NoNeansNo live @ Voodoo, Belfast, 25/05/13
NoMeansNo were formed way back in 1979, and have accumulated a rather large back catalogue of material during their time together. This tour saw the band back in Northern Ireland for the first time since 1992, back when they played the Belfast UU Art College in association with the Belfast Gig Collective, alongside Strontium Dog and Choke.
I discovered NoMeansNo more by accident than intent, after I’d seen the poster advertising this gig plastered around various free spaces in Belfast. The deal was sealed after I listened to their masterpiece, the critically acclaimed album “Wrong” and it was one of the best albums I’ve ever heard, and I’ve listened to a hell of a lot of music! I had to check this band out live.
Voodoo is a great venue which I played in myself just a month prior to this event with my own punk/hardcore band VX, and by 10pm the place was already three quarters full of punters waiting for the first act to take to the stage.
What I like about Strange Victory, tonight’s promoter, is that they keep the bills to two bands only and the support [judging from what gigs I’ve been to previously that they’ve promoted] is usually up & coming local talent.
Openers Belfast based punk rock/ power pop quartet ‘Empty Lungs’ were a very enjoyable and energetic start to the show, and they were well received by this evening’s audience. The band played a set of infectiously catchy tunes including the likes of “Until the Day We Die” and which was crammed with melody, fast riffs and big choruses! The band reminded me of American acts including later era Anti Flag, Against Me as well as the likes of The Gaslight Anthem at times. They were well worth checking out!
On marches our headliner to take “The Graveyard Shift”…
With over 30 year of playing as NoMeansNo, you would expect nothing less than Tom and The Wright Brothers to be an incredibly tight unit, and they delivered the goods big time here tonight. Their 2 hour set had everything thrown in but the kitchen sink, ranging from heavy bouncing bass lines, overdriven guitar lines, complicated jazz based riffs and time changes, captivating energy and enough shouty choruses to make the mass of punters happy. The noisy Canadian trio gave it absolutely 110%, showing that age is no barrier and doesn’t stop them from having a good time while keeping it fast, angry and groovy!
The Voodoo was completely packed out with people both young and old jumping about and making a racket in total solidarity, including The Defect’s very own Glen ‘Kinky’ Kingsmore who was telling me about how much he loves the band, then proceeding to get into the pit and sending him hurtling back to his youth. We even had the occasional crowd surfer launching themselves off the monitors on the very low stage. The set was filled with songs covering all era’s of their extensive career, such as “The River”, “The Graveyard Shift”, “Dark Ages”, “Obsessed” and my favourite of the night “The Tower”. They also threw in a surprise – a short set of Ramones songs to round up the night featuring the punk anthems “Blitzkrieg Bop”, “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker” and “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment”.
To summarise this gig in a nutshell “Fucking INCREDIBLE – one of my all time favourite gigs”.
Steven Donnelly – May 2013
Rating: 10/10
Check out the bands:
Empty Lungs: https://www.facebook.com/emptylungsni
NoMeansNo: https://www.facebook.com/wrongrecords/info
I discovered NoMeansNo more by accident than intent, after I’d seen the poster advertising this gig plastered around various free spaces in Belfast. The deal was sealed after I listened to their masterpiece, the critically acclaimed album “Wrong” and it was one of the best albums I’ve ever heard, and I’ve listened to a hell of a lot of music! I had to check this band out live.
Voodoo is a great venue which I played in myself just a month prior to this event with my own punk/hardcore band VX, and by 10pm the place was already three quarters full of punters waiting for the first act to take to the stage.
What I like about Strange Victory, tonight’s promoter, is that they keep the bills to two bands only and the support [judging from what gigs I’ve been to previously that they’ve promoted] is usually up & coming local talent.
Openers Belfast based punk rock/ power pop quartet ‘Empty Lungs’ were a very enjoyable and energetic start to the show, and they were well received by this evening’s audience. The band played a set of infectiously catchy tunes including the likes of “Until the Day We Die” and which was crammed with melody, fast riffs and big choruses! The band reminded me of American acts including later era Anti Flag, Against Me as well as the likes of The Gaslight Anthem at times. They were well worth checking out!
On marches our headliner to take “The Graveyard Shift”…
With over 30 year of playing as NoMeansNo, you would expect nothing less than Tom and The Wright Brothers to be an incredibly tight unit, and they delivered the goods big time here tonight. Their 2 hour set had everything thrown in but the kitchen sink, ranging from heavy bouncing bass lines, overdriven guitar lines, complicated jazz based riffs and time changes, captivating energy and enough shouty choruses to make the mass of punters happy. The noisy Canadian trio gave it absolutely 110%, showing that age is no barrier and doesn’t stop them from having a good time while keeping it fast, angry and groovy!
The Voodoo was completely packed out with people both young and old jumping about and making a racket in total solidarity, including The Defect’s very own Glen ‘Kinky’ Kingsmore who was telling me about how much he loves the band, then proceeding to get into the pit and sending him hurtling back to his youth. We even had the occasional crowd surfer launching themselves off the monitors on the very low stage. The set was filled with songs covering all era’s of their extensive career, such as “The River”, “The Graveyard Shift”, “Dark Ages”, “Obsessed” and my favourite of the night “The Tower”. They also threw in a surprise – a short set of Ramones songs to round up the night featuring the punk anthems “Blitzkrieg Bop”, “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker” and “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment”.
To summarise this gig in a nutshell “Fucking INCREDIBLE – one of my all time favourite gigs”.
Steven Donnelly – May 2013
Rating: 10/10
Check out the bands:
Empty Lungs: https://www.facebook.com/emptylungsni
NoMeansNo: https://www.facebook.com/wrongrecords/info