By Monk
This was the fourth gig in three days which had seen Belfast temporarily transformed into the impromptu punk capital of the Über Kingdom, with both local heroes Stiff Little Fingers and ’77 scene veterans U.K. Subs having staged sold-out shows (on entirely different scales, it has to be said) the previous evening, with the likes of the rival XSLF, beat generators The Selector, the transformed Undertones, local legends The Outcasts and the insanely talented Ricky Warwick and his current band of Fighting Hearts thrown into the mix over the course of the weekend.
Tonight is the second leg of Notts-based Celtic folk punk Ferocious Dog’s debut trip to the isle from which they draw their musical inspiration, and despite the clamour of activity over the previous few days it is great to see them rewarded with a healthy crowd of suitably appreciative.
First up we have local combo Johnny Hash, who play a pumped up version of what we refer to in this corner of the Überverse as “fiddly dee”… that’s Irish trad to the rest of you. Now, I thought I was going to miss part of their set, due to interview commitments with our headliners, but fortunately (for a change), things are slightly behind schedule and I climb the stairs just as they launch into their recent single, the booze-fuelled story of ‘Johnny Jump Up’.
After taking a tear down some ‘Hot Asphalt’ (and us Oirish know a thing or three about laying down the black stuff), the rest of their set is a frenetic run through of some well-known big pops, from ‘The Star Of County Down’ to a faithful version of Christy Moore’s classic ‘Ride On’ before taking us down the ‘Rocky Road To Dublin’ for ‘Seven Drunken Nights’ before returning to the ‘Dirty Old Town’ (I’ve always found it ironic how Irish bands have adopted a song about Manchester – although perhaps not surprising given the diaspora’s influence on the Midlands city) for a suitably singalong finale.
- Johnny Hash play the Skylite Festival in Newry this Saturday (27 August) and the Hilden Festival on Sunday (28 August).
As I said, our headliners are making their first ever visit to Belfast, and they get things off to a suitably rabble-rousing start, very much imbued in the Levellers style of Celtic-infused folk rock. Their set is rowdy and rambunctious, with the dance floor reflecting the feel of the music, and provides the perfect, energetic and uplifting start to an otherwise dreary working week (especially for yours truly, as I’m due in work literally seconds after the final chord dies in the speakers!).
As they send a declarative “fuck you” message to the ‘Punk Police’ – “we can’t be a punk band because we’ve got a violin” – the only downside is a second airing of the evening for ‘When Johnny Comes Marching Home’, although the do manage to infuse the anti-war anthem with elements of reggae and Gogol Bordello-style Slavic polka.
Despite this being the last night of their current tour (they’ve been supporting Flogging Molly), the band are full of energy and clearly having fun, as exemplified by the fact that they cram a 90-minute set with songs that they declare they ca play “fast fast, stupid fast… or Bel-fast”… well, guess which one wins each and every time, as the band rattle along at breakneck speed, even refusing to leave the stage as they start a dancealong to their own outro music while the house lights go up…
Hopefully this is not the last time we will see and hear these particular ferocious breed of punk rock dogs salivating all over a Belfast stage…
- Ferocious Dog return to the road in September, with dates running through until late November:
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