Live

The Stanfields – Upstairs at the Garage. Islington, London (September 23, 2013)

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October 17, 2013

Whoever described The Stanfields as ‘Stan Rogers meets AC/DC’ was a genius. The acoustic folk traditions of the Canadian Maritimes meets full-blooded rock n roll. The Stanfields, for those of you who haven’t yet sampled their delights, play music to jump around to, music to mosh to, music for the Celtic Punk in your blood and yet still subtle and “folky” enough to appeal to those of us raised on acoustic music.

This was the Stanfields’ first UK gig, a one-off on their way to a 2 week jaunt around Germany. I have to be honest here, we had our tickets bought and paid for within the hour of the gig appearing on the band’s Facebook page. However, as I staggered in from work (it was a Monday night) and contemplated a 100 mile round trip by train and about four hours sleep before work the next day, I nearly bottled out and stayed home. Thank God I didn’t! From the opening bars of Mrs McGrath, a tale of military service on the high seas complete with obligatory loss of limbs through to The Dirtiest Drunk (in the history of liquor), this was a night to remember.

The set list was drawn from both of the band’s albums; their debut: Vanguard of the Young & the Restless and the brilliant follow up: Death & Taxes. A couple of personal highlights were Run on the Banks, as it was the first Stanfields track I ever heard and one which does a good job of setting out the bands stall: honest working class lyrics welded to a driving rock sound but with the bazouki never lost. Dagger Woods, a ghost story of murder and demons from the woods of Nova Scotia and Fox in the Heather, always my favourite Stanfields track and one I now learn that was written for lead singer Jon Landry’s dog.

Yep, it was a Monday night and that might have kept folks away, but people, you missed a treat. I am fairly confident that when the Stanfields return we’re going to need a bigger venue. In the meantime, do yourselves a favour…buy their two existing albums and grab a copy of the soon to be released acoustic album King & Country.

Neil Bates

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BibleCodeSundays / Clan London Summer Sesh – JUNE 2013, The Claddagh Ring, Hendon, North London

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June 23, 2013

Clan London is the up-coming independent movie written and produced by Andy Nolan, accordion player for the BibleCodeSundays. For the last couple of years, Andy has been hosting Clan London fund raising parties at the Claddagh Ring pub in Hendon, north London. This weekend was the 2013 Summer Sesh and a showcase of, in my humble opinion, the two finest Celtic punk/rock bands currently active in the UK.

The evening’s music was kicked off by politico-metal band 44 Fires. Loud, fast, technically very competent, dressed in Anonymous-style Guy Fawkes masks, not Celtic and, in the words of my dear old mother, “not my sort of film”. No criticisms here, this is a solid band that will appeal to the metal crowd (reminded me of Lard), who were giving of their services for free in support of the Clan London project so good on them.

BiblecodeSundays were up next. Now anyone who has read my reviews before will know that I make no secret of the fact that this is my favourite Celtic band. Opening with The Pittsburgh Kid, a tale of champion boxer Billy Conn, the Biblecodes provided substantial proof that their third album is going to be a stunner. Stand out tracks from last night included ‘When Will the Road Rise’ and ‘Count Your Blessings’ (see the video here…..). I teased the band on Twitter about this gig being the first time I had ever seen them have a set list. In reply Enda Mulloy commented that it “went out of the window after the second song and we went to default”. Well lads, no-one would know. The set was tight, energetic and certainly got a very mixed crowd up on their feet and dancing.

The final act of the night were Glasgow’s finest, the Wakes; fresh from six hours on the motorway from Scotland. Once again, I am in fanboy territory. Opening with ‘No Irish Need Apply’, the Wakes proceeded to fill the next ninety minutes with standout tracks from their debut album (including anti-fascist standard and love letter to FC San Pauli, ‘Pirates of the League’). Augmenting the album tracks were covers of traditional classics such as ‘Galtee Mountain Boy’ and folk classics like ‘Viva La Quita Brigada’. Honourable mention must go to new lad on the whistles, Daniel, who played up a storm and survived the advances of a very drunken blonde!

All in all, we had a great night. Both bands give us song dedications; we won a prize in the raffle, got to hang out with good people and great friends. Keep an eye out for albums coming soon from both bands, a German tour from the Wakes and the commencement of filming on Andy’s Clan London movie.

Neil Bates/Review

Live

BiblecodeSundays -2012, The London Road Tavern, Twickenham, London

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St. Patrick’s weekend with the BCS lads has become a bit of a tradition in our house. The only down side this year was that thanks to having to drive to the gig it was going to be a very sober affair. While the Mahones might claim that “the more you drink, the better we sound”, I can now safely say that the Biblecodes sound superb drunk or sober. Fresh off their support slot on the Dropkick Murphy’s UK tour and straight out of the studio where the third album is well in hand, the lads played a blinder.

Opening with the stomping instrumental Rat’s Reels the lads quickly established that the tight, focused playing we’d seen recently at the Camden Roundhouse with DKM had not deserted them. The set was a great mix of new material, covers and old BCS classics. Let’s be clear, we are fans and are seldom happier than hearing the lads playing their own material. We were not disappointed. From their tribute to boxing legend Billy Conn (The Pittsburgh Kid) to London Irish rallying cry (Maybe it’s Because I’m an Irish Londoner) the Biblecodes showed that their material can stand alongside any of the bands they cite as influences. What stands out amongst the BCS own material is their ability to tell the stories of the Irish diaspora in songs that appeal to the “Friday night, let’s get hammered and jump around” crowd. From migrants leaving “County Cork in search of fame” to the “Newport and Mullranny boys along the Northolt road”, this is the story telling tradition of Irish music kept alive for the Twenty First Century.

The lads are about to embark upon a short US tour and if you are in the Philadelphia area on the 24th May, do yourself a favour, go along and get yourself a new favourite band.

Slainte

Neil & Katie Bates

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Stiff Little Fingers, The Gobshites – JUne 1, 2011, Showtime Live, Foxboro, MA

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June 2, 2011

Lesser bands then SLF would have canceled last nights show – guitarist Ian McCallum took sick moments before the tour started – John Haggarty of Naked Raygun infamy stood in, and while a competent substitute, he looked a little uncomfortable on stage. Then there was the odd choice of venue for a punk gig – Showcase Live, a state of the art concert venue beside Foxoboro football stadium some 30 miles outside Boston, but a venue more used to hosting tribute acts – Showcase is also not exactly easy to get to even when there isn’t frigging tornado’s ripping up various parts of the state and a state wide tornado emergency in effect – thus ensured a small turn out (though if SLF had played the Middle East club instead it would have sold out, tornado or not). Despite the poor attendance, an appreciative (and somewhat portly) Jake Burns along with original (and skinny) bass player McMordie, the a fore mentioned Haggerty and drummer Steve Grantley played a blistering set of SLF classics to an enthusiastic and hardy crowd of storm chasers, though with the exception of Strummerville everything was from the glory days of the late 70’s and early 80s and guess what, nobody seemed to mind.

Support was from The Gobshites who gave me a nice shout out from the stage and a song dedication or so I though was a nice shout out until they broke into Arsehole by Snuff –

What an arsehole
What a fucking wanker
What a toss-pot ,a toe rag ,a fart in a jar

– where there is smoke there must be fire I guess.

Live

The Mahones, The Gobshites, Continental, Chris Skel – JULY 24, 2010 @ McGann’s Pub, Boston, MA

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July 27, 2010

Just around the corner from Boston’s North Station and the home of The Celtics and The Bruins, is McGann’s Pub. Although only average-sized in square footage, the place is laid out perfectly for a show like tonight’s.

The first act to go on was a single guy with an acoustic guitar. There was no fear of any James Taylor-like smooth and/or mellow stylings though, as the guy was Chris Skel, helmsman of New Jersey pub punk act, The Skels. With just his axe and his voice, he created a huge noise off of that stage! His set included a track or two from the Skels catalog, true, but the bulk of it came from his solo material. For those unaware, Chris has put out two solo project CD over the last eighteen months, so he had plenty of great material to choose from. (Look for a review of his newest 6-track EP, “Sudden Psalms” here soon!) Chris set the pace well and got the crowd on their feet.

Up next, (or ‘again,’ since they did the sound check earlier with some killer stuff!), was Rick Barton and The Continental. Rick Barton, a familiar face in this type of venue as the former guitarist for the Dropkick Murphys, assembled this new project with himself in the guitar and lead vocals role, (and his son on the bass.) An incredible performance from these guys, tight and sharp, with some fantastic guitar solos from his lead guitarist. (Oh, and an excellent rendition of DKM’s The Torch, by the way!)

The third band in the line-up was The Gobshites, who somehow manage to show up and play at every show I see in Boston!
Pete and the gang jumped right into action and proved, once again, to possess the largest catalog of drinking songs in the free world!
Apparently on a first-name basis with every member of the audience, the band’s conversational banter and audience participation portion, (which included alternating readers for the limericks, and some masterful beer-tray playing,) brings Gobshites’ sets as close to an open seisiún as punk rock gets.

The headliners, of course, were The Mahones. The band were in the midst of celebrating their twentieth anniversary tour, and a festive mood was running amok!
Unfortunately, the band was playing as a four-piece, without their mandolinist. As a mandolin player myself this was a bit of a let down, but the band seemed to compensate by selecting songs from the higher-energy end of their catalog! This was probably for the best, and the mood of the crowd was perfect for these tunes.
Tight, clean and in top-notch form, The Mahones blasted out a great set deep into the evening.

By the time the music had died down, the Newcastles and Patron were making their presence known to me. Fearless and bulletproof, I was feeling pretty good. The show, though, was a great time for all, and another huge success for Shite ‘n’ Onions.

Thanks a bunch to S’n’O’s John Murphy, for another fantastic show!

Review by Christopher P. Toler, THE Blathering Gommel

Live

The Skels – The Castlebar, Brighton, MA (JULY 17, 2010 )

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July 19, 2010

You might have notice on the bottom right hand side of the blog there is now a little widget that tracks site visitors and how they found Shite’n’Onions – well to my surprise I’m getting lots of visitors from Saudi Arabia – now originally I was thinking that my Arab friends were actually searching on Shiite and getting Shite but then I noticed that the key words being searched were, “hairy backed guys” and I realized to my shock and surprise that The Skels have a fan base in the Middle East!

Speaking of HBGs, The Skels were in Boston for the 1st time in a long while, paying their 1st ever gig in bass players Henry Ryan’s home from home – Brighton’s own The Castlebar. The special occasion that merited 3 sets from The Skels and was to celebrate Paddy Keys of The Larkin Bridges impending nuptials (congrats Pat), and The Skels were in rare form – lots of Pogues covers, their own master pieces and synchronized Judas Priest style guitar/banjo poses – in fact there were even a few new tunes and an new CD announced which is schedule for release at the end of the year (though Chris Skel wouldn’t commit to which year). It was also nice to see Benny from Toxic Narcotic join The Skels on his accordion for a few songs.

The Skels are always great to see live and 3 sets in The Castlebar a special treat – I’ve been going to see The Skels for over 10 years and they never fail to impress and hope to see ’em again when they come back from their tour of Iran, Iraq and Yemen.

Review

The Rumjacks: Saints Preserve Us

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March 3, 2019

Saints Preserve Us is another balls bustingly good album from The Rumjacks. Classic Clash meets the Dubliners – fast and punky with a slight reggae undertone while downing pints with Luke Kelly and Ronnie Drew on a Friday night in O’Donoghue’s.  Frankie McLaughlin’s lyrics are as sharp as ever – “though its been eight generations since we’ve kissed Erin’s shores, my bloods greener then yours”. I love the cover of the traditional, “An Poc Ar Buile”, sung (or snarled) in gaelic. Saints Preserve Us continues to prove that The Rumjacks are one of the premier Celtic-punk bands – but you knew that already.

Review

Sir Reg: The Underdogs

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February 10, 2019

Wow is this really the sixth album from Sweden’s Sir Reg? They still seem like the spunky new guys on the block. Maybe it’s because they are still hammering out Celtic-punk at a neck-breaking speed with no sign of slowing down or ‘maturing’, just playing like that proverbial underdog’s bollox. The Underdogs is all everything we know and love Sir Reg for; the aforementioned fast as feck yet melodic Celtic-punk but also a lyrical wit so sharp it could kick the eye out of a maggot that only a true Dub could produce.

Potato-eating, Whiskey-drinking, Bog-trotting, CELTIC PUNK ROCK