NEWS: Sure as summer rolls around SLF will be back at Custom House Square

IT'S practically a tradition now, Stiff Little Fingers playing Custom House Square, Belfast in August. And, once again SLF will be gracing their home town on August 24th. One can practically set the a weekend in the calendar of all SLF fans for this show.

Once again they have packed out the supporting bill with stellar acts. As well as the Terri Hooley DJ there will be The Toy Dolls, Therapy? and New Model Army.

Given the amount of people who flock to this from all arts and parts of the UK - and much further afield fucking Tourism NI should be backing this - the range of accents alone is testimony to the drawing power of SLF, as well as the NI devotees.

With new material being worked on by Jake and the band no matter whether it is aired in August the show is surely set to repeat last year's sell-out, just as many dates on their current UK tour already are.

Tickets, priced £27 (+booking fee) go on sale on Friday, March 8th at 10am from Ticketmaster and all usual outlets.

https://www.slf.rocks/

NEWS: SLF to be joined by The Damned, Buzzcocks and The Defects at Custom House Square date

THE support bill for Stiff Little Fingers' Custom House Square show has been announced today (Wednesday, January 31st).

SLF will be joined by The Damned, Buzzcocks, The Defects and a DJ set from Terri Hooley.

Given the sell-out of last year's show, tickets are sure to fly out the door for the August 25th show, and many from far and wide will be making their plans right now for 'Putting the fast in Belfast 2'

Last year saw locals, national and international visitors travel to Belfast, and the same is surely set for this line-up.

The Stiffs are a big enough draw by themselves but the addition of these three bands will prove even more enticing. Plus, with The Defects new album (review here) garnering plaudits there will be even more Northern Ireland interest.

Tickets, priced £27.50 plus booking fee, are available from Ticketmaster and all usual outlets on Friday, February 2nd.

NEWS: The Polka Dot invasion is coming back as SLF announce 2018 Custom House Square show

LESS than a year ago Belfast's Custom House Square witnesses a special event as an army of punks, rockers and general mentalists descended on the area - many bedecked in polka dot shirts (don't ask!) for one of the most exciting events of 2016.

It seems that Stiff Little Fingers enjoyed it so much that they are going to do it again...

Come August 25th SLF will once again pack out Custom House Square, and as with last year no doubt draw people from across the UK and further afield. Fuck sake the Northern Ireland Tourist Board should be sponsoring this event!

Of course the Stiffs will be announcing some special guests that will only increase the draw to this event, but (and, yes we are biased!) SLF always put on a show that still has an edge beyond most acts on the planet.

The adoration for Jake, Ali, Steve and Ian is enormous, and as the 40th Anniversary Tour proved they have the live chops, the attitude that they can - and do - conquer all.

Ticket info and support line-up to be announced shortly.

LIVE REVIEW: Inflammatory, nostalgic and still relevant - Stiff Little Fingers blast the past with superb supporting cast

WHEN the term 'heyday' is thrown around willy nilly, usually by those who choose not to stay up-to-date with a groups current status. But fans know that strong bands are always in their heyday; and when it comes to Stiff Little Fingers today they are more relevant than ever.

When SLF and a mighty clatter of supporting acts blasted a balmy night at Custom House Square, Belfast (Saturday, 26th August) the mix of nostalgia and inflammatory music proved that the counter-culture labelled punk still packs a punch.

Young and old packed a sold out square, and those lucky to have apartments over-looking the stage, rocked, sang and partied.

True - the bands have noticeably aged, but the music still sounds fresh.

Opening where local snarlsters The Outcasts, who delivered wit with a wry grin as they pounded out 'classics' with verve. There were few who could claim they were 'Just Another Teenage Rebel' but that mattered not.

Closing with 'The Cops Are Comin' and 'You're A Disease' this was a set that had the entire place singing, and smiling.

Relaxed, but still packing a punch, Ruts DC rallied the counter-culture refugees showcasing tracks that have been stuck in the collective consciousness. Yes, 'Music Must Destroy' and it did on Saturday night.

The evocative 'In A Rut' and singalong 'Babylon's Burning' may have been the best known, but Ruts DC had no fillers in their set.

The Stranglers have also a catalogue of songs that are guaranteed to be greeted by people greedy for the melody, and they didn't disappoint.

Sure, 'Always The Sun' and 'Golden Brown' were the tracks best known, along with 'Nice 'n' Sleazy', but the likes of 'Bear Cage'  and 'Relentless were beasts live.

If the line-up of The Outcasts, Ruts DC and The Stranglers were to play Belfast it would be enough to attract a healthy crowd. To have them opening for Stiff Little Fingers was an added bonus for what is a special occasion in its own right.

40 years ago a legend was born, a legend that has resonated for decades, spoken to the hearts of people, rallied against injustice, and fought for what is right both in music and in words.

Still proving the doubters wrong at every turn Stiff Little Fingers electrify every time they take to the stage, but this homecoming gig exceeded all.

As the strains of 'Go For It' had the venue humming and yelling before a fast and furious 'Wasted Life' struck Belfast like a hurricane.

Jake was in fine form between tracks, but he could have remained mute between each song and it would have been no less impressive. There is such a wealth of material that the range of emotions are taken for a roller coaster.

Tackling the issue of depression on 'My Dark Places', the futility of violence on 'Johnny Was' and stifling domesticity on 'Safe As Houses', the messages have not been weakened by the familiarity of the songs.

The angst of youth as expressed by' At The Edge' and 'Gotta Getaway' may be messages penned yonks ago, but for every teenager still feeling that way there were thousands of middle-aged people in Custom House Square who still reflect on that period and reflect on their lives right now.

And, to a certain extent that was displayed on 'When We Were Young', a cry to keep pushing, never stop striving for our dreams, and never mind those who doubt us.

This wasn't just a Belfast audience - the momentousness of a 40th Anniversary show in the birthplace of SLF drew fans from across the UK, all dedicated to raise their rigid digits aloft.

To hear songs like 'Breakout' and 'Straw Dogs' on stage was a treat for all, but every SLF knows that the trio of 'Nobody's Hero', Tin Soldiers' and 'Suspect Device' close the main set at such a pace that the break for the encore is needed for a few minutes by band and audience.

Exhausted, but delighted...And, then the closing songs. 'Johnny Was', Gotta Getaway', and the national anthem of the disaffected populace of Northern Ireland, 'Alternative Ulster'.

While mainstream media largely looks on punk, hard rock and metal with a patronising wee pat on the head, indulgence before turned to auto-tuned shite and praising people playing their lap tops the cadre who gathered at Custom House Square still scream their disaffection to the skies.

Yes, punk is still relevant. A little older and a lot more cynical, but the ethos still holds true.

Stiff Little Fingers may be 40, but they still speak for many, and their songs are as relevant as ever; and may be more relevant than ever in this post-reality life. SLF is the antidote to complacency, the antibiotic for the bacteria of bastards in power.

Fuck the 'Fake News' narrative and join the legions of the angry - and "Question everything you're told".

Review by Jonathan Traynor
Pictures by Darren McVeigh

NEWS: Stiff Little FIngers set to release live DVD/Blu-Ray and re-release No Going Back with added extras

GOT your ticket to see Stiff Little Fingers at Custom House Square, Belfast on 26th August? Ya better have as it is set to be one of the shows of the year.

Not only will SLF be celebrating 40 years going strong with their usual excellent, superb and generally top notch show, but there is a great line-up.

The Stranglers, Ruts DC and our own, The Outcasts, will be playing in what will be the sort of show that will be talked about for years to come.

To help you prepare the band are releasing 'Best Served Loud - Live at Barrowland' on CD, double LP, DVD and Blue-Ray on 23rd June on their new label earMusic.

On the same day SLF is re-releasing their storming 2014 Top 30 album 'No Going Back' on vinyl and CD with a bonus disc of demos.

It is an album that re-established SLF as the punk rock act - no equals. And, that's not biased in any way because we're a Belfast site and they are from Belfast. Simple fact is that you listen to any of the so-called punk/pop punk bands playing on Scuzz or Kerrang TV you can hear all the riffs and melodies that the pretenders have stolen from the Stiffs as well as the influences they draw from Jake and co. Let's not even go to how Green Day basically even 'borrow' stage moves from Ali...

The live album is from the St Patrick's Day show at the iconic Barrowlands in Glasgow, a date SLF always seem to manage to book and storm. Not since St Columba established a monastery on Iona and brought whiskey to the Scottish has there been a Northern Ireland presence so influential in Scotland.

If you're any sort of rock music you shouldn't need any introduction to Stiff Little Fingers. Anyone who doesn't know of the band, their music, their politics and their passion needs to go now and check out the 40-year back catalogue right now. And, make sure you read the lyrics to each and every track., which the band have helpfully put on their website.

You'll find anger, rejection and whimsy married with a music sensibility few can match. And on 'No Going Back' there is the pure honesty from Jake about his battles with depression as well as numerous inspired tilts at the dishonesty and corruption we witness in this foul world.

So as you prepare for the August 26th show here's what you can expect from the live release and re-release:

“BEST SERVED LOUD – LIVE AT BARROWLAND” TRACK LIST
1.     Go For It/Wasted Life
2.     Just Fade Away
3.     Roots, Radicals, Rockers And Reggae
4.     Guitar & Drum
5.     Nobody’s Hero
6.     Back To Front
7.     Barbed Wire Love
8.     Listen
9.     Doesn’t Make It Alright
10.  Silver Lining
11.  Guilty As Sin
12.  At The Edge
13.  Strummerville
14.  My Dark Places
15.  Fly The Flag
16.  When We Were Young
17.  Tin Soldiers
18.  Suspect Device
19.  Gotta Getaway
20.  Alternative Ulster

“NO GOING BACK” VINYL TRACK LIST
Side A
1. Liar's Club
2. My Dark Places
3. Full Steam Backwards
4. I Just Care About Me
5. Don't Mind Me
6. Guilty As Sin

Side AA
1. One Man Island
2. Throwing It All Away
3. Good Luck With That
4. Trail Of Tears
5. Since Yesterday Was Here
6. When We Were Young

The “No Going Back” CD reissue comes in a 2CD Digipak edition with 12 exclusive demo songs, an acoustic version of “My Dark Places” and a live version of “When We Were Young“.

NEWS: SLF comeback to Belfast, with The Stranglers, Ruts DC and The Outcasts

BACK  in 1977 something happened that changed the face of music in Northern Ireland. With the Clash and Pistols kicking up a punk storm four snotty nosed kids from north Belfast came together and birthed a monster that still rumbles on today.

Stiff Little Fingers took what they learned of rock, added a snarl and a wickedly accurate portrayal of life during the so-called 'Troubles'. Now, 40 years later Jake Burns and co are coming back to Belfast ready to show that they are still as musically and lyrically relevant as ever - and party harder than most.

On Saturday, August 26th at Custom House Square SLF will play their biggest ever hometown show as part of the Belsonic festival. And, they're bringing along some friends.

The Stranglers, Ruts DC, our own The Outcasts, with Terri Hooley will all be part of the bill...That is what could be called a killer line-up...nope, it is a killer line-up!

A couple of years back SLF released the superb 'No Going Back' a starkly honest album, filled with personal pain and looking with a caustic eye at the world as it is. It reached number one in the Official BBC Rock Album Chart and a DVD of their show in Glasgow's Barrowlands 'Best Served Loud' documented their 25th straight St Patrick's Day show in the legendary venue.

What is sure is many of the fans know every word of every song, something that Jake is all too aware of.

"You have to strike a balance," he said. "The difficulty with a band like ourselves is to try not make it sound like a cabaret band. Obviously, it’d be very easy to go, ‘Hey, here’s another old one you may remember.’ A lot of the old songs the audience greet like old friends.

"I suppose it’s the same as any band that’s been around for any length of time. And yes, there are nights that we don’t particularly want to play 'Alternative Ulster' or 'Suspect Device' because we’ve heard them ‘til they’re coming out our ears. But there’s always the possibility that somebody out there has never seen the band before, never heard them."

Whether it is newer material, or the classic SLF anthems, what is sure is that on August 25th there will be a loud and proud moment for fans and the band themselves. And, together we are all part of what is Alternative Ulster - our national anthem.

NEWS: SLF hit lucky 13 in Rock Album charts

THEY are influential, they are radical, and they are among the best in the world at what they do. They are from Belfast, and they are Stiff Little Fingers.

Their stunning album, 'No Going Back' was funded via a very successful Pledge Music campaign.  Now with worldwide distribution through Mondo Recordings/INgrooves the band have hit the UK rock album chart at Number 13.

Our review (here) discusses the background of the SLF release, but we feel that the most powerful message is hope. From the challenges to the economic and political elites, and to religious abuse and crass media scaremongering Jake Burns lashes lyrics against the norm and offers an alternative future..

But the real message of hope comes in the track, 'My Dark Places'. Jake has spoken of how he has suffered from severe depression - a courageous move in front of thousands fans.

The words of the song are worth it, such as "Well, I got there in the end, With the help of many friends, Some who helped by simply just believing."

Burns opens his heart on this song. Anyone who has - or is - suffering from depression should take the message of hope from 'My Dark Places'

"And the days look brighter now
Yet I know someday, somehow
I could end up back there in an instant
Some days I really feel like laughing
Some days I realize I must stay on my guard."

Listen to the album, listen to the messages, buy it.

We have colleagues and friends - reviewers from other sites (Carolyn from Planet Mosh) - all have taken hope, all have gained yet more respect for Stiff Little Fingers, a band who have always provided Inflammable Material.

Served loud, and served with intent, - Stiff Little Fingers' tour de force release No Going Back

IN the darkest days of Northern Ireland's Troubles the many attempts by movements such as the Peace People to bring it to an end to the fighting proved futile, but punk rock became a unifying force amongst young people.

And, one band in particular articulated the frustration and anger at a land dominated by bigoted politicians and murderous paramilitaries of all shades - Stiff Little Fingers, with their overtly political lyrics and inflammable music.

But 33 years later, are Stiff Little Fingers still relevant? Is the lyrical anger and musical fury still present?  Yes, and much, much more.

No Going Back, their first new release in more than six years, is an honest punk rampage, delivered with panache that touches raw nerves, deals with the current world economic crises and is a rallying cry for young and old.

While the first movement of punk was quickly hijacked by the fashionistas, the voice of political punk such as SLF has never really been silenced, despite the best attempts to keep it quiet by the mainstream twaddle on TV sets across the world. When we interviewed Jake and Ali before the band's triumphant returned to Belfast they spoke about how punk was more about attitude than a specific packaging. And attitude is delivered here in spades.

Nor have SLF ever been one chord wonders so prevalent in some of the more inane 'punk' acts. As in previous releases the music is rock music.

And, this album is also something very personal. In SLF's previous appearance in the Ulster Hall Jake Burns spoke openly on stage about suffering from depression. The totemic track on No Going Back - My Dark Places Burns tells the story of that time of pain in his life. It is furious musical tour de force, which deals sensitively with the issue of depression. It is a triumph and it is something that anyone who has, or is, suffering from depression can relate to, and hopefully draw strength from.

That song also relates back to the final concluding track 'When We Were Young'. As young men SLF were often told to literally 'wise up' and not bother with a musical career. They defied that, and despite line-up changes since then the ignorance of musical media towards them means that SLF are still proving themselves to doubters. The reprise of one line of 'At The Edge' is a nice coda for the album and a rigid digit pointed at those who ever wished ill on the band.

However, these personal messages are only one fraction of the strength of this album. Contemporary themes are throughout, with the politicians firmly in the sights, as are bankers on 'Full Steam Backwards' and 'I Just Care About Me'.

No Going Back also reflects the mounting musical maturity of SLF. 'Guilty As Sin' is delivered as a traditional Irish tune, its haunting subtlety making the lyrical theme - institutional child abuse at the hands of the church - a more potent thrust at the hearts of those who scoured the innocence from the young in their care.

Jake Burns personal love of Thin Lizzy is reflected on 'Trail of Tears' a song which harkens to the time of the Troubles but looks towards the future.

Production of the album by the band, with engineering and mix at the hands of Jason Donaghy, keeps the spikiness of SLF's sound but also allows breath for Ali's bass to roam, McCallum's rhythm guitar to maintain momentum and Grantley's drums to anchor but not overbear.

While the music still keeps the Stiff Little Fingers sound alive it serves the lyrics well, such as on 'One Man Island', which deals with newspapers and network TV's penchant to find targets to provoke a nation's ire, often without facts. It is a reflection of the band's often used challenge to young and old: "assume nothing, question everything'.

There is no doubt that this is a fantastic album, but as Jake sings at one point of his worry about being a lone voice in the crowd, are such overt challenges against the tides of corruption, greed and feeding the masses a diet of mediocrity a mere tilting at windmills?

The penultimate track 'Since Yesterday Was Here' answers that by assuring protestors and those that refuse to accept the dogma of the norm that their voices are still to be heard and will always be joined by those that are willing to - in the title of another SLF song - to 'Stand Up And Shout'.

This is an album that, perhaps more than others, placed more pressure on Stiff Little Fingers. Jake has reflected on this when he said that the Pledge campaign meant fans were paying for music the band had still to deliver. That pressure has merged with a sheer force of will to produce a masterclass in what punk should be, and what good rock music must be.

Alternative Ulster may be the unofficial national anthem for Northern Ireland;  No Going Back should be the rallying call for all who refuse to toe the line peddled by bankers, politicians, media and those prepared to accept a beige, vanilla, mediocre life. Put it on the national curriculum and see what resonance the music and words will have on the young, and the old, who refuse to accept the so-called 'music' of today.

In short - buy this album. Stiff Little Fingers. As relevant now as they were 33 years ago.

Football, punk and Belfast - Jake Burns and Ali McMordie tell all

WHEN Stiff Little Fingers returned to Belfast to promote their latest release, No Going Back, we caught up with Jake Burns (Mr McMordie joined in halfway through).

The interview covered everything from football (Jake is a Newcastle Utd fan), Belfast, what is punk and where SLF are today. Listen below.

Jake and Ali of Stiff Little Fingers

You can also read our review of the SLF Belfast date here.

Stiff Little Fingers and The Defects - proof that punk is still relevant and fine rock performances exist

THERE is something vital, visceral and filled with a love of life that sits askance with the perceived image of punk rock. But those at Belfast's Ulster Hall on Friday (March 14th) saw Stiff Little Fingers and The Defects explode preconceptions and delighted a crowd ranging from teenagers to fifty-somethings.

Unlike the more modern purveyors of so-called pop punk SLF and The Defects understand the brutal roots that gave birth to punk in the UK and in particular in Belfast - that a song must consist of both tight music and lyrics that are more than about some daft guy and dewy eyed girl; songs must speak to the lives of the band and the experiences of the audience.

The rejuvenation of The Defects has matured with a sense of real energy; and, just over four years since they took to the stage once again this is a band as relevant now as in the past.

Charisma is something you either have or you haven't - and Buck Defect and co have it in bucketloads, with that fine 'laid-back but deadly serious' only Northern Ireland bands can truly encapsulate - although having their set introduced by bagpipes...well it was unique.

From Revelator to Brutality this was a tight set - all of which was being filmed for a forthcoming DVD on the band.

Hill Street and Head On Collision were stand-outs in the set; and such is the growing popularity of The Defects that young people who were barely out of nappies when the PSNI were formed joined in the chant of "SS RUC" during Brutality.

The Defects have a long future ahead, and one which we can all hope will continue to deliver fine albums and fine shows.

With the strains of Go For It provoking synchronised clapping and chanting, Stiff Little Fingers quite literally hit the stage running with a high tempo version of Straw Dogs.

But for those hoping to see just a greatest hits set there was much more to this performance: with new album No Going Back about to hit the racks thanks to a wildly successful Pledge Music campaign this was a heartfelt set of well played songs, amusing chat and fine music.

While Suspect Device, Silver Lining, Wasted Life, Just Fade Away and Roots, Radicals all played to an audience familiar with every word it was as lively a set as if SLF were closing a tour.

Many of the tracks were worthy of SLF's recent t-shirt legend "Putting the 'fast' in Belfast" but that would suggest they were one-dimensional. The cover of The Specials "Doesn't Make It All Right" has long since been an SLF standard; its anti-rascist, anti-violence and tolerant sentiments still resonating in 2014 and finding a home in the hearts of fans young and old.

But with the new album coming out in a matter of weeks it was also an opportunity to showcase new tracks. While we are all awaiting its release some tracks are now familiar with live audiences.

However, it is Jake Burns explanations of the back stories of the songs that are revelatory: from his own battles with depression through to chatting with Phil Lynott about getting bands back together there is always an edge to the entertainment SLF provides.

We also had another song led by Ian McCallum which is set for the new platter.

From there it was a mad rush to the end of the set: mad in the sense of speed and intensity.

Codology with Ali McMordie's mic being only used for one song (Barbed Wire Love) and Strummerville dedicated, as usual to the late, great Joe Strummer this was a heads-down performance par excellence.

Fly The Flag, Tin Soldiers and Suspect Device wrapped the main proportion of the set, before a double encore - Johnny Was quickly followed up by a full-tilt At The Edge and then the National Anthem of Northern Ireland, Alternative Ulster.

That SLF can still pack the venerable Bedford Street venue some 37 years after they first kicked out their jams is remarkable in itself; but this is not some tribute to the past.

From young people enjoying their first taste of the Fingers, through to those who were there 'back in the day'; from the metalheads through to those with mohawks; from those there for a unique Belfast event through to die-hard fans, this was rock and this was punk at its finest.

The late Rory Gallagher once described how rock music had grown from the pubs to the concert halls where he said he liked to think "it still had a wee bit of anarchy".

In these health and safety days the anarchy now is not in stage invasions (even mosh pits were being frowned upon on Friday) nor in the mad sway of an over-sold venue: it is instead an anarchy of the mind, where bands like The Defects and Stiff Little Fingers give those attending the free rein to think, enjoy and open minds. That surely is what punk really is - a movement of music and the mind.

No Going Back for Stiff Little Fingers

OKAY fellow rockers - we hope you are all sitting comfortably, and relaxed as we tell you a tale, a tale of a rock band, a punk band, a political force and global influencers all rolled into one.

Now, let us begin, back in the 70s a group of people gathered in north Belfast, when the Troubles were burning streets and leaving a trail of broken people and thousands of graves. Playing rock with covers of Thin Lizzy, Rory Gallagher and Deep Purple, these musicians went by the name of Highway Star...so far so good, another covers band set to entertain.

Then punk exploded, and in particular one band left a profound mark on the singer, one Mr Jake Burns. The band was called The Clash, and the world changed.

Jake and colleagues re-named themselves Stiff Little Fingers and unleashed a fury on the world in the shape of an incendiary album, Inflammable Material. It was an album that ranted against the violence and terror that back then blighted Northern Ireland.

Songs like Suspect Device, Wasted Life, and the real rock and metal national anthem of Northern Ireland - Alternative Ulster spoke to a disaffected youth who did not fit into the tribal life of the country.

The album also broke records when it became the first independently released album to smash its way into the Top 20, and was a favourite of the late John Peel.

Each album since has displayed the same lyrical awareness and the musical sensibility that made them a crossover band - cited by everyone from Duff McKagan, Rancid, Green Day etc etc. They have managed a global reach that few bands can boast.

After a roller coaster career and personal travails Stiff Little Fingers have toured extensively, but there was no sign of a new release. At SLFs most recent gig at the Ulster Hall Jake spoke openly on stage about his issues with depression and how that had hit the recording. The support of the crowd and the roar of support for this courageous statement was moving for all present.

Now, after years of writing, and a pledge campaign that is already 300% over its target, the new album - No Going Back -  is set for a release in April. Before then SLF will be once again playing the Ulster Hall this coming Friday (March 14th)

This is a story - a tale - that has not ended; there is more to tell; more music and more passion. Whatever has happened in the past this is the beginning for SLF - there's No Going Back and frankly we can't wait for the privilege of hearing SLF live again and hearing the new album.

North Belfast is once again rocking the music world.

Are Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake relevant?

AS we warm-up for tomorrow night's (Wednesday, 29th January) pop/ska punk celebratory evening with Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake in Limelight1 it is a fair point to ask whether the whole pop punk schtick is relevant in 2014.

For those of you who were watching the TV rock music channels time through your own choice or because your children were watching it these three bands were perennial favourites, with witty videos and downright catchy tunes. At the very least they were better watching than the chart shows...

In a brief period with major labels Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake produced a string of hits, from RBF's cover of 'Take On Me' through to LTJ's anthemic 'Gainesville Rock City'.

However, to a certain extent they were over-shadowed by label's attention spans and more aggressive marketing of West Coast pop punk in the shape of The Offspring and Blink 182.

Before being written off both bands shook themselves down and re-emerged with a series of recordings that stand strong in comparison with earlier recordings from the Fish's Candy Coated Fury to Jake's See The Light; both of which show the bands have matured as songwriter's without losing the 'fun with a slap' which should be at the core of pop punk.

But why are these acts worthy of lines in a blog/RRNI article which is avowedly metal, rock and punk?

For a start those who recall the heady days of early punk in Northern Ireland may note that the punk of those days was more Ramones than Pistols. From The Undertones pure pop infused 'punk' through to Stiff Little Finger's cover of Bob Marley's Johnny Was, The Specials' Doesn't Make It  All Right and the horn section on Silver Lining there has been a ska punk overtone to Northern Ireland's punk scene. And, that is only to mention the two best known bands from that era.

So, in many ways Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake are not so much playing in Belfast, but coming to the spiritual home of pop/ska punk. All of which makes them relevant to a Northern Ireland audience and to fans who are prepared to take the blinkers off...

Tickets, priced £23, are still available for tomorrow night's show. Doors open at 8.00pm

Henry Cluney beneft gig

REGULAR readers will know that we have a particular soft spot for Stiff Little Fingers, one of the most influential, yet least acknowledged bands ever to come from Northern Ireland. Thus we were saddened to learn that original member Henry Cluney has been taken ill with a brain tumour.

To help with Henry's medical costs a benefit gig is taking place in Belfast's Black Box on the 1st December.

Appearing on the bill will be The Defects, The Outcasts, Protex, The Sabre Jets, Shock Treatment 21, Brian Young (Rudi), Jim Reilly, The Androids and a Henry Cluney Tribute band.

Tickets are £10 and you can make a £5 donation if you are unable to attend. Full details here: http://www.blackboxbelfast.com/event.aspx?e=2024.

As it says in the blurb:
"This is more than a fundraiser this is a celebration of all that is great about the Northern Ireland music scene past and present."

Is it just me...

STIFF Little Fingers received the Northern Ireland Music Awards (NIMA) ‘Legends’ award at the biggest event yet on Wednesday 2nd November, and proceeded to show the young whippersnappers just how a proper band delivers a live performance.

Later that same evening I had the privilege, together with my son, to see another legend in the shape of ex-Guns ‘n’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan deliver another solid, stonking set at the Spring and Airbrake with his current touring outfit Loaded. These two legends are worthy of the status in a world where hyperbole is the norm and every numptie who can play two or three chords is given a wow factor.

Attending the Northern Ireland Music Awards was a mixed blessing – the chance to see SLF again being uppermost. But while one must accord congratulations to AU, Oh Yeah and Belfast City Council for organising the event, I was left feeling very much confused for what the mainstream passes off for music. Is it just me? Am I getting too old? But all bar And So I Watched You From Afar left me cold, and for large parts bored.

General Fiasco are an obvious favourite amongst the many teenagers and twentysomethings in the crowd, but even my son was bored by what was a performance that seemed to me to lack depth. Wearing ties and looking like they had just come out of a prep school party.

As for Cashier No. 9...well it was difficult to tell whether they were Byrds wannabes, or some sort of take on reviving the eclecticism of the 60s and 80s. Dogged by technical problems (errr guys even if everything goes down sing something! Or rehearse properly with your gear!) they left in a huff after two songs.

Returning after some much needed refreshment we came across what seemed to be a distorted guitar riff...only to find it was a sample – The Japanese Popstars where on stage. Ohh dear me, Satan must be reserving a very special place in hell for people who ‘perform’ with a couple of samplers and their Apple Mac laptops open. Sure they can mix other people’s music and add yet more samples of other people’s music and other people’s music (getting the theme here) what’s the point. Go programme computer games soundtracks or play Call of Duty, but don’t pass it off as a performance. If you can’t write music...

Is it just me? Am I getting too old?

Salvation was at hand however. Having no real live experience of And So I Watch You From Afar it was a delight to have an edgy, over the top instrumental wall of guitars, bass and drums: the bastard child of alt rock and Mastodon, there was something electric on stage. And for a change it was no faux angst. Tony announced he was leaving ASIWYFA before diving into the crowd. Due adulation, ecstatic scenes among the appreciative and the thrown down guitar... One cannot tell what the future is for ASIWYFA and Tony, but well worth tracking it down.

Radio Ulster’s Rigsy and Emma Fitzpatrick of Citybeat did an admirable job as hosting the event, but special mention must go to Stuart Bailie for organising it, and for Belfast City Council for being so open to Northern Ireland music for being among the backers (can’t figure out the Invest Northern Ireland link, but hey perhaps local bands should be applying for a special rock grant!).

BBC Northern Ireland’s Mike Edgar gave a glowing accolade to SLF, complete with a video charting their history (and some fashion mistakes). But what can you really say. Off stage they could be a group of middle aged men gathered round for a natter and wee bit of craic. But onstage there is a fire and an intensity that few can match even when they are only there for a 20-minute blast through.

Suspect Device, Strummerville, Wasted Life - all delivered like the fury of the late 70s and early 80s was still burning in Jake Burns heart. And with a new – long-awaited album follow-up to Guitar and Drum promised one can only see the Stiffs go from strength to strength.

This is beginning to read like a GCSE attempt at a review rather than a serious journalistic analysis, but what the hell:

With the final chords of Alternative Ulster echoing it was a quick dash to the Spring and Airbrake, thanks to the kind folks at CDC Leisure, to catch the last half of Duff McKagan’s Loaded. Laconic, every bit the Californian superstar punk, heavy rock icon, Duff’s set was almost like he was the resident act for the venue. Chatting to the front row as if with old friends.

But make no mistake about it; this is not a man on nostalgia trip. Yes the Gunner’s It’s So Easy was punched out to the crowd’s delight, while Attitude summed up a lot about the man. The acoustic version of Wasted Heart, however, showed that this is a man and a band prepared to see what comes next rather than resting on past glories.

So, why in the world did it take so long for SLF to be accorded Legends status? Why was the Spring and Airbrake not rammed to the rafters for Duff? And why was local hard rock and metal talent not received accolades and awards in the Ulster Hall? Trucker Diablo, Last Known Addiction, Million Dollar Reload, Worldsend etc etc etc may have small flaws each, but those flaws are tiny, minuscule compared to the flawed fashionable ones.

I posit two reasons: first, fashions fickle fingers swaying from the arms of the playlists of BBC, (un)Cool FM and Citybeat and the pages of AU. The second one is related, but all the more serious: airplay.

The rock and metal scene exists despite being blacklisted from the radio stations and print media. With the right airplay on mainstream stations I have no doubt that hard rock venues and album sales would enjoy a resurgence. Mime-along acts enjoy their allotted scandal rag half hour of fame and sell-out the Odyssey for their pre-pubescent fantasist girls and their mums, but the conversion of the 12,000+ that went to Iron Maiden and Metallica in the Odyssey from weekend rockers to regular attendees for local acts is but an airplay step away. One can but dream that next year’s Northern Ireland Music Awards will offer due recognition to hard rock and metal acts, and SLF get another Legends award, to paraphrase a certain cosmetic advertisement: Because They’re Worth It!

If you have an IQ over 75 and watch X-Factor shoot yoursellf

SERIOUSLY - if you have an IQ over 75 and watch X-Factor shoot yourself! Or at the very least shoot your computer and give your 'Smartphone' an acid bath.

Here's a fact for you numpties: the advertisers, those sons of Satan grubbing their way into your souls, judge the success of TV on the basis of how many people tweet or update. Media agencies cancel shows when not enough people are tweeting about them.

I mean go and f*ck away off! X-Factor is an off-cut from the mechanically recovered meat of TV entertainment while the real talent, real musicians, artists, scientists are left hanging on the butcher's hook, unwanted; their intellectual muscle forever untasted...

Next week I will have the joy of watching a series of actual, real life, talented musicians. Stiff Little Finges, Loaded, The Answer and Therapy?

I will not be approaching my televisual remote control to watch the 'reality' shows, unless it is to switch over to a music channel or something that might stimulate me to THINK. Go on try it! You think about it for a minute: formulaic fodder for the masses, with cynical executives rubbing their hands as they grub around for another pound of your hard earned cash. Advertising is paid for by you! When you buy their tasteless tat, or have banks sucking cash from you that's you paying for the ads as the bastards hope to get more of the money you earn so it can pay the salaries of those that use every trick in the book to avoid paying tax: yeah they won't pay tax, but when they've a heart attack at their over-priced gym it is your tax money that pays for the paramedic, the emergency department's nurses, doctors and staff, because you pay tax. Every pay packet, every bottle of buorbon, every 10-deck of ciggies, every CD, you're paying tax: they're not.

How has this world, this island come to the state where hard rock and heavy metal is sneered at by prats who idolise the pro-tooled vacuous pretty boys and girls with their sampled drum lines, backing dancers and destruction of the nations brains. They stand accused of murdering songs penned by people who knew what a tune was, how to write and how to perform. Their guilt is apparent to all who watch...

So, what prompted this outburst. Moving languidly to the kitchen to retrieve a stray beer, lest it got lost and failed to make it to my hand, I switched on ye olde transistor radio; BBC Radio 5 Live to be precise. A popular radio presenter from these parts moved from a serious story about standards of care for older people to a report on the X-Factor - in the language these so-called people will understand I thought...WTF!

There then followed a debate that included a snippet of some brain-dead person destroying The Clash's Should I Stay or Should I Go. No intonation, no concept of the song's central themes. Nothing. The debate included one bampot saying that Gary Barlow had been brought to the X-Factor as, and I quote the no-dick nonentity here, "an incredibly authoritative figure". WHAT! He sang in a boy band that was managed within an inch of its life: over-dubbed, studio toned, mimed live and definitely not authoritative. Christopher Hitchens, Richard Attenborough, to name but two, are authoritative. Gary feckin Barlow is a product for pre-teen girls and their middle aged mothers to give air to maternal instincts while hoping he actually has a dick and not some genitalia recepticle for more money.

C'mon people of the UK and Ireland: let's hunt down the executives and producers of this twaddle and ship them off to Rockall, a tiny almost inaccessible island off the north coast. Dump them there and they can live in bird shit and seaweed til they confess the error of their ways.

Right, sorry this is a music blog. But this penchat for people with even a smidgeon of intelligence to watch this dipshit show while Cowell (or to give him his full title as revealed by Jake Burns of SLF, that c**t Cowell) counts his millions and prays for a Christmas Number One because he really, really doesn't have enough money.

Do you think he'd ever, ever think about listening, let alone backing one of the many, unsigned but immensely talented hard rock and heavy metal acts pounding the boards in Norn Iron. Would he feck! Would he back any actual musician? Not unless its the session musos earning peanuts to back talentless musicians.

But you know what's even worse? Pseudo intellectuals trying to rationalise X-Factor, Strictly Wankers Dancing, or Britain's Got Talent (which on the evidence to date it does not have talent on prime time TV shows). These self-same so-called smart people then have their giggle, their tweets and move on to praise some shoe-gazing sweetie eating arsehole. If they have a conscience they'd be calling a care line to have the contestants counselled and referred to a psychiatrist.

I've been listening today in the car and on ye olde computer to Anthrax, Trucker Diablo, Machine Head, Mastodon, Last Known Addiction, Stone Sour, Trivium, Dogs D'Amour, Nightwish and Manowar (random shuffle on iPod!). Now these X-Factor watching numpties will snigger at the growling vocals, the wall-of-noise and worse will guffaw at Manowar. They know nothing, they're worth nothing. Manowar, for all the over-blown theatrics, obsession with deafening a generation and over-the-top attitude are head and shoulders above these non-entities clogging the airwaves and causing previously intelligent people to tweet about this drivel.

A few weeks ago I raised a beer in memory of Cliff Burton, who died just over 25 years ago. I had the honour of seeing Mr Burton perform twice (Donington in the Ulster Hall). This was a bassist who knew his way aroung Bach, Lyrnyrd Skynyrd, The Misfits and Rush. This was a man whose time signatures confused atomic clocks and Danish drummers. Do you think Mr Burton or Johann Sebastian Bach would be enamoured by X-Factor? No, they'd be grabbing the nearest semi-automatic weapon and sending Cowell and his 'friends' back to Satan with the message 'Do Not Return'.

Here's another useless wee fact for you: scientists have begun to work out how quantum physics is at work when the transistors in your radio and older televisions receive power. Do you think Cowell and co would ever think of broadcasting something about how physics, chemistry or another science actually matters? Do you think they'd ever do a show on how modern medicine and pharmacological advances use cutting edge biological understanding and micro-electronics has changed the way we perceive disease? Next time you're in hospital whether seeing and ultra-sound of your unborn child, or watching a sick relative receive an fMRI scan the diagnosis from which may help save their life, spare a thought for X-Factor. They scanned the brains of contestants and the resulting CT scan showed no cerebral activity. They scanned the brain of Rob Flynn of Machine Head to understand how the lyrics of The Darkness Within came about, but the radiographer's mind was too frazzled by Strictly and X-Factor that their head melted.

I'm not even drunk yet and that one snippet of a radio show has got me so enraged! Hell, I checked my Twitter feed and couldn't find a single thing of real importance such as football (side jokes welcome) for all the people going on about X-Factor. Yes, BBC presenter who does shows on a Sunday you know who you are! And, yes one massive supporter of local hard rock talent, you know who you are.

Right here, right now, pledge to boycott X-Factor, Britain's Got Talent, Strictly..or whatever twaddle the ratings hounds want you to empty your brain to.  You have brains, use them.

That is all....apart from this...

I and those about me do not advocate suicide in any way. This post has a satirical note and if you take it seriously then you really have problems. And as to shooting yourself, you may have difficulty procuring a gun: as we have a current issue in Norn Iron with 'dissident' terrorists/gangsters, they may willingly shoot you thereby removing your stupid tweets once and for all as well as keeping the terrorists/gangsters from hurting anyone else (satire, people, satire: see: Bill Hicks, Lenny Bruce, Folks on the Hill etc for further information)

You can’t fake greatness

THE thriller writer Christopher Brookmyre* has the protagonist of one his fine novels utter the lines: “Irresistible allure of nostalgia for the aging male who’s pining for lost youth. How the hell else could SLF and The Buzzcocks sell out venues in the late 80s?”

Back then the jaded, backcombed fashionistas would never have forseen the enduring appeal of SLF. The Buzzcocks may still be knocking around, but I neither know nor care – Belfast’s finest seem to be enduring.

Equally Brookmyre’s lines tell the lie that there the audience for SLF will be eternally on the wane as audiences’ age and styles move on.

If you were among the fortunate to be in the sell-out crowd on Saturday night (12th March) you will know that the age of the fans means that Stiff Little Fingers can have no doubt that a new generation of fans is developing and maturing in its taste for Rigid Digit fury.

For them each old tune was greeted as much like a new track, with the same verve as if it had been a hotly tipped track of some young outfit caught on a sampler CD.

For those of us of – ahem – a certain age the old and not-so-old tracks are greeted like old friends, friends to share a drink, a laugh and gale of not so restrained chants.

Even more unexpected was the excellent set from The Defects.

For those who missed out on the late 70s and early 80s Belfast punk scene, The Defects were amongst the motley crew of oiks like Rufrex, Rudi and the Outcasts who were born amid conflict, from the wombs of the Harp Bar, The Pound, The Labour Club and other even less salubrious venues.

For them – like SLF – the authority of the police and the pseudo-authority of bastard paramilitaries was to snubbed, ignored and generally taken the piss out of.

For each three-minute blast of fury on Saturday it was like punk never left – and it never really did. Tunes like Dance (Til You Drop) and Brutality have an elegance that those who slagged off the surface idiocy never understood, nor took the time to see them in context. But by scabs of history were well and truly ripped off to see the bleeding, pulsing sore that created Belfast punk newly exposed to the slightly stale air of the Ulster Hall.

Even more heartwarming was to hear kids chanting along to the words of Brutality who were still in primary school when the RUC became the PSNI, and an abbreviation that produced a less musical chant than the time-honoured “SS RUC”. That did earn the frowns of at least one bouncer who would have been graduating into the big school at around the same time.

If The Defects produced a set to warm up the Ulster Hall Stiff Little Fingers set the temperature dial to inferno: the teasing strains of Go For It coaxed every single soul to readiness before a storming, frantic ‘Roots, Radicals, Rocker’ blistered into action.

It was apparent that the pace was being upped, as each and every song seemed to have a tempo designed to either sweat the crowd into submission, or pack as many tunes as possible into the time span.

‘Just Fade Away’, ‘Tin Soldiers,’, ‘Wasted Life’, ‘Fly the Flag’ were among the tracks given a heart-stopping treatment. But the sheer speed of delivery didn’t diminish the playing, or the crowd’s response.

As alluded to, it was a crowd that spanned generations – from kids barely into their teens (and at least one on the balcony not yet to reach that milestone) to those about to end their fraternising with the 40s as the 50s looms – and it is a testimony to SLF that they can engage such a wide age bracket.

And there was also a sense that the political agenda of Jake Burns lyrical stance has come full circle. A majority of tracks aired where written when Thatcher’s Tories were waging war on the working class. Now the ConDem Coalition Government’s mantra of cuts is slashing working men and women’s wages and prospects, SLF aired a new song about how the bankers are basking in bonuses while public services are slashed and burned out of existence.

SLF will never, by themselves, make a change in the political landscape, but part of the enduring power is that Jake reminds us that there can be a sense of fairness that we can aspire to, there can be an alternative view outside the mainstream zombie inducing media, and there can be independent thinking.

But, as yer man also pointed out, just because ther're "miserable gits", doesn’t mean they can’t have a laugh at themselves – hence a rousing Barbed Wire Love.

And in each track from ‘Suspect Device’ through to lesser known sings such as ‘Harp’ [and by my bleeding wee fingers I love that song!] the mikes on stage were picking up the crowd’s singing. At a vantage point close to the stage right PA system the crowd’s response was a counterpoint, an enhancement, to every chorus, and every chant – all produced without a prompt, or poser’s preening for crowd response. SLF had an audible backing group of 1,000+ and the onstage directional mikes weren't pointed at the audience...

Encores produced one surprise, one not-so-surprise and a lot of sweaty burling about and pogoing.

Jake has always spoken and sang about how Joe Strummer’s influence on him – I paraphrase here, but Rory Gallagher gave Mr Burns a reason to pick up a guitar, and Joe gave him the passion to keep on playing.

Thus, when ‘I Fought The Law’ burst out it was an almost state of ecstasy that swept the crowd. Welcoming Ricky Warwick on to stage we were invited to “Please be upstanding for the National Anthem” and ‘Alternative Ulster’ seemed for some to round off the evening.

But checking out your standard SLF resumé there was the small matter of ‘Johnny Was’ that was an inevitable second encore – and the Ulster Hall was working harmonies along to the pathos of the Bob Marley song.

SLF will never be great in terms of the shallow measures of Pop Idol or X-Factor (Take ‘Guitar and Drum’ and shove it up Cowell’s superannuated arse if you ever meet him!). Nor will mere accountants’ figures of sales or cashflow measure or account for the longevity of SLF; or why street kids, metalheads, hard rockers, ska types, old skinheads, thrashers, and, of course, aging punks turn out to see the ‘Fingers.  For all the banter, all the self-deprecation, SLF are a band that will never be accorded accolades, but will always, always have a measure of greatness that few can aspire to.

And that greatness was bursting through in the Ulster Hall in what in this humble reviewer’s gigs was one of the most electric gigs I have seen SLF play since the tension filled fury of the Go For It tour gig in the same venue. In fact it was much better.

Stiff Little Fingers – the punk band that could play; the rock band with punk sensibilities; the pop punk progenitors; but most of all, Belfast’s finest bar none.

ENDS

PS – I am fuckin’ biased but I don’t care, because there are a lot of us biased towards SLF too!

* - Country of the Blind: Christopher Brrokmyre P121 Abacus 2002 paperback

Nearly forgot to mention Warrior Soul, Rob Zombie and SLF gigs!

DAMN this sobriety! Now that I have been temporarily cured of it I remember that I should have mentioned the following:
Stiff Little Fingers - Ulster Hall March 12th
Warrior Soul - Diamond Rock Club March 29th
Rob Zombie - Ulster Hall June 29th.

2011 - the year when the debit and credit cards get burned badly; beer tokens get stacked way too low and merch costs rocket. Maiden, Rush, Journey etc all gonna be costly not to mention the above!

Stiff Little Fingers – Belfast’s finest

There are very few bands that can earn the epithet seminal. Belfast’s very own Stiff Little Fingers not only deserve to be called seminal, but they can deservedly claim that they have influenced bands worldwide.

When SLF kicked off as covers band Highway Star in the late 70s few could have believed, let alone credited their 32-year journey that would see bands as diverse as Green Day, The Almighty, The Beat and a host more credit the Stiffs as an influence.

Of course, 32 years later SLF are very different beast compared to the snarling, angst-driven outfit that drove the invective driven Inflammable Material right through the smug self-serving late 70s.

Then, prog and rock was dying a death; verbose over-inflated, tired bands were flagging on their last legs. Punk’s new sound was divided between the commercial and the aware. SLF were féted among the aware, the sound was not from the safe suburbs and the lyrics less so.

As we look towards the paranoia of recession and the uncertainty of the noughties are SLF still relevant? Has the angst ridden youth of the 70s given way to cynicism? Hell no! Has the anger dissipated? Hell no! SLF still speak to that part of us which decries injustice; that hates the smug self-satisfied political commentators; that still wants to have fun, make a point and rock like a bastard: never mind whether you’re 15 or 50 SLF are the outpouring of all that is right about powerful music.

The main man of the Stiffs is, of course, Jake Burns. Currently living in Chicago, Jake is plotting the next leg of SLF’s journey with a European tour that will take in Belfast on March 16th.

Belfastmetalheadsreunited caught up with Jake to reflect on past triumphs and look to the future.

Deeply considered, but retaining the mischievousness steeped in the genes of Belfast folk, Jake was looking forward to the Belfast and Glasgow dates especially for the spring European tour.

“We’re definitely looking forward to playing the Ulster Hall,” he said. “It’s really special for us, like the St Patrick’s Day Glasgow gigs….we always seem to end up in Glasgow on March 17th! When we were growing up it was such a big deal to play the Ulster Hall, and we’re been looking forward to being back in Belfast.

“We’d played gigs in The Empire in the past and while it was great – and the fans were super – the stage is so small you’re bumping into each other all the time and you can’t give the show the fans deserve.

“I wondered whether we could still put on an Ulster Hall show, but it really came together last time – Don Letts filmed the DVD there and we had fans past, present and future there and a packed hall.”

The enduring quality of SLF’s music is perhaps best laid out in the age range of the fans at recent gigs, from teenagers to wrinkly rockers.

“Sometimes you wonder about playing the old tunes. You wonder how many times you can play Suspect Device or Alternative Ulster. Then you walk on stage and see 14 and 15-year olds and you think to yourself that this is the first time that they have heard those songs live and it gives you that extra impetus.”

But, Jake – like all of SLF – are not resting on past glories, with more recent material set to be included in the set-list for the European tour, even if we are all waiting for a new album.

“Yeah, I’ve been writing,” he said. “But, there was a lot going on in my personal life, including the move several thousand miles to a new continent. That means I sort of fell away from the discipline of writing.

“The ability to lock yourself in a room and sit with a guitar and hammer out a few tunes is there, but the discipline needs to be there too.

“It is coming back and there are quite a few tracks and ideas ready to go.”

And, it seems that looking back on the past as well as reflecting on the future is the key to the freshness of SLF’s gigs, as well as future recordings.

Jake has maintained a healthy disrespect for the conventional path, yet still looks to past influences for material. Rory Gallagher, Joe Strummer and Thin Lizzy remain among the pantheon of artists he not only respects, but enjoys.

The diverse nature of such influences, together with the feeling of injustice that must be addressed makes SLF as relevant in 2009 as they were when Belfast's streets were littered by the aftermath of yet another stupid paramilitary attack on the innocent. We heard then from SLF about paramilitary assholes on Wasted Life. Thankfully there were many who listened and wove their paths clear of the tribal warfare and walked the path that shone the light on music and justice.

In the next part of this interview, Jake tells Belfastmetalheadsreunited about the Nefarious Fat Cats and the hazards of touring in Europe…and what his favourite track is from recent SLF recordings.

SLF play the Ulster Hall on March 16th.

SLF interview

Top bloke, leading light and co-founder of one of the most infuential punk bands on the planet - he is Stiff Little Fingers' Jake Burns. Later this week we'll be publishing some snippets from an interview with Jake.

In the interview Jake explains his favourite track of recent SLF platters, why European touring is hazardous to phone bills, and what exactly are the Nefarious Fat Cats...and why he had to re-learn the Rory Gallagher and Thin Lizzy riffs.

SLF are playing Belfast's Ulster Hall on March 16th

Hounoured rockers

As if it wasn't enough that Led Zep frontman Robert Plant was named in the New Year's Honour's List (the ol' crooner is to get a CBE) it now emerges that the Scottish Parliament may about to raise the horns and salute AC/DC.

For those that don't know, the Young Brothers and the late, great Bon Scott, originally hailed from Scotland, hence MSP (that's Member of the Scottish Parliament for the politically challenged readers...) Christine Grahame has lodged a motion in the Holyrood Parliament for the achievements of AC/DC to be recognised.

As Northern Irish politicians return from their Christmas break they should have a list ready at their fingertips to recognise Sweet Savage, Stiff Little Fingers, Therapy?, Ash, The Answer, The Undertones...and a bunch more! They'll probably nominate someone who is about the same age as themselves...Van Morrison!