Stiff Little Fingers @ iBoat, Bordeaux, France - Thursday 27 November 2014

In 1972, as a 14 year old, my mind and musical 'taste' were sent into stella overdrive, some might say I was blown away, by an album that, to this day, is one of my all time favourite live albums. The album was Made In Japan, the band was Deep Purple and the opening track was Highway Star (recorded in Osaka on 16 August 1972).

Leap forward a mere a five years and a Northern Irish band, called Highway Star after the song, started to gain attention on the embryonic punk scene and by 1979, as an art student, I was swept down stream by the raucous cacophony that was the punk movement. So when I first heard the debut album "Inflammable Material" by Stiff Little Fingers (formerly Highway Star) I was hooked. When a new band appears the first song people hear is so important and SLF nailed me with track one, side one: Suspect Device. Not only did it have a pumping intro, but it also it starts with the powerful words "Inflammable material is planted in my head, It’s a suspect device that's left 2000 dead".

Stiff Little Fingers

Now leap forward some 35 years and here I am again at a Stiff Little Fingers gig. What's more the gig is on a boat in a submarine basin in Bordeaux, France! C'eat la vie! Next up: 17 humdinger, foot stomping, pogo inducing, lyrically loaded, classic songs! First out the traps was Wasted Life, track number four from that debut album and a 3 minute burst of lyrical and sonic delight. I haven't heard the song in many years and yet I knew ever word and sang along with the best of them! 

Still they come up to me

With a different name but same old face

I can see the connection

With another time and a different place

They ain't blonde-haired or blue-eyed

But they think that they're the master race

They're nothing but blind fascists

Brought up to hate and given lives to waste

Jake Burns

Jake Burns (lead vocals / guitar) was in fine form and his voice is still a major part of the band’s overall sound. He fronted the band with charisma and the inter song banter was both entertaining and informative. 

Ali McMordie (bass / vocals), the only original band member along side Jake and who also runs a band management company, stood to Jake’s left and produced some great, deep throbbing bass lines especially on the reggae steeped Doesn't Make It Alright which Jake informed us was written by The Specials. 

Ian McCallum (guitar/vocals) looking for all the world like Ian Rankin also added some mighty fine guitar work to keep the groove moving along and the song evolved into a grand finale of punk/rock/reggae. A stand out for me.

Ian McCallum

Meanwhile, the extremely accomplished Steve Grantley (drums), pounded out a solid, measured beat and accompanied each song with his trade mark precision. Steve has also drummed with The Alarm and numerous ‘well kent' names including Julian Lennon and Pete Wylie. He has also found time to write and publish two books!  On the night, I particularly enjoyed Steve’s work on the the Phil Spector-esque Barbed Wire Love, introduced in french by Ali and which ended in a pure punk work out.  

This was followed by Strummerville, a song that Jake advised was written as a tribute to the late great Joe Strummer and in acknowledgment of the influence The Clash had on SLF. The song was tight and joyous and a fitting testament to a true legend which included some great drumming and guitar solos. The intro to Tin Soldiers continued the fine vein of interplay between drum and guitar and the lyrics are another acerbic look at the stark choices that faced young men in Belfast in recent times. 

Ali McMordie

The band played several numbers form the latest album No Going Back and I particularly enjoyed Full Steam Backwards and My Dark Places. On Full Steam Backwards the sound was funky with classic SLF chugging guitar, drum and bass and Jake hits out at the recent banking crisis with the typically cutting lyrics

So you studied hard and you got a good job

Cos you don’t want to be just another slob

And you put some money away for a rainy day

And the job goes well

And you like the work

And you think promotion is a cert

And you never see it ending any day

And you get a nice car

And you get a nice wife

And you think to yourself: “Man it’s a wonderful life!”

But you don’t see the trouble headed right your way

On the financial page

Steve Grantley

However, My Dark Places is another matter altogether, addressing as it does the issue of depression and Jake was frank enough to tell us that it was written about his struggle to deal with the ‘black dog’ that visits him. The song includes the line “I’m not going back to my dark places” and it is sung to a really catchy tune that hooks you and wraps you in a jaunty, melodic sound. However, the lyrics are serious and heartfelt and gives some insight into what suffering depression is like. This is the kind of song that the band excel at and which Mr Burns writes with aplomb - an instant classic.

Jake Burns

The venue was tight and the gig well attended, although the low ceiling in the depths of the iBoat impeded the sound and made it difficult for the more energetic fans to pogo with any real zest! However, this did not hinder us from letting loose and grooving along to some damned fine music performed by four middle aged lads with a grand pedigree. 

So as things wound there way to a conclusion Jake told us that they would not be leaving the stage for the obligatory ‘bull shit’ encore break and instead the band launched into a three song set which climaxed with the peerless Alternative Ulster. No doubt the lads are pretty sick of some of the older songs, having played them to death over the years, however, it didn't show on this one and the version they performed was as fresh and vibrant as I recall from their debut album way back in 1979! The years simply melted away and I was a fresh faced, idealistic young art student again, however, my body quickly told me that I was am no longer capable of throwing some of the moves I once did. But hay, we have all grown a little older and a little wiser and it was wonderful to have the chance to relive my youth and hear some up-to-date songs performed by the tight, accomplished and well honed outfit that Stiff Little Fingers have become. A band who have released some 10 studio and 15 live albums along the way.

Thanks for a great night and here’s to a few more in the years to come! Sláinte 

Ian McCallum

SET LIST

Wasted Life

Just Fade Away

When We Were Young

Nobody's Hero

Silver Lining

My Dark Places

Doesn't Make It Alright

Throwing It All Away 

Roots 

Full Steam Backwards

Barbed Wire Love

Strummerville 

Tin Soldiers

Suspect Device

Encore

Johnny Was

At The Edge

Alternative Ulster 

Steve Grantley

“Thank you and good night” - 22:30

Ali McMordie