling up. A punk band with attitude. The proper fuck off attitude. And what struck me was the songs were direct, straight to the point, and no long winded intro to a song, verse chorus verse middle-eight chorus. Just one-two and off ya go. I liked the attitude more so than the music, which sounded to me slightly more verging on metal-punk but the crowd were getting into them alot and I guess that’s what its all about.
Then on came Hooligan. Hooligan is a three piece punk band, – Dave Linehan (guitar and vocals), Duncan Pratt (bass) and Jean Philippe Morer (drums)– who formed in late 2009, but only started gigging in the summer of 2010. Since then they have gigged extensively throughout the U.K. and Ireland, and yes, they rock. Or should I say they “punk rock”?
Hooligan definitely have the punk vibe and sound, with the added colour of carefully crafted guitar solos. These guys could play at most venues – not just punk venues – but not at the cost of selling their punk ethos. The highly proficient bass and drums slotted in tightly with the guitar riffs, and the vocals blasted out with an edgy style that the audience seemed to appreciate, some of the more diehard fans singing along with gusto both on and off the stage by the end of the night.
Would I go and try catch these guys again? Most definitely. They are definitely worth seeing. Over and over. And despite the horror stories Peter Hook tells, the heavily tattooed audience and members of bands that were mingling in The Thomas House saved their attitude for the stage. They were all just out for a few pints and some live music. Ah sure, aren’t we all?
Dave Griffith
With this in mind, I tottered along to a gig in the Thomas House on Thomas Street to see a punk band called Hooligan. Not a genre of music I am used to listening to, and having seen footage of punk gigs in the late 70s, and having recently read Peter Hook’s autobiography with stories of punk gigs in the 70s in Manchester that would make you run a million miles away, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
I arrived as the first band, Mohican Jack from Belfast were wrapping up with the final song in their set, the title of which was "Fuck The Police". The music, surprisingly to myself, wasn’t bad at all and I was very impressed when I learned that it was the bands second ever gig, their first supporting the Outcasts in Belfast in Auntie Annies in April, they were as one audience member succinctly put it "tight as fuck". A band to watch out for.
By the time the second band, Jobseekers, came on, the place was filling up. A punk band with attitude. The proper fuck off attitude. And what struck me was the songs were direct, straight to the point, and no long winded intro to a song, verse chorus verse middle-eight chorus. Just one-two and off ya go. I liked the attitude more so than the music, which sounded to me slightly more verging on metal-punk but the crowd were getting into them alot and I guess that’s what its all about.
Then on came Hooligan. Hooligan is a three piece punk band, – Dave Linehan (guitar and vocals), Duncan Pratt (bass) and Jean Philippe Morer (drums)– who formed in late 2009, but only started gigging in the summer of 2010. Since then they have gigged extensively throughout the U.K. and Ireland, and yes, they rock. Or should I say they “punk rock”?
Hooligan definitely have the punk vibe and sound, with the added colour of carefully crafted guitar solos. These guys could play at most venues – not just punk venues – but not at the cost of selling their punk ethos. The highly proficient bass and drums slotted in tightly with the guitar riffs, and the vocals blasted out with an edgy style that the audience seemed to appreciate, some of the more diehard fans singing along with gusto both on and off the stage by the end of the night.
Would I go and try catch these guys again? Most definitely. They are definitely worth seeing. Over and over. And despite the horror stories Peter Hook tells, the heavily tattooed audience and members of bands that were mingling in The Thomas House saved their attitude for the stage. They were all just out for a few pints and some live music. Ah sure, aren’t we all?
Dave Griffith