They Came From The East
Defects / Dollybyrds / SSSA / Secret Society @ the Black Box, Belfast 25/09/10
Another night of free punkyesqe entertainment in the heart of Belfast at the 'Black Box' courtesy of Immortal records supremo 'William Maxwell' and I'd like to thank him for all his efforts on behalf of everyone in attendance . Now let's get down and dirty with the story of a gig that promised so much but delivered a little less than expected .
The ludicrous sight of Paul Rowan ( SSSA) in a brassy blonde granny wig plus his unfunny introuction in a faux english accent didn't really help the first band onstage tonight.
I'd never heard of 'Secret Society' before this show but I don't think I'll be rushing out to catch them live again in a hurry , their mix of 'Police ' style cod reggae and indie rock though musically very tight and performed well really did nothing for me .Its not that they were bad , they just weren't my thing .
'SSSA' were the biggest disappointment of the night for me , I was expecting (as I was told) a setlist of 'Stage B' classics fleshed out with a few choice covers , but what we actually got was a four song set that went slowly downhill with each passing number .
I got into a bit of a minor online spat next day with an 'SSSA' member over my less than enthusiastic but not nasty personal opinion regarding their performance and believe it or not amongst some really pretentious patronising bullshit that he posted which pissed me off at the time ( and I quote "we will not be pigeon holed") he blamed other people in one communication for the mis-matched selection of tunes they played here tonight !!!.
But any wrong impressions or misconceptions I may have about 'SSSA' are all down to what I was told by this member of the band , so he's got no-one to blame but himself for my critical point of view. As for that certain members superior attitude when they've done nothing yet to back it up , someone needs to get a grip on the reality of the bands position in the scheme of things . And yes I agree 'Stop Stop Start Again, are most definitely NOT 'Stage B' .
Enough said and thats the end of it so its back to the 'SSSA' show, the 'Stage B' classic 'Recall to Life' was a good start ,sounding much heavier than at their debut performance a few months back . Yeah! the vocals were a bit ropey in places but in the lead singers defence it is a very difficult high pitched song to sing live.
The new song ?????? was like some 80s slice of unfashionable crossover pop rock and it wasn't that bad , their cover of the 'Magazine' evergreen 'Shot by both sides' was soso and a bit rough here and there' but it was the ill informed inclusion of a 'Sex Pistols' / modern pop mash up cover which for me was the really big mistake .I thought it was pretty bad and it shouldn't have made it out of the rehearsal room nevermind onstage when they've got so many other great songs they could've / should've chosen instead of that .
Observing 'SSSA' from the outside it looks to me rightly or wrongly that 'Paul Rowan' seems to be the main man now, the 'Stage B' revival I was lead to believe they were intended as is now well and truely dead and buried as far as I could see .His posing and preening combined with his'Marc Bolan' pixie tiptoe dancing and a see though tshirt that he should have left in his wardrobe from 30 years ago looked so unflattering and out of place on that stage .
I'm not sure what to expect from 'SSSA' anymore , if they want to be seen as a new band thats fair enough, maybe I'm expecting too much because of the history involved .Hopefully next time 'SSSA ' play live they'll manage a full set of whatever and blow me away.
Having said that I love 'Rowan & Maxwells' ( wasn't there a cult sixties US tv show called something like that lol) dj sets , they spin some really cool retro tunes .
The 'Dollybyrds ' were the band of the night for me , they thrashed out a great set of original songs with a couple of 'Clash' covers thrown in for good measure.
A new local band with real attitude and promise , look forward to seeing them live again in the very near future .'Dollybyrds' are go!.
The bar closed bang on eleven and the frankly disgruntled punters started leaving the venue to head for the nearest late night watering hole before and during 'the Defects' set which was unfortunate for the band as it was no fault of theirs. But the punters missed a class show .
What more can I say about 'the Defects' I haven't said before many times , a great band full of piss and vinegar and all the gigging they've done recently is really paying off .
There was times during tonights set when they just seemed to click into an aggressive groove and they sounded so powerful it was scarey .
They performed a new song and did a great cover of 'the Ruts' anthem 'In a rut' late into the set which went down a storm .
'Marcus Duke' the original 'Defects' guitarist also joined the band onstage for a couple of numbers which was a nice surprise .As far as I know he's back for good which will only make 'the Defects' even more of a must-see live punk rock attraction in the future than they already are , if thats possible! .
My verdict of the night as a whole goes something like this , good company and good music plus I got to wear my new white 'George Cox' creepers so what more can you ask for on a saturday night? .
Some of tonights bands shone very brightly others just twinkled , though all'n'all it was a pretty good night out.
Joe Donnelly. Belfast . 27.9.10
The ludicrous sight of Paul Rowan ( SSSA) in a brassy blonde granny wig plus his unfunny introuction in a faux english accent didn't really help the first band onstage tonight.
I'd never heard of 'Secret Society' before this show but I don't think I'll be rushing out to catch them live again in a hurry , their mix of 'Police ' style cod reggae and indie rock though musically very tight and performed well really did nothing for me .Its not that they were bad , they just weren't my thing .
'SSSA' were the biggest disappointment of the night for me , I was expecting (as I was told) a setlist of 'Stage B' classics fleshed out with a few choice covers , but what we actually got was a four song set that went slowly downhill with each passing number .
I got into a bit of a minor online spat next day with an 'SSSA' member over my less than enthusiastic but not nasty personal opinion regarding their performance and believe it or not amongst some really pretentious patronising bullshit that he posted which pissed me off at the time ( and I quote "we will not be pigeon holed") he blamed other people in one communication for the mis-matched selection of tunes they played here tonight !!!.
But any wrong impressions or misconceptions I may have about 'SSSA' are all down to what I was told by this member of the band , so he's got no-one to blame but himself for my critical point of view. As for that certain members superior attitude when they've done nothing yet to back it up , someone needs to get a grip on the reality of the bands position in the scheme of things . And yes I agree 'Stop Stop Start Again, are most definitely NOT 'Stage B' .
Enough said and thats the end of it so its back to the 'SSSA' show, the 'Stage B' classic 'Recall to Life' was a good start ,sounding much heavier than at their debut performance a few months back . Yeah! the vocals were a bit ropey in places but in the lead singers defence it is a very difficult high pitched song to sing live.
The new song ?????? was like some 80s slice of unfashionable crossover pop rock and it wasn't that bad , their cover of the 'Magazine' evergreen 'Shot by both sides' was soso and a bit rough here and there' but it was the ill informed inclusion of a 'Sex Pistols' / modern pop mash up cover which for me was the really big mistake .I thought it was pretty bad and it shouldn't have made it out of the rehearsal room nevermind onstage when they've got so many other great songs they could've / should've chosen instead of that .
Observing 'SSSA' from the outside it looks to me rightly or wrongly that 'Paul Rowan' seems to be the main man now, the 'Stage B' revival I was lead to believe they were intended as is now well and truely dead and buried as far as I could see .His posing and preening combined with his'Marc Bolan' pixie tiptoe dancing and a see though tshirt that he should have left in his wardrobe from 30 years ago looked so unflattering and out of place on that stage .
I'm not sure what to expect from 'SSSA' anymore , if they want to be seen as a new band thats fair enough, maybe I'm expecting too much because of the history involved .Hopefully next time 'SSSA ' play live they'll manage a full set of whatever and blow me away.
Having said that I love 'Rowan & Maxwells' ( wasn't there a cult sixties US tv show called something like that lol) dj sets , they spin some really cool retro tunes .
The 'Dollybyrds ' were the band of the night for me , they thrashed out a great set of original songs with a couple of 'Clash' covers thrown in for good measure.
A new local band with real attitude and promise , look forward to seeing them live again in the very near future .'Dollybyrds' are go!.
The bar closed bang on eleven and the frankly disgruntled punters started leaving the venue to head for the nearest late night watering hole before and during 'the Defects' set which was unfortunate for the band as it was no fault of theirs. But the punters missed a class show .
What more can I say about 'the Defects' I haven't said before many times , a great band full of piss and vinegar and all the gigging they've done recently is really paying off .
There was times during tonights set when they just seemed to click into an aggressive groove and they sounded so powerful it was scarey .
They performed a new song and did a great cover of 'the Ruts' anthem 'In a rut' late into the set which went down a storm .
'Marcus Duke' the original 'Defects' guitarist also joined the band onstage for a couple of numbers which was a nice surprise .As far as I know he's back for good which will only make 'the Defects' even more of a must-see live punk rock attraction in the future than they already are , if thats possible! .
My verdict of the night as a whole goes something like this , good company and good music plus I got to wear my new white 'George Cox' creepers so what more can you ask for on a saturday night? .
Some of tonights bands shone very brightly others just twinkled , though all'n'all it was a pretty good night out.
Joe Donnelly. Belfast . 27.9.10