Even superlatives aren't enough when Pat McManus plays

THERE are those of a certain vintage for whom the Pat McManus song The Oldest Rocker is not only appropriate but places us in a similar age range to the guitarist. Those of that vintage can not only appreciate, but also revel in the County Fermanagh axe man's development and excellence.

Playing the Diamond Rock Club on Sunday (21st December) the Pat McManus Band shone not only as a showcase for Pat's talent, but as a coherent three-piece that pull off the trick of being both laid back performers and tight as musicians.

Familiarity can breed contempt for some bands when they play a venue where they have treaded the boards before: not so Pat and his co-conspirators on rock 'n' roll exuberance.

Exuberance is sometimes a term associated with the over-the-top, big light show, heavy made-up bands who play every song like robots. But exuberance can also come from an artist who takes the stage with intent, who makes adjustments and improvises to both please themselves and to please the audience through exuberant playing.

Pic courtesy of Paul Verner

Those who have experienced Pat's playing before know that superlatives are not enough to describe his talent with a six-string slung around his shoulders. From delicate, heart-rending pieces through to hard and raging riffs, and to solos that explore the full toolbox of guitar techniques - hammer-ons, trills, tapping, sweep picking, you name it and Pat deploys it.

With bass and drums in ample support the set on Saturday night flowed with too many highlights...that may be an oxymoron, but it makes redundant the inclusion of a track-by-track analysis of the set, other to mentions some notable songs that stood-out.

Recent album Dark Emerald Highway was showcased appropriately with S Before X, Fallen Angel and Belfast Boy all coming to life on the stage, the latter track dedicated to the late Gary Moore.

Pic courtesy of Paul Verner

With the likes of Juggernaut stretching their legs on stage Pat took the audience on a six-string journey, with diversions along the way to fiddle playing and slide guitar played on the floor.

Being so close to Christmas Pat and Co made sure their fans left with smiles, throwing a few covers to keep all happy - Sharp Dressed Man and Christmas Number One contender Highway to Hell included. However, adapting the chorus Sweet Home Alabama to Merry Christmas Ballymena was also a sure-fire crowd-pleaser. But, it should be noted that where many bands throw in tracks like this to keep the punters happy for those watching Pat and his band it feels like it is a partnership in rock rather than a contrived encore.

As a reviewer one tries to convey a sense of a concert to reflect their own opinions of the performance for those who were there; and to outline what is was like for those who did not attend. Therefore, it is right to conclude by saying: "You had to be there," but you weren't and you missed a superb penultimate show for the 2013 gigging season with Derwin and Fiona and the Diamond Rock Club audience.

Great show, great band, great solos, great crowd.

BIg Truck rumbles through the Pavillion with compadres in rock

AS we move merrily towards the last month of the 2013, Trucker Diablo rounded up a tremendous year of development and success with a storming show at Belfast's Pavillion on the Ormeau Road with three hard rockin' compadres as a top supporting cast.

This SO:NI event saw a four-way phenomenon of rock that teetered gloriously towards the metallic edge, such was the ferocity of the performances; performances that displayed some of the diverse nature of hard rock in this wee country.

Opening proceedings with a low-down and dirty riff assault were Baleful Creed who delivered a deliciously tight rendering of Sabbath inspired songs, with more than taste of Down and other deep south groove merchants.

Thorazine teased and terrorised in equal quantities and the dark Autumn Leaves wove its spell around the evening, like a dark mist ensnaring the unsuspecting and a chorus that makes it presence felt when least expecting it.

From thence came St Hellfire, providing an up-tempo rock party showing, infused with a punk-ish rhythm attack. At times this contrast jarred, but when it melded it caught the mood of the 80s that many post Gunners acts on the other side of the Atlantic strove to achieve but failed.

It was a particularly impressive set from Mark Fanjo and his colleagues given that stand-in guitarist Dean had only played two shows yet still managed to lay down solos as if his life depended on it.

Where St Hellfire declared their attitude to be about the usual suspects (sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll), NASA Assassin where pretty clear about the source of all their tunes...Carrickfergus!

Part performance art, part rockin' rap, part metallic assault and part sheer lunacy NASA Assassin penetrated cynicism and alcohol-infused delirium to shake off the cobwebs and challenge musical conceptions.

Despite the on-stage antics and carefully constructed chaos NASA Assassin are conundrum wrapped up in a mystery. The music they deliver is not easy listening, yet live, that self-same music just works....weird but good.

Then came the Big Truck. What a year it has been for Trucker Diablo, with a superb album released, tours in England and France and rave reviews from the USA to the Far East and Australasia all notched up.

This was Trucker's last show of 2013 before they re-group for yet more Diabolic rock. Superlatives abound in a crowd watching Trucker, and they are justified. Managing to capture that elixir of rock that is a mix between loose and tight Tom and Simon lead a merry dance, while Glenn and Terry lay it down as if they were still fresh-faced youths in their teens determined to tear down the walls.

Songs of Iron outstanding out-pouring of singalong anthems were all delivered with a pounding precision and generated an electric charge to the audience.

From Rebel to Drive, from Voodoo to Year of the Truck, from When's It Gonna Rain to Juggernaut the songs are familiar now to fans who know each word and inflection.

But that is not to say that there is over-familiarity from the band themselves: take the headlong rush of the party anthem Drink Beer, Destroy. What was a straightforward ode to drinking has on stage become a overdriven beast, as if the Dead Kennedys and AC/DC got together with a load of crystal meth and a case of Special Brew. And that is not a criticism, that is a complement.

Rounding things off with an encore of Black and Blue this was a fitting Coda for Trucker's 2013, and a sure sign that they stand ready for a global assault that really could lift them to the proverbial next level of international recognition.

Following on from Friday's six-band metal display for The Distortion Project this weekend proved ghat hard rock and heavy metal in Northern Ireland are growing in success and stature - as Tom Harte said about their album "We should have called it Songs of Norn Iron" rather than Songs of Iron. We heartily agree because for such a small 'market' from such a small population 'Norn Iron' punches well above its weight, and we love it!

A thing of beauty...sleazy, dirty, noisy beauty

NORTHERN Ireland churns out more great hard rock than is credible for its relatievely small population in rock and metal demographics. Indeed, if you were to listen to the mainstream you'd be forgiven for thinking that apart from a clutch of shoegazers and The Undertones, hard rock is an aberration that now and again raises its long-haired face and tattooed arms above the surface.


How wrong the self-congratulatory pundits are! Proving the quiffed and stylish commentators wrong happens so often that they look uncomfortably around when the likes of The Answer, Therapy?, or any other given quota or metal, rock or punk emerges. Naturally they then claim that they backed and 'discovered' these bands.

At some stage in coming months they will be forced to look at their playlists and note down another few facts from Wikipedia before claiming they knew Trucker Diablo were great all along.

You see Trucker Diablo have produced an album - The Devil Rhythm - that has the alchemist's touch for taking base rock and metal, adding a dash of southern groove and the sort of singalong choruses chart wannabes would trade their latest boob implant to have.

The Devil Rhythm is a thing of beauty, sleazy, noisy beauty. The sort of beauty that can be enjoyed driving too fast, or with a beer in hand, but best of all un-selfconsciouslessly punching the air and unashamedly roaring along to the choruses. Try Big Truck, for example. I defy anyone with a little hard rock heritage in their humble hearts not to find themselves trying desparately to get that chorus out of their heads!

Rarely do bands emerge complete from the ether. Trucker Diablo have an impressive pedigree. Google the bands Joyrider and Titled to understand where the line-up components of Simon Haddock, (Joyrider) Tom Harte and Terry Crawford (Tilted) have been baptised in recording and touring. The heart of Trucker Diablo (with Glenn Harrison completing the line-up) lies in earning their stripes.

But with that heard earned experience many acts would become wistful, occassionally whingeing on about how the 90s was the wrong decade, etc, etc. Instead Trucker Diablo have produced a set of tunes that are the feelgood antithesis for every self-obsessed act out there. When they sing Dirty Love its with the sort of joy that should permeate all good music. The dark grooves of Never Too Late to Sin tempt the wayward back to the bottle, back to the sweaty excellence of hard rock.

Black and Blue is a great cathartic tale of excess of every kind, while Rattlehead has the sort of rockin' blues that ZZ Top used to produce.

Standing out in the track selection are the single Juggernaut with its towering hooks and riffs that burrow into memory; and the album opener, Drink Beer, Destroy. Shurely shome kinda anthem for Norn Iron rock!

There is an easy option for many bands - that is to re-tread sounds, add a new look and claim to be the best thing since a sliced loaf of Ormeau Veda as buttered as a hangover cure. However, this is a trick that cannot achieved in the rock genre. As John Cougar once said, it's just arranging the chords, but as Trucker Diablo and the growing wave of Northern Ireland's quality rock and metal proves, it is how you play those chords, tease out the hooks and tear off the solos that matter.

Trucker Diablo's The Devil Rhythm - raise the glass, punch the air, and most of all enjoy!