By Monk and The Dark Queen
HOLY FUCK! It’s hard to believe that it has been almost two years since we last headed deep into darkest recesses of the County Antrim hills and climbed the narrow stairs to lead to one of our favourite venues, a place that serves as one of the last outposts of rock ‘n’ roll civility and civilization in a landscape otherwise characterized by sheep farms and furniture showrooms. Yet, here we are, boarding the steam train from the new £340 million unfinished aircraft hanger that masquerades as Belfast’s swanky new central transport hub and taking that long overdue trip back to Ahoghill Rock City, this time for an equally long awaited reunion with one of our favourite party bands…
Opening proceedings are, as frontman Phil describes them, “three-quarters of one of the line-ups” of now defunct power-poppers Pay*Ola. The guys are working under the rather unwieldy monicker of their three forenames, so I hope they’ll forgive me for referring to them by their previously collective name for the purpose of this review.
Kicking off with old school Pay*Ola fave ‘When You Leave’ (which we’re not about to do anytime soon), Phil, Nicky and Jim (from whose period in an early incarnation of the band much of the back catalogue is understandably drawn) live up to their singer’s assurance to “do our best to rock out semi-acoustic style”, getting a chilled but vibrant vibe going and earning a well-deserved enthusiastic response.
The rest of the set is made up of a few Pay*Ola favourites, such as the ever effervescent ‘I’d Rather Be Dreaming’ and ‘This Is Your Time’, a few deep cuts, as in ‘Before You Go’, which the full band never played live, an archival delving in ‘Rain On Me’ from the band’s previous Lazy incarnation (and that’s not a comment on their work ethic!) and a couple of McCarroll’s own solo songs.
It has to be admitted that the acoustic-led nature of the set does drag a little over its 45 minutes, and could be seen as a wee bit lightweight in terms of what is to come, but the quality of the songs always stands up to scrutiny and it is therefore a pleasant scene setter.
The main purpose of this evening, however, is to welcome the Big Truck roaring and rolling back into the arse end of nowhere, for what must be a record-breaking landmark in the relationship between any band and a particular venue. Yes, this is no less than the 30th occasion the devilish ones have graced the tiny but lovingly crafted stage of this equally small but equally lovingly curated backwoods venue in the 19 years in which Derwin has been pouring his heart and soul (and savings) into it… No mean feat since frontman Tom claims to be only 32 himself (see, I do listen to what goes on between the songs!)!
They seem to be tempting fate with an opening song called ‘Kill The Lights’ (hopefully not too many lighting engineers answer the call), the Truckers immediately prove that it has definitely a case of absence makes the heart grow fonder as they launch into a fiery set of the sort that makes it sound, and seem, like they’ve never been away.
With all four members beaming from ear to ear, and the sold out crowd singing along to each and every word – even of the new album, despite it only having been exploded (sic) the day before – the four lads once again ‘Drive’ their way deep into our hearts and aural memory banks as they prove why they have been ‘Fighting For Everything’ rock ‘n’f’n’ roll all these years.
What follows is exactly what you would expect from a Trucker show, and they don’t disappoint in any way as they seamlessly blend old school crowd favourites – with perhaps unexpectedly early versions of ‘Voodoo’ and ‘Drink Beer, Destroy’ sandwiching their brief interpretation of ‘Proud Mary’ (well, it wouldn’t be a Diamond show without it!) – mixing with a healthy smattering of new tracks, with ‘What I See’ another first half highlight with its archetypal slow-building Trucker ballad giving the band, and the fans, a much-needed pause for breath for going back to partying like they started the end of the world.
At just shy of an hour, the main set does seem surprisingly short, and I’m a bit concerned that they’ve decided to ‘Stop The Bleed’ a tad early… but, of course, I shouldn’t have worried, as there’s only the small matter of announcing the winners of the fancy dress competition and the raffle before Tom digs straight back into the new album by declaring “if this doesn’t pull a muscle you haven’t been to a rock show”: I’ve had to undergo a week of physiotherapy before being fit enough to even think about writing this review!
And this ‘Juggernaut’ still has plenty of diesel in its tank as it just keeps on rollin’ through its catalogue. Even when the band seem to have finally quit the stage, the sound of Tom’s guitar comes from the dressing room and he leads the beys back out for an “impromptu” version of ‘Don’t Stop Believing’, before finally declaring ‘Here’s To Heartbreak’ with a triumphant finale that still sees them take another few minutes before being able to leave the stage. Hey guys, we ain’t gonna stop believing in the power of rock ‘n’ roll, and the only heartbreak we’re gonna experience is when the speakers fall silent at the end of another great night such as this.
- ‘Social Hand Grenade‘ is out now.
- The Big Truck rolls into Bannermans in Edinburgh on Thursday 14 November, the Waterloo Bar in Blackpool on Friday 15 November and The Patriot in Crumlin (Wales) on Saturday 16 November.
- All photos © The Dark Queen/Über Rock.
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