Midnight Transmission
Feile an Phobail 2011
Andersonstown Leisure centre, Belfast
6th August 2011
Jeez! It's not everyday you get one of the major punk bands from the time when it mattered, playing a
show virtually on your doorstep. So it was a big suprise to everyone when the newspaper ad
announcing that the 'Men In Black' would be appearing live on the 'Falls Rd', was first published a
couple of months back in the local press. Though to The Stranglers credit, they've visted Belfast
numerous times during their very long career. So they're certainly no strangers to our fair city. First time
I saw them was in 1978, with the last time being 2006. They may have lost a key member in the
intervening years, but they were top notch with that menacing edge present and correct on both of
those other ocassions. So I was expecting nothing less from them at this show in 2011 and thats exactly
what I got!
It does exactly what it says on the tin, and JJ still does his very individual
stage moves lol. In the past few years these old school style punk gigs have
become so frequent, it's now reached retro critical overload. It just never
seems to stop. In only these past few weeks we've had the return of the UK
Subs, The Anti Nowhere League, The Casualties (makes you realise just
how old we are when bands like the Casualties are classed as nostalgic lol - PDC),
The Defects, The Outcasts. And now its the The Stranglers turn. I may
be permenantly rooted in 1977, but theres only so much new wave, sugary
sweet nostalgia an old punk can take. Before you get that sickly feeling and
want to throw up. Believe it or not, there can be too much of a good thing!
Bad timing means that half the ex punks I know from Belfast won't even be
here tonight. As this show coincides with the O.A.P. (Old Age Punks)
pilgrimage to Blackpool for the annual Rebellion Festival. So I was expecting
a large turnout of 'spides' to make up the numbers, and I surely wasn't
disappointed. Yeah, there was old punky friends and acquaintances dotted
around the hall. People like Mully, Big Ben, Cheeko, Kell, Tony Magill,
Keiran Kelly,Terry Kennedy and Annamarie. I also spotted ex S.L.F.
members Henry Cluney and Jimmy Reilly hanging out. But the vast majority
of the punters here probably never went to a punk gig before in their long
lives. A fact borne out by the morons who decided it would be
really punk to throw filled plastic pint pots at the stage during the
Stranglers encores. The first of which hit my shoulder and
exploded all over me and everyone within a 3ft radius. I turned to
try and spot the wanker, but there was no way to find the arsehole
skulking in that big crowd. Two more were thrown and hit a front of
stage security guy, he was soaked.
It was really good to see local talent being given a chance to shine,
as a band made up of friends of my son '$pikey $teve' had
managed to secure the support slot. Young retro rockers
Midnight Transmission are a very strange mix. These two bands
are poles apart in both age and musical styles. It was an
experiment I thought might be doomed to fail from the start, but
surprisingly it worked pretty well. Midnight Transmission had a
cocksure attitude about them that defied their age and experience,
which I liked. They may have had a serious case of the Aerosmith/
G'N'R's about them, but thats no bad thing in my book. There's
some really good self penned tunes in their set especially 'Pop
Another Pill'; 'Grace' and 'Games'. Strangely they did a great
version of err...Led Zeppelin's (I hate LZ ) tub thumper 'Rock'n'Roll'
in the middle of their set. One criticism I have at this stage in their
fledgling career, is the set was at least 20 mins too long. Because
they had too much time on their hands, some of their original filler
tunes started to sound a little
similar. A few more covers and a
bit of fine tuning in that department
and they'll be good to go! Its still
early days but Midnight
Transmission are a new young
local rock band with a lot of
potential. Definitely one to watch
out for in the future. Either that or
at worst they'll become a flash in
the pan like The Answer. But only
time will tell on tonights
performance they were living the
dream!
They kept us waiting a little later
than expected, then strolled on as
calm as you like to a heroes
welcome! It was good to see The
Stranglers back tearing up a
Belfast stage once again. They
opened with the very un pc 'I Feel
Like A Wog' and to be honest I
doubt there was many here that
even knew or understood what the
once controvertial lyric was. $pikey
$teve and me really enjoyed their
show. The song selection was a bit
eclectic at times, but those early
hits were all in there as was that teeth rattling trademark rumbling bass and those
classic tunes still sound as great as they ever did ('5 Minutes', 'Something Better
Change' and 'Peaches' were ace). Despite the organised confusion especially
around the bar and toilet areas, and the stupid school dinner table system which got
in everbody's way, it was a good night. It's unbelievable that Jet Black is almost 73
years young and still behind the drum
kit! Long may it continue.
Joe Donnelly - Belfast 7.8.11.
Feile an Phobail 2011
Andersonstown Leisure centre, Belfast
6th August 2011
Jeez! It's not everyday you get one of the major punk bands from the time when it mattered, playing a
show virtually on your doorstep. So it was a big suprise to everyone when the newspaper ad
announcing that the 'Men In Black' would be appearing live on the 'Falls Rd', was first published a
couple of months back in the local press. Though to The Stranglers credit, they've visted Belfast
numerous times during their very long career. So they're certainly no strangers to our fair city. First time
I saw them was in 1978, with the last time being 2006. They may have lost a key member in the
intervening years, but they were top notch with that menacing edge present and correct on both of
those other ocassions. So I was expecting nothing less from them at this show in 2011 and thats exactly
what I got!
It does exactly what it says on the tin, and JJ still does his very individual
stage moves lol. In the past few years these old school style punk gigs have
become so frequent, it's now reached retro critical overload. It just never
seems to stop. In only these past few weeks we've had the return of the UK
Subs, The Anti Nowhere League, The Casualties (makes you realise just
how old we are when bands like the Casualties are classed as nostalgic lol - PDC),
The Defects, The Outcasts. And now its the The Stranglers turn. I may
be permenantly rooted in 1977, but theres only so much new wave, sugary
sweet nostalgia an old punk can take. Before you get that sickly feeling and
want to throw up. Believe it or not, there can be too much of a good thing!
Bad timing means that half the ex punks I know from Belfast won't even be
here tonight. As this show coincides with the O.A.P. (Old Age Punks)
pilgrimage to Blackpool for the annual Rebellion Festival. So I was expecting
a large turnout of 'spides' to make up the numbers, and I surely wasn't
disappointed. Yeah, there was old punky friends and acquaintances dotted
around the hall. People like Mully, Big Ben, Cheeko, Kell, Tony Magill,
Keiran Kelly,Terry Kennedy and Annamarie. I also spotted ex S.L.F.
members Henry Cluney and Jimmy Reilly hanging out. But the vast majority
of the punters here probably never went to a punk gig before in their long
lives. A fact borne out by the morons who decided it would be
really punk to throw filled plastic pint pots at the stage during the
Stranglers encores. The first of which hit my shoulder and
exploded all over me and everyone within a 3ft radius. I turned to
try and spot the wanker, but there was no way to find the arsehole
skulking in that big crowd. Two more were thrown and hit a front of
stage security guy, he was soaked.
It was really good to see local talent being given a chance to shine,
as a band made up of friends of my son '$pikey $teve' had
managed to secure the support slot. Young retro rockers
Midnight Transmission are a very strange mix. These two bands
are poles apart in both age and musical styles. It was an
experiment I thought might be doomed to fail from the start, but
surprisingly it worked pretty well. Midnight Transmission had a
cocksure attitude about them that defied their age and experience,
which I liked. They may have had a serious case of the Aerosmith/
G'N'R's about them, but thats no bad thing in my book. There's
some really good self penned tunes in their set especially 'Pop
Another Pill'; 'Grace' and 'Games'. Strangely they did a great
version of err...Led Zeppelin's (I hate LZ ) tub thumper 'Rock'n'Roll'
in the middle of their set. One criticism I have at this stage in their
fledgling career, is the set was at least 20 mins too long. Because
they had too much time on their hands, some of their original filler
tunes started to sound a little
similar. A few more covers and a
bit of fine tuning in that department
and they'll be good to go! Its still
early days but Midnight
Transmission are a new young
local rock band with a lot of
potential. Definitely one to watch
out for in the future. Either that or
at worst they'll become a flash in
the pan like The Answer. But only
time will tell on tonights
performance they were living the
dream!
They kept us waiting a little later
than expected, then strolled on as
calm as you like to a heroes
welcome! It was good to see The
Stranglers back tearing up a
Belfast stage once again. They
opened with the very un pc 'I Feel
Like A Wog' and to be honest I
doubt there was many here that
even knew or understood what the
once controvertial lyric was. $pikey
$teve and me really enjoyed their
show. The song selection was a bit
eclectic at times, but those early
hits were all in there as was that teeth rattling trademark rumbling bass and those
classic tunes still sound as great as they ever did ('5 Minutes', 'Something Better
Change' and 'Peaches' were ace). Despite the organised confusion especially
around the bar and toilet areas, and the stupid school dinner table system which got
in everbody's way, it was a good night. It's unbelievable that Jet Black is almost 73
years young and still behind the drum
kit! Long may it continue.
Joe Donnelly - Belfast 7.8.11.
