NEWS: The Stranglers set for Belfast date to open Back on the Tracks UK tour

Following their sold out Belfast show last year, UK rock legends The Stranglers will headline the Ulster Hall, Belfast with special guests Dr Feelgood on Thursday 28th February 2019.

With a career spanning four decades, The Stranglers are one of the most continuously successful bands to have emerged from the UK punk rock scene.Their hits include Golden Brown, No More Heroes, Peaches and Always the Sun.

The Stranglers’ Back on the Tracks 19-date UK Tour kicks off in Belfast on 28th February culminating in what is bound to be another rousing finale in Manchester on Saturday 30th March.

During a hectic year of touring the Southern Hemisphere, Europe and the UK, The Stranglers have also been busy writing and rehearsing new material so audiences can expect to experience some of these new cuts, alongside classic favourites and lesser performed numbers drawn from their eloquent and extensive catalogue spanning over forty years.

First formed in 1974, the band's no bullshit attitude was embraced by the punk movement of the late'70s, with their first three albums (Rattus Norvegicus, No More Heroes and Black And White) being released within an astonishing 13 months of each other, scoring hit singles such as Peaches, No More Heroes and Walk On By. Further success was to follow with Always The Sun, Strange Little Girl and the mercurial Golden Brown, amongst many others, earning the group 24 Top 40 singles and 18 Top 40 albums  

Masters of their own highly original sound, that combines a brilliant melodic touch with dark aggression and effortless cool, The Stranglers are now recognised as one of the most credible and influential bands to have emerged from the punk era.

With record-breaking, sell-out shows and festival appearances in the UK and throughout the world, demand to see and hear the band is at an all-time high, testament surely to their considerable musical talent and enduring quality of their songs.

Tickets, priced £33 (+bking fee) go on sale Friday September 21st at 9am from www.ulsterhall.co.uk, www.ticketmaster.ie, Katy's Bar & Ticketmaster outlets nationwide. Northern Ireland customers 0844 277 44 55 & Republic of Ireland customers 0818 719 300.

NEWS: The Stranglers set for Belfast return after stunning set with SLF at Custom House Square - Therapy? support

THE Stranglers will headline Belfast show at the Ulster Hall, Belfast with very special guests Therapy? on Saturday 03rd March 2018.

And, for those who saw them with SLF earlier in the summer at Custom House Square show know this will be a special show.

The Stranglers are one of the most continuously successful bands to have emerged from the UK punk rock scene. Expect to hear hits such as Golden Brown, No More Heroes, Peaches and Always the Sun and more recent tracks.

Headed up by Sunderland-born singer Baz Warne, the tour is set to coincide with the planned re-release of their first seven albums (six studio and one live) originally issued on the UA and EMI/Liberty labels.

For the 2018 UK tour, Therapy? will be their special guests.

The group are expecting to release their 15th album in early 2018 and have spent much of the past year performing a series of critically-acclaimed acoustic dates.

Tickets, priced £33.50 go on sale on, Friday, October 20th at 10am from www.ulsterhall.co.uk, www.ticketmaster.ie, Katy's Bar & Ticketmaster outlets nationwide. Northern Ireland customers 0844 277 44 55 & Republic of Ireland customers 0818 719 300.

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: 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.