Ruefrex / The Defects live @ Oh Yeah Centre, Belfast, 21/06/14
A NIGHT OF TREASON @ THE OH YEAH CENTRE - 21.06.2014
Raising funds for STRUMMERVILLE, the Joe Strummer Foundation for New Music
RUEFREX /THE DEFECTS
Wookalilly VerseChorusVerse
DJ Leigh Forgie
plus IN MEMORY OF KAREN BOYCE @ THE ERRIGLE INN - 21.06.2014
Raising funds for the MARIE CURIE CANCER CARE
THE SABREJETS
DJ Gerry Robinson
Saturday night 21st June 2014 - the night of the longest day. But, no matter the length of the day, unless I could get my hands on a cloning machine (an E-bay search proving unsuccessful), I was faced with the dilemma of choosing between two worthy causes and three great bands. However, due to unforeseen circumstances and a double booking (The Sabrejets drummer, Lawrence having to play another private party later in the evening) it meant that Belfast's greaser kings would have to play first in the line-up at The Errigle - allowing me the opportunity to catch them early and still be able to wend my way back into the city centre to catch the second half off the Oh Yeah Centre gig. Happy days.
Arriving at The Errigle Inn just before The Sabrejets were due on stage, I got the first pint of the evening and a sneaky cigarette out on the roof garden. Although still early, the crowd was slowly building in readiness for the band, as Gerry was busy spinning his brand of Rockabilly tuneage. Back into the bar, the band had set up and shortly after 20:00 they were preparing to take the stage. Bill was having some concerns over the sloping ceiling and his double bass and some stray wiring from the TVs, but most importantly the reaching distance to his pint!! Once within the appropriate arms length measurement, the band kicked off with their high energy Rock'n'Roll riff-fest. As tight as ever, they storm through a fast, (sabre)jet-fuelled set (as stated, they had to be off by 21:00) and there was little time wasted as rockin' track followed after the other - all killer, no filler. Of the newer songs in the set 'Shake' is by far becoming a favourite, but you can never tire of hearing any of the hard rockin', flat top boppers performed tonight. Even so early in the evening, the girls were up boogieing as the band played - even the bar staff were seen twirling in the aisles which seemed to entertain the guitarist. The sloping roof proved no problem to Bill's mini maracas (in-joke) during the Bo Diddley inspired 'Devil Drives A Cadillac' and even as the audience were still filing in, the set was drawing to an untimely close. One last number squeezed in before their departure was a cover of Bobby Fuller's 'I Fought The Law' with it's six-gun drum roll I considered this quite fitting as it was time for me to head down to the Strummerville benefit gig. A quick adios to the lads and I was off down the Ormeau Road, back into town.
Turning into Hill Street, it was just a short walk round to the Oh Yeah, and I was soon greeted by a multitude of familiar faces. Having a few quick chats and a further few hellos, I made sure I had a pint before venturing into the hall. I had never heard of the two opening acts and had already missed VerseChorusVerse (who was apparently just one guy with an acoustic), but Wookalilly were midway through their set as I rounded the corner. Four young females were on stage performing a folksy-country style offering - not really my cup of tea - so I was soon sitting and talking to a few oul mates and heading back outside for a smoke. The girls were still playing by the time I came back in, but I noticed one had changed from her banjo to a ukelele and was intrigued by the Russian sounding tune they performed. The singer had a really sweet vocal style and quite impressed with the performance, I ended up watching the rest of their set - which was only a couple more songs long.
The Defects were up next, after an interlude of punk/new wave tunes supplied by this evening's DJ. Starting of with the appropriate 'Hill Street' and following up with 'Revelator' their tribute to Joe Strummer - a forceful, powerful and very loud performance ensued. Driven by the pounding backbeat from Glenn and complemented by Aidy's assassin bass playing - it is no wonder the reports of them recently blowing off SLF as support were circulating. A smattering of golden oldies - classic Defect-ive breakdowns had the crowd moshing and pogoing away. A new offering was dedicated to it's inspiration - the late, great Malcolm Owen - as the band storm into 'Traffic Island Castaway' taking us to a higher level activity (go on, dig it out). Ending with a Bob Marley cover - we got up, stood up and applauded another great performance from Buck and the lads.
A deserved break for us all allowed a chance to catch up with old friends, grab another smoke and top up the alcohol levels before the main act took the stage. Before they went on, I had the chance to have a quick chat with Ruefrex's drummer and main song writer Paul Burgess. We both went to University together and shared the same block in the Halls Of Residence, spending a good few ocassions chatting the night away about music. The last time I had seen Ruefrex perform was the launch party for the It Makes You Want To Spit book (and god knows how long before that) but as soon as 'Wild Colonial Boy' sparked up and Alan Clarke strode centre-stage, it was as if I was transported back in time. Clarkie began to bite into a bubble-wrapped package and tore out a Kalashnikov rifle - stage theatrics underlining the lyrical content of the song. A dark, powerful performance, intentionally thought provoking as well as entertaining - just like a Ruefrex show always did. Other old favourites followed - 'Capital Letters' had Clarkie (not for the first time throughout the night) off stage and into the audience and a stunning rendition of 'Flowers For All Ocassions' (one of my favourite tracks) had the crowd eating out off his hands. I had forgotten what a great stage presence he was and what a great ftontman for this band. At other times through the set, a pistol and a knife were produced - and it was with knife in hand, someone from the throng hit Alan square in the face with a full pint of lager. I really thought at this point, given his past reputation, I fully expected it to all kick off - but fair play, he just continued singing thereby making an even stronger stance.
Midway through the set Alan moved forward and addressed the audience, "We have been called many things in the past - Spidermen, Wankers, Orange bastards and even the musical wing of the DUP. But as someone once said....we haven't gone away you know" The band then performed 'Kingsmill Road' a song that obviously had significant meaning to him as he took a short time off in the wings after an emotional vocal of strong lyrical content. I believe that was the first live performance of the song. Ironically introduced in tribute to Mr Strummer and the reason for this event, they played a version of Wire's 'Lowdown' - totally in keeping with the Ruefrex mentality. Brilliant. All too soon it was the last song - "This is a folk song......well, it's our folk song" and the set climaxed with their Good Vibrations debut single 'One By One'. The crowd went ballistic as the song built up to the full on punk thrash we all know and once again we had Clarkie in the middle of the crowd, as they danced, sang or filmed along with him. What a gig - they really hadn't gone away.
With the dying reverb coming through the PA, I made my way outside, saying my farewells to those I knew and bumped into on exiting. Grabbing a taxi further on up the road, the driver asked where I was tonight - "Nineteen fuckin seventy-seven mate". Funnily there was no further conversation until he quoted me the fare as I got out of his vehicle.
MULLY 22/06/14
Raising funds for STRUMMERVILLE, the Joe Strummer Foundation for New Music
RUEFREX /THE DEFECTS
Wookalilly VerseChorusVerse
DJ Leigh Forgie
plus IN MEMORY OF KAREN BOYCE @ THE ERRIGLE INN - 21.06.2014
Raising funds for the MARIE CURIE CANCER CARE
THE SABREJETS
DJ Gerry Robinson
Saturday night 21st June 2014 - the night of the longest day. But, no matter the length of the day, unless I could get my hands on a cloning machine (an E-bay search proving unsuccessful), I was faced with the dilemma of choosing between two worthy causes and three great bands. However, due to unforeseen circumstances and a double booking (The Sabrejets drummer, Lawrence having to play another private party later in the evening) it meant that Belfast's greaser kings would have to play first in the line-up at The Errigle - allowing me the opportunity to catch them early and still be able to wend my way back into the city centre to catch the second half off the Oh Yeah Centre gig. Happy days.
Arriving at The Errigle Inn just before The Sabrejets were due on stage, I got the first pint of the evening and a sneaky cigarette out on the roof garden. Although still early, the crowd was slowly building in readiness for the band, as Gerry was busy spinning his brand of Rockabilly tuneage. Back into the bar, the band had set up and shortly after 20:00 they were preparing to take the stage. Bill was having some concerns over the sloping ceiling and his double bass and some stray wiring from the TVs, but most importantly the reaching distance to his pint!! Once within the appropriate arms length measurement, the band kicked off with their high energy Rock'n'Roll riff-fest. As tight as ever, they storm through a fast, (sabre)jet-fuelled set (as stated, they had to be off by 21:00) and there was little time wasted as rockin' track followed after the other - all killer, no filler. Of the newer songs in the set 'Shake' is by far becoming a favourite, but you can never tire of hearing any of the hard rockin', flat top boppers performed tonight. Even so early in the evening, the girls were up boogieing as the band played - even the bar staff were seen twirling in the aisles which seemed to entertain the guitarist. The sloping roof proved no problem to Bill's mini maracas (in-joke) during the Bo Diddley inspired 'Devil Drives A Cadillac' and even as the audience were still filing in, the set was drawing to an untimely close. One last number squeezed in before their departure was a cover of Bobby Fuller's 'I Fought The Law' with it's six-gun drum roll I considered this quite fitting as it was time for me to head down to the Strummerville benefit gig. A quick adios to the lads and I was off down the Ormeau Road, back into town.
Turning into Hill Street, it was just a short walk round to the Oh Yeah, and I was soon greeted by a multitude of familiar faces. Having a few quick chats and a further few hellos, I made sure I had a pint before venturing into the hall. I had never heard of the two opening acts and had already missed VerseChorusVerse (who was apparently just one guy with an acoustic), but Wookalilly were midway through their set as I rounded the corner. Four young females were on stage performing a folksy-country style offering - not really my cup of tea - so I was soon sitting and talking to a few oul mates and heading back outside for a smoke. The girls were still playing by the time I came back in, but I noticed one had changed from her banjo to a ukelele and was intrigued by the Russian sounding tune they performed. The singer had a really sweet vocal style and quite impressed with the performance, I ended up watching the rest of their set - which was only a couple more songs long.
The Defects were up next, after an interlude of punk/new wave tunes supplied by this evening's DJ. Starting of with the appropriate 'Hill Street' and following up with 'Revelator' their tribute to Joe Strummer - a forceful, powerful and very loud performance ensued. Driven by the pounding backbeat from Glenn and complemented by Aidy's assassin bass playing - it is no wonder the reports of them recently blowing off SLF as support were circulating. A smattering of golden oldies - classic Defect-ive breakdowns had the crowd moshing and pogoing away. A new offering was dedicated to it's inspiration - the late, great Malcolm Owen - as the band storm into 'Traffic Island Castaway' taking us to a higher level activity (go on, dig it out). Ending with a Bob Marley cover - we got up, stood up and applauded another great performance from Buck and the lads.
A deserved break for us all allowed a chance to catch up with old friends, grab another smoke and top up the alcohol levels before the main act took the stage. Before they went on, I had the chance to have a quick chat with Ruefrex's drummer and main song writer Paul Burgess. We both went to University together and shared the same block in the Halls Of Residence, spending a good few ocassions chatting the night away about music. The last time I had seen Ruefrex perform was the launch party for the It Makes You Want To Spit book (and god knows how long before that) but as soon as 'Wild Colonial Boy' sparked up and Alan Clarke strode centre-stage, it was as if I was transported back in time. Clarkie began to bite into a bubble-wrapped package and tore out a Kalashnikov rifle - stage theatrics underlining the lyrical content of the song. A dark, powerful performance, intentionally thought provoking as well as entertaining - just like a Ruefrex show always did. Other old favourites followed - 'Capital Letters' had Clarkie (not for the first time throughout the night) off stage and into the audience and a stunning rendition of 'Flowers For All Ocassions' (one of my favourite tracks) had the crowd eating out off his hands. I had forgotten what a great stage presence he was and what a great ftontman for this band. At other times through the set, a pistol and a knife were produced - and it was with knife in hand, someone from the throng hit Alan square in the face with a full pint of lager. I really thought at this point, given his past reputation, I fully expected it to all kick off - but fair play, he just continued singing thereby making an even stronger stance.
Midway through the set Alan moved forward and addressed the audience, "We have been called many things in the past - Spidermen, Wankers, Orange bastards and even the musical wing of the DUP. But as someone once said....we haven't gone away you know" The band then performed 'Kingsmill Road' a song that obviously had significant meaning to him as he took a short time off in the wings after an emotional vocal of strong lyrical content. I believe that was the first live performance of the song. Ironically introduced in tribute to Mr Strummer and the reason for this event, they played a version of Wire's 'Lowdown' - totally in keeping with the Ruefrex mentality. Brilliant. All too soon it was the last song - "This is a folk song......well, it's our folk song" and the set climaxed with their Good Vibrations debut single 'One By One'. The crowd went ballistic as the song built up to the full on punk thrash we all know and once again we had Clarkie in the middle of the crowd, as they danced, sang or filmed along with him. What a gig - they really hadn't gone away.
With the dying reverb coming through the PA, I made my way outside, saying my farewells to those I knew and bumped into on exiting. Grabbing a taxi further on up the road, the driver asked where I was tonight - "Nineteen fuckin seventy-seven mate". Funnily there was no further conversation until he quoted me the fare as I got out of his vehicle.
MULLY 22/06/14