Wasted Talent - live @ the Frisky Bear, Holywood, 02/05/14
I was in good company on Friday night at the Frisky Bear in Holywood with Johnny Rotten, Joe Strummer, Jello Biafro, Adam Ant, to Pete Shelly, Dave Vanian, Billy Idol and Julian Casablancas, Ian McCullough, Alicia Keys, to Alex Turner and Johnny Cash to name only a few... listening to their songs from one of the best covers band around at the minute, WASTED TALENT. Yes... you can play all these songs on your ipod while walking the dog or play your original vinyl in your own front room while having your dinner and looking at the record sleeve yet again, but nothing beats hearing them from a LIVE band and WASTED TALENT take no prisoners in delivering these tunes along with a massive back catalogue of classic punk anthems to entertain you.
WASTED TALENT are a Bangor based punk band that formed in 1982, only to split shortly after in 1983. They first came to my attention after playing to a small crowd of early birds at Bangor’s Punk Festival back in 2012, after reforming just 8 weeks before, with two of the original members, David Kirk (vocals) and Paul McMullan (drums) and two new members Kyle Lamb (bass & backing vocals) and Chris Brown (guitar & backing vocals). A few more gigs followed and with new member Bob Moody on board replacing Paul on drums the band played a later slot at the BBA Festival 2013 to a larger more enthusiastic crowd which put them back on the radar for future punk events around Bangor and Belfast. They recently headlined Buck Murdock of The Defects 50th birthday party at Voodoo earning much respect from the support bands and crowd alike. They are well rehearsed, sounding good .... and at the thought of being accused of sacrilege, at times, if not better than some of the original recordings, adding new classics to their set list every time I hear them with a choice of songs enabling them to perform over a 2 hour set.
So to kick off the Bank Holiday weekend and the venue being practically on my doorstep this was one gig I wasn’t going to miss. The Frisky Bear is a long narrow intimate venue with limited stage space and dance floor but the local punks made the most of it. Opening with the Skids ‘Saints are Coming’ the band caught everyone’s attention and kept a fast pace of punk classics throughout the first half of the evening. Then just to shake everyone up an unexpected New York mix of the 1975 group Hello ‘Back in the New York Groove’ featuring the falsetto tones of Kyle Lamb mixing it with Alicia Keys ‘Empire State of Mind’... well done Kyle and Dave, it was a brilliant mash up and always good to hear a contemporary twist on an old cover done well. Hits from The Buzzcocks, The Damned, Generation X, Echo & the Bunny Men followed with a perfect Pistols/PIL mix of ‘Pretty Vacant/This is not a Love Song’ worked brilliantly in to the set and demonstrated the talent of these guys not only being creative but keeping to the punk ethos and playing out their own DIY versions of the classics. Johnny Cash also made the cut with Dave’s deep baritone vocals on ‘Cocaine Blues’ a brilliant tribute to the Man in Black and not a bit out of place in the set list. The local Belfast punk bands were not to be left out, with a few covers from the late 70’s Harp Bar bands which featured in the entertaining Good Vibrations BAFTA nominated film, such as Alternative Ulster (SLF), Big Time (Rudi) and the pretty pop punk sound of Protex ‘I Don’t Wanna to Get Over you’ played intermittently throughout the night. I also hear they may add ‘Self Conscious Over You’ an Outcast song from the movie, which no doubt will go down a storm with the punters.
After a well deserved short interval for the band and audience to catch their breath, the 2nd set resumed and picked up the pace once again with Kyle Lambs captivating heavy bass line leading the band into the ferocious Dead Kennedys’ ‘Holiday in Cambodia’ to a now more exuberant crowd showing their appreciation on the dance floor!
How the band kept this pace going is down to sheer hard work and passion which comes across in every song as David Kirk’s versatile vocal ability is evident from Jello Biafro/Pete Shelly/Johnny Cash/Fergal Sharkey... which is no mean featl!!. He diversifies well given the range of songs and equally, the talent of the other band members is visible with Chris Brown’s effortless amazing flair on the guitar playing The Damned ‘Smash it up’ and Motorheads, ‘Ace of Spades’ which is worthy of playing any stadium and Bob Moody giving us the tribal sound of Adam Ant’s ‘Car Trouble’ .... for a few minutes I was reliving my time back in The Vortex in1979 watching Adam Ant perform this classic from the 1979 epic album ‘Dirk Wears White Socks’ which he recently resurrected on his most recent tour. A real treat for all us Ant fans! Not to disappoint the indie crowd, the organic sound from The Strokes ‘Last Night’ was thrown in. It was a pleasure to hear this alongside the back bones of songs which helped create The Strokes raw sound in the first place!
The highlight was hearing The Clash ‘White Man in Hammersmith Palais’ being dedicated to me and what is probably the most poignant punk song ever, bringing the 1979 classic bang up to date for those who for some reason missed it! Memories came flooding back of The Harp Bar, The Clash gig ‘that didn’t happen’ and many other events which the song has been long associated with over the years and for those perfect 4 minutes we are all transported back to the Westway with Joe Strummer.
The night eventually came to an end with ‘Swords of a 1000 Men’ followed with a raucous applause and shouts of ‘more, more’ ... the band were going nowhere but eventually finished with an encore of ‘God save the Queen’.
An excellent way to start the Bank Holiday weekend with an extra day to recover from the nights events!!
WASTED TALENT have an amazing wide repertoire of songs to choose from the early punk days, but can just as easily interject their set with more recent recordings to create a current happening sound which is fresh and exhilarating and not just give the impression of dining out on nostalgia.. they can do it all, which is part of the success of a great covers band. If you haven’t seen them, put down your ipod, put your vinyl back in its sleeve and seek them out for a night of good entertainment and fun and support your local band scene. This was a free gig and no excuses can be made for not stepping out of your ‘Safe European Home’. WASTED TALENT is calling and will be playing at The Frisky Bear once a month and also at other venues, so catch them while you can.
review by Mo Lawrence 05/05/14
Set List:
1st Set: Saints are Coming / Rebel Yell / Pretty Vacant / Get Over You / Killing Moon / Monsters / Cocaine Blues / Smash it Up / New York Groove/Empire State of Mind / Gay Bar / Holidays in the Sun / Alternative Ulster / Last Night
2nd Set: Holiday in Cambodia / No Feelings / Teddy Picker / Got my Number / Love me Two Times / White Man in Hammersmith Palais / Car Trouble / What do I get? / Big Time /. Down In the Tube Station at Midnight / Ace of Spades / Spanish Bombs / Making Plans for Nigel / Ever Fallen in Love / New Rose / Turning Japanese / Swords of a 1000 Men / God Save the Queen
Find WASTED TALENT on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wastedtalentbangor
WASTED TALENT are a Bangor based punk band that formed in 1982, only to split shortly after in 1983. They first came to my attention after playing to a small crowd of early birds at Bangor’s Punk Festival back in 2012, after reforming just 8 weeks before, with two of the original members, David Kirk (vocals) and Paul McMullan (drums) and two new members Kyle Lamb (bass & backing vocals) and Chris Brown (guitar & backing vocals). A few more gigs followed and with new member Bob Moody on board replacing Paul on drums the band played a later slot at the BBA Festival 2013 to a larger more enthusiastic crowd which put them back on the radar for future punk events around Bangor and Belfast. They recently headlined Buck Murdock of The Defects 50th birthday party at Voodoo earning much respect from the support bands and crowd alike. They are well rehearsed, sounding good .... and at the thought of being accused of sacrilege, at times, if not better than some of the original recordings, adding new classics to their set list every time I hear them with a choice of songs enabling them to perform over a 2 hour set.
So to kick off the Bank Holiday weekend and the venue being practically on my doorstep this was one gig I wasn’t going to miss. The Frisky Bear is a long narrow intimate venue with limited stage space and dance floor but the local punks made the most of it. Opening with the Skids ‘Saints are Coming’ the band caught everyone’s attention and kept a fast pace of punk classics throughout the first half of the evening. Then just to shake everyone up an unexpected New York mix of the 1975 group Hello ‘Back in the New York Groove’ featuring the falsetto tones of Kyle Lamb mixing it with Alicia Keys ‘Empire State of Mind’... well done Kyle and Dave, it was a brilliant mash up and always good to hear a contemporary twist on an old cover done well. Hits from The Buzzcocks, The Damned, Generation X, Echo & the Bunny Men followed with a perfect Pistols/PIL mix of ‘Pretty Vacant/This is not a Love Song’ worked brilliantly in to the set and demonstrated the talent of these guys not only being creative but keeping to the punk ethos and playing out their own DIY versions of the classics. Johnny Cash also made the cut with Dave’s deep baritone vocals on ‘Cocaine Blues’ a brilliant tribute to the Man in Black and not a bit out of place in the set list. The local Belfast punk bands were not to be left out, with a few covers from the late 70’s Harp Bar bands which featured in the entertaining Good Vibrations BAFTA nominated film, such as Alternative Ulster (SLF), Big Time (Rudi) and the pretty pop punk sound of Protex ‘I Don’t Wanna to Get Over you’ played intermittently throughout the night. I also hear they may add ‘Self Conscious Over You’ an Outcast song from the movie, which no doubt will go down a storm with the punters.
After a well deserved short interval for the band and audience to catch their breath, the 2nd set resumed and picked up the pace once again with Kyle Lambs captivating heavy bass line leading the band into the ferocious Dead Kennedys’ ‘Holiday in Cambodia’ to a now more exuberant crowd showing their appreciation on the dance floor!
How the band kept this pace going is down to sheer hard work and passion which comes across in every song as David Kirk’s versatile vocal ability is evident from Jello Biafro/Pete Shelly/Johnny Cash/Fergal Sharkey... which is no mean featl!!. He diversifies well given the range of songs and equally, the talent of the other band members is visible with Chris Brown’s effortless amazing flair on the guitar playing The Damned ‘Smash it up’ and Motorheads, ‘Ace of Spades’ which is worthy of playing any stadium and Bob Moody giving us the tribal sound of Adam Ant’s ‘Car Trouble’ .... for a few minutes I was reliving my time back in The Vortex in1979 watching Adam Ant perform this classic from the 1979 epic album ‘Dirk Wears White Socks’ which he recently resurrected on his most recent tour. A real treat for all us Ant fans! Not to disappoint the indie crowd, the organic sound from The Strokes ‘Last Night’ was thrown in. It was a pleasure to hear this alongside the back bones of songs which helped create The Strokes raw sound in the first place!
The highlight was hearing The Clash ‘White Man in Hammersmith Palais’ being dedicated to me and what is probably the most poignant punk song ever, bringing the 1979 classic bang up to date for those who for some reason missed it! Memories came flooding back of The Harp Bar, The Clash gig ‘that didn’t happen’ and many other events which the song has been long associated with over the years and for those perfect 4 minutes we are all transported back to the Westway with Joe Strummer.
The night eventually came to an end with ‘Swords of a 1000 Men’ followed with a raucous applause and shouts of ‘more, more’ ... the band were going nowhere but eventually finished with an encore of ‘God save the Queen’.
An excellent way to start the Bank Holiday weekend with an extra day to recover from the nights events!!
WASTED TALENT have an amazing wide repertoire of songs to choose from the early punk days, but can just as easily interject their set with more recent recordings to create a current happening sound which is fresh and exhilarating and not just give the impression of dining out on nostalgia.. they can do it all, which is part of the success of a great covers band. If you haven’t seen them, put down your ipod, put your vinyl back in its sleeve and seek them out for a night of good entertainment and fun and support your local band scene. This was a free gig and no excuses can be made for not stepping out of your ‘Safe European Home’. WASTED TALENT is calling and will be playing at The Frisky Bear once a month and also at other venues, so catch them while you can.
review by Mo Lawrence 05/05/14
Set List:
1st Set: Saints are Coming / Rebel Yell / Pretty Vacant / Get Over You / Killing Moon / Monsters / Cocaine Blues / Smash it Up / New York Groove/Empire State of Mind / Gay Bar / Holidays in the Sun / Alternative Ulster / Last Night
2nd Set: Holiday in Cambodia / No Feelings / Teddy Picker / Got my Number / Love me Two Times / White Man in Hammersmith Palais / Car Trouble / What do I get? / Big Time /. Down In the Tube Station at Midnight / Ace of Spades / Spanish Bombs / Making Plans for Nigel / Ever Fallen in Love / New Rose / Turning Japanese / Swords of a 1000 Men / God Save the Queen
Find WASTED TALENT on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wastedtalentbangor