Stiff Little Fingers
27th February 2020
Powerstation, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Simon Coffey. Photography by Doug Peters.
1970s and 80s Northern Ireland is not particularly known for contributing to the world stage of rock n roll, unlike big brother Eire with the likes of U2, The Pogues, Thin Lizzy, punk-avant-gardists The Virgin Prunes and er, um… Sinead O’Conner.
Two bands that did cause ripples in Northern Ireland however were The Undertones and Stiff Little Fingers; they chose divergent song writing paths as personal responses to the troubles that engulfed Northern Ireland at the time, which led to a notorious bit of verbal ‘biffo’ between them. The discovery of punk by then guitarist Henry Cluney and the guiding hand of invisible fifth member Gordon Ogilvie transforming Stiff Little Fingers from Deep Purple styled prog rock covers band Highway Star, into an angst ridden punk rock outfit named after a song by UK punk band, The Vibrators.
After forty years, the group aren’t quite the band that created Inflammable Material, which went top twenty in the UK on indie label Rough Trade selling over one hundred thousand copies. Their other three albums ranging from top ten to top thirty over the next four years before a bit of ‘biffo’ within the band itself caused an implosion. Original members Jake Burns (singer/guitar) and Ali McMordie (bassist) are still with us in fine, fine form and long serving newbies Ian McCallum (guitar) and Steve Grantley (drums) have been around since the mid-nineties; this is the tried and tested version of the group.
When it comes to the bands recording taonga, the song writing relationship between Ogilvie and Stiff Little Fingers is long dead, this golden period of the first four albums (Inflammable Material, Nobody’s Heroes, Go For It and Now Then) soars high when stacked up against the post-1987 reformation releases. Perhaps it is fortunate that tonight’s setlist almost exclusively reflects this golden period!
Being the support act is always a love/hate relationship, tonight the MurderChord, a two-piece drums and keyboards idea slightly reminiscent of a discordant punky Jerry Lee Lewis, try their best to warm up. I get it, but I don’t think it really works. Vocalist and keys man Dave Hine wore a Jeff Hanneman t-shirt as a hat tip to Slayer and was promising but not delivering; banter was trite, tired, predictable and reminiscent of Jock on The Rock. The shine rubbed off after the first fifteen minutes.
Stiff Little Fingers are in Tāmaki Makaurau as part of the 40th Anniversary of the release of their first album Inflammable Material; its seminal, and as vocalist Jake Burns informed us last night, is actually more like the 40th and a bit since it was released by the band in the UK in 1979. But if I were to split hairs, according to that reliable releases website Discogs, Inflammable Material wasn’t actually released in New Zealand until 1981, after their second album Nobody’s Heroes in 1980; so, in Aotearoa, their first was the second, and their second was the first!
As the band took to the stage adorned with flames and song titles from Inflammable Material ‘Go For it’ blasted from the speaker stacks; guitarist Ian McCallum sporting a ragged AC/DC t-shirt, whilst Steve Grantley on drums wore a hat that was a nod to UK reggae originals Steel Pulse, perhaps referencing the common history with the Rock Against Racism involvement both bands had in the late 1970’s, which Jake Burns would also later speak of before playing ‘White Noise’
Tonight the Powerstation is sounding pristine, with none of the overdriven bass or tinny snare sound that occasionally sours shows. All four members are seasoned musicians, and their skills as well as their allegiance to the recorded versions of the songs is appreciated. The audience is dominated by Boomers, Gen Xers, Gen Z, and a smattering of Millennials, sporting a lot of Stiff Little Fingers t-shirts, doc Martens, but little hair.
Jake Burns took a few songs to warm up, but then the in-between song banter kicked in and took full flight. Stories about his father demanding song writing royalties, finally being able to reach the high notes in a song they never used to play (Safe As Houses), Ali’s singing prowess during a crowd favourite (Barbed Wire Love) and one of their few love songs about a mate called Steve McQueen who used to get busted on ‘Sus’ all the time in Belfast (Law & Order) all wonderful to hear. A poignant moment also came with the sole new song ’16 Shots’ about police brutality née murder, in Jake Burns’s adopted home town of Chicago,
Highlights were plentiful, Burns ripping into their first single ‘Suspect Device’ with gusto before stating “who would’ve thought we would be playing it in Auckland forty-two years later”; ‘Johnny Was’ a Stiff Little Fingers interpretation of Bob Marley’s original, inspired by what The Clash were doing at the time, eliciting crowd delight. The mighty, mighty version of the track undoubtedly the anthem of the night. It was ninety minutes of pure energy, punk rock rigor and collective exuberance.
Despite being the first track of the two-song encore, it was ‘Tin Soldier’ from their sophomore album Nobody’s Heroes that finished the night on a high, the words still poignant in this time of militarism and cold war politics; the music uplifting, the crowd sated.
Were you there at the Powerstation for this great Punk-Rock revival? Or have you seen Stiff Little Fingers perform live somewhere else? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Setlist:
- Roots, Radicals, Rockers and Reggae
- Nobody’s Heroes
- Just Fade Away
- At the Edge
- Safe as Houses
- Sixteen Shots
- Suspect Device
- State of Emergency
- Here We Are Nowhere
- Wasted Life
- No More of That
- Barbed Wire Love
- White Noise
- Breakout
- Law and Order
- Rough Trade
- Johnny Was [Bob Marley & The Wailers cover]
- Alternative Ulster
- Tin Soldier [encore]
- Gotta Getaway [encore]
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