Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip / B Dolan / Team Fresh: Stiff Kitten, Belfast, 27/04/10

A lack of ticket sales heading into a midweek gig is never the recipe for a classic night, but the 'downgrading' of Tuesday night's venue from Mandela Hall to the trendy and intimate Stiff Kitten turned out to be a mild stroke of genius... albeit a necessary one.

The North Coast's own Team Fresh waste no time in lighting a fire under the arse of the filling room. There is nothing pretentious about it; straight up party music delivered with an oddly satisfying swagger. It is hard not to warm to this band, sounding a little bit like a Portrush-accented Beastie Boys/Spin Doctors hybrid. Whether rhyming about Buckfast and partying, or religious division in Northern Ireland, they play with heart. The kind of band that, given the choice, wouldn't be on stage looking down at an audience, but rather right in the middle of it, surrounded by friends and equals. An encouraging start.

B Dolan is a larger than life character. The New York native blends hard hitting atmospheric Hip-Hop with surreal onstage antics and genuinely funny banter. A complete package, with microphone skills that would have Fifty Cent quaking in his kevlar. How could a night not be going well when, after a melodic tirade against Sarah Palin, Dolan strips off his clothes to reveal a worn out Evel Knievel costume (complete with cape). It's hard to imagine a crowd reacting so well to an 18 stone man jumping over three eager volunteers lying prone onstage, but it happened. And it was great. Maybe you had to be there...

When Dan Le Sac fights his way through the crowd to the small Stiff Kitten stage and bursts into set opener 'The Beat That My Heart Skipped', the noise in the building is dizzying. Scroobius Pip is the conductor, and the hour and a half that follows is intense. The duo have been on tour in Europe for months, and with tonight being the last stop they are intent on leaving the road on a high. The Belfast faithful do not disappoint; writhing, bouncing and shouting hooks and lines back at them. The set heaves and refrains, settling somewhere between intelligent and frank spoken word, genre defying hip hop and an all out 1990's drum and bass rave. Put simply, it is excellent.

As B Dolan leaps from the stage and gets carried into the distance, and all involved manage to wipe the tears of joy from their faces, Dan Le Sac spins into the fantastic 'Thou Shalt Always Kill'. As Scroobius Pip declares his manifesto to the people, they reciprocate with geniune appreciation for two artists who will always have a home in Belfast.

Dropkick Murphys/Face To Face: Mandela Hall, Belfast, 20/04/10

If you had told me a fortnight ago that I'd be sitting at my desk on the 20th April, wondering if an erupting volcano had prevented the Dropkick Murphys from arriving in Belfast I'd probably have backed away slowly and pointed at you.

Thankfully though, come 8pm the Mandela hall was jammed with the usual mob of skanking skinnies, far-too-drunk underagers and impossibly wet pit-junkies. It was good to be back after what had seemed like a cold, dark and dull winter.

Face to Face opened the show with unexpected energy. The vintage California 4-piece tore without hesitation through a half hour set of old and new material, including Guitar Hero 5 anthem 'Disconnected'. This band, long considered the 'Anvil' of punk rock, showed no signs of age as they punched out anthem after drunken singalong. It's nothing new or revolutionary, but it certainly hits all the right notes. If Agnostic Front and Bouncings Souls had a lovechild, it would play this in the car with the windows down.

If there's one thing that can be said for the Dropkick Murphys, they sure as hell know how to throw a party. From the ferocious opening fightsong 'For Boston', through to the stage-laden singalong 'Kiss Me, I'm Shitfaced' the band barely stop for breath. It's a formula that has been tried and tested in cities and towns the world over... and for me, that seems to be the problem.

The ageing Celtic-Punkers raise their well rehearsed and undeniably rowdy version of hell on the Mandela Hall, and an audience half their age lap it up with enthusiasm. But I'm left feeling a little let down. The modern-day Dropkick Murphys pretend to be a punk band in the same way that Twilight pretends to be a novel. To the young and ill informed, it's a great experience, and one they are most welcome to. But the knowledge that there are so many fresh and exciting bands passing through Belfast and playing in front of 30 people is just too large a pill to swallow. The next generation is being routinely ignored by the masses in favour of the slightly corny, safe alternative.

And that is the death knell of any local music scene.

Face The Future...

I'll be the first to admit that I haven't been the biggest advocator of Northern Irish music lately. Since Fighting With Wire and General Fiasco I have seen nothing that has personally excited me, nothing with that extra something, and absolutely nothing new or refreshing.

Long fringed, tight-jean sporting *insert generic word* Core bands seeking to cash in on the popularity of the latest alternative trend are a dime-a-dozen. Depressing stuff. It's worth noting, however, that a decade ago we were all scrambling to form the next Korn or Spineshank. An era that is (comfortingly) looked upon with a degree of hilarity today. The similarities are striking.

My apathy has thankfully been challenged in a big way by two local acts in the last month. The first, Joe Echo (Ciaran Gribbin) came to my attention after a phone interview for a Sunday Life article that I wrote. Free-to-download single 'The Heart That Knows Desire' is a disarming blend of genres; Indie styled music driven along by pure dance sensibilities, all of which sit with surprising comfort beneath a truly distinctive voice.

Ciaran was also kind enough to send me a pre-release promo copy of new single 'Wonderful Way' this week. It's a catchy and confident indication of the forthcoming debut album. A lot more staightforward in its sound, but still undeniably Joe Echo. I fully expect a far wider audience to catch on very soon.

The second act are a local rock band with roots in my hometown. Those of us old enough to know better will remember Larne post-hardcore outfit Throat, who outshone practically every local act at the turn of the millenium with guest appearance-laden debut album 'Knievel is Evil'. The band went on to tour extensively, sharing the stage with the likes of Clutch and At The Drive In, before a somewhat premature end.



The good news is that the rhythm section; bassist Russell Crookes and drummer Mike Barr, have returned with their latest project 'Black Bear Saloon'. A triumphant return to say the least. New tracks 'Face The Future' and 'Al Bronco' are as heavy as a whiskey-fuelled punch in the face. Singer Aaron Abernathy is drenched in attitude. Guitar and bass tracks are pounded out with relentless venom and Barr is the most solid of musical backbones, somehow pulling in the reins and adding a sharp and stylish groove to the awesome chaos. Put simply, it's hard to listen to Black Bear Saloon without gritting your teeth and slamming the nearest flat surface. That is never, ever a bad thing.

The band have already been tipped for success by Hot Press and NME, and with a sound that could so easily sit alongside their well established post-hardcore influences, Black Bear Saloon are THE force to be reckoned with in Northern Ireland right now.

Watch out.

Hip-Hopxegen

The official launch of Oxegen 2010 in Dublin during the week was exciting. Despite the fact that I kept up to date via Twitter, Google and word of mouth from a desk in Belfast, I was still a little caught up in the anticipation of it all.

It was an especially important launch as far as I was concerned. Last year's event (despite being my first Punchestown experience, and an excellent one at that) seemed to feel a little like Groundhog Day to the committed masses. As Kings of Leon mechanically ground out a tired set in the rain, many thousands cast their mind forward to next year... and the thought of parting with a three figure sum just to do it all again.

Post festival-hangover, it was obvious that something had to change.



I'm not sure that there is a stylistic canyon much wider than Kings of Leon to Eminem. But before eager thumbs could attack Blackberrys and iPhones, the second headliner was confirmed.



Jay-Z? Headlining a ROCK FESTIVAL?! This is an outra...wait...

The Jigga-man came, saw and conquered Glastonbury in the face of a tight jeaned shitstorm in 2008. For Oxegen to set him AND Eminem on top of the pile this year is nothing short of genius. If you need to have this explained to you, there's a handy little [X] button at the top right hand side of the page. Keep going, there you go.

The usual comfort-zone list of indie, electro, folk and rock is already there in abundance (and will be added to on March 8th), so there is little doubt that this year's festival will draw in the crowds. But hopefully with acts like the Black Eyed Peas taking to the main stage, it'll hit the headlines as one of the most memorable and diverse rainymuddydrunkenfarmerfieldweekenders in recent years.

We can only hope.

Baby Steps

It's been a great (if not ridiculously busy) month. I spent last week working at the Sunday Life in Belfast, getting some great advice from Associate Editor David O'Dornan, and working on a few small features and news articles.

I also had the chance to interview the fantastic Ciaran Gribbin (a.k.a Joe Echo) about writing and recording the soundtrack for the new U2 bio-pic 'Killing Bono'. I finished the article on Tuesday, after developing a mild addiction to his debut single 'The Heart That Knows Desire'. I can't believe I missed him at Oxegen last year.



The Life are running it as a page lead this weekend, so I'll post it here once I get a copy.

The day before that I had a chat with Cormac Neeson from The Answer about spending almost a year on the road with AC/DC. I asked him if it beat the hell out of a 9-5 office job. He laughed and said "Awk, It depends on what you're into..."



Bastard.

Jealousy aside, he's another good lad who is deserving of his success. He gave me loads worth writing about, so I'm currently working on getting it down on paper (or screen) in the next week or so and scoping out who it would interest.

In addition to all of that there's another decent interview in the pipeline, I'm in contact with a really good freelance music writer, Dropkick Murphys, Dan Le Sac, The Rabble and Pendulum are Belfast-bound and I got my hands on a whole bunch of new records that I'd love to review.

I just don't know when I'll get the chance.

Stay in touch,
Joel

(From the archives) Alkaline Trio: Live

Date: August 26th 2008
Venue: The Ambassador
City: Dublin, Ireland
Excerpt taken from personal blog



"…To see the show as a non-committed enthusiast was a great experience. There were emphatic highs, like set-opener Private Eye running straight into Calling All Skeletons, which had the masses singing their hearts out. There was an especially poignant moment when Goodbye Forever was dedicated to the late great Jerry Finn, and was delivered with the kind of conviction that made me glad I parted with my cash and made the trip. There seemed to be a perfect blend of anthemic nostalgia to underpin the bulk of the set. Tracks from albums 'From Here To Infirmary', 'Good Mourning' and even earlier were tossed in confidently. It's admirable for a band to be unafraid of dipping into a discography and seeking fan-favourites over music television hits (notably missing were Stupid Kid and We've Had Enough), and the gesture was met with riotous applause after every song's final chord."

(From the archives) My Chemical Romance: Live

Date: 27th March 2007
Venue: Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre
City: Glasgow, Scotland
Unpublished



In order to fully appreciate a live production like this, one must cast aside any preconceptions that are tied to this band.

My Chemical Romance are undeniably the unchallenged gods of the 21st Century ‘Emo’ movement. When ‘Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge’ hit the shelves angst ridden teens all over the world went berserk for the rebellious Goth-Punk hybrid sound, and in a matter of days red eye shadow was literally uniform for the masses. Fast forward three years and The Black Parade hits the shelves. The same craze ensues. Few believed that the band could top their earlier achievements but naysayers were silenced beyond doubt as soon as the title track hit the airwaves.

Leading the young army that follows this band to the hilt is an inspirationally tight song writing unit in the form of lead singer Gerard Way. Frank Iero and Ray Toro add some of the catchiest guitar hooks and melodies on the planet right now, and Gerard’s brother Mikey and drummer Bob Bryar are a solid backbone upon which this musical chaos is placed. Give ‘The Black Parade’ one listen and I defy anyone to call it poor, cheap, ‘commercial-over-quality’ or childish. The elements combined in their latest release state to the world in black and white why MCR reign supreme on the rock music food chain. So to experience it live, one would assume, would be breathtaking. One would bloody well assume right.

The SECC is buzzing tonight, and the hysteria that sweeps the arena when the lights go out is at fever pitch. A lone spotlight pierces the stage to reveal Gerard Way on a hospital gurney as the opening strains of ‘The End’ emerge from behind the huge black stage curtain, barely audible when set against the now overflowing emotion of the crowd. 7,000 people feel the hairs on their arms stand on end and know that something very, very special is about to happen.

Way, like a truly great front man, commands a sold out arena as if he was in London’s notoriously tiny Barfly. The band mercilessly tears through tracks from The Black Parade, clad head to toe in their signature army uniforms. The stage production is second to none. However, a spectacular light show, tonnes of ticker tape and some huge pyrotechnic explosions only just live up to the sheer energy being thrown into the performance onstage. The fireballs that erupt during ‘Famous Last Words’ transport the crowd right into the song’s music video. We are in the zone, with arms pumping, screaming the battle cry chorus that serves as a defiant middle finger to the sensationalist sections of the media that misunderstand this band so gravely.

It comes as a surprise that the highlight of the show is an altogether more quiet and sombre one. Gerard, alone on the stage and silhouetted by a huge white light introduces the next song simply as ‘Cancer’. It is a simple piano and vocal piece written as a tribute to victims of the diease and those that are left behind. It is a unique and moving spectacle to witness thousands of people uniting in grief, reflection and hope through this one song.

As the band’s alter egos ‘The Black Parade’ close the show, Gerard Way spits into his microphone; “My Chemical Romance are up next….if you’re into that kinda sh*t!” What follows is a lesson in the art of the encore. The band re-emerges in their classic bulletproof vests and black jeans. Without so much as a pause for breath they proceed to aurally assault every ear in the building with cuts from the awesome and energetic debut album ‘Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge’. The stage is transformed into the band’s older red and black artwork and once again, united by nostalgia and raw emotion, the crowd lap it up. Two full sets later and the band end the show with the anthem that is ‘Helena’. At that moment in time, there is nothing else in the world apart from hall 4 of the SECC in Glasgow. Gerard Way snaps one final breath before venomously delivering his final line; ‘So long, and Goodnight.’

Introduction

Hello. My name is Joel Neill, and ever since I told my Playschool teacher at the age of three that my favourite nursery rhyme was 'Pump Up The Jam' I have been addicted to music. As soon as I was old enough to leave my house alone I joined a local punk rock band, and over the following ten years we recorded three CDs, received radio airtime and played together in venues all over the island of Ireland.

I have been an avid consumer of music CDs, tapes, records, VHS tapes, DVDs and concert tickets for many years. This blog is the result of one of the passions in my life meeting another; writing. After graduating from University my ambition has been to break into the world of journalism. To that end, I hope to use this site as a portfolio, but also as a way to keep my writing skills up to scratch and hopefully to entertain anyone who takes the time to have a read. If any of that applies to you, thanks for visiting and feel free to get in touch.

Joel