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| Jim Reilly's Little Fingers Feile an Phobail Beechmount Leisure centre, Belfast August 1st 2004 Feile an Phobail is an annual community festival in west Belfast that has been presenting to the masses a diverse mix of entertainment and discussion over the past sixteen years, and 2004 is no exception. For whatever reason Jim Reilly a west Belfast lad and ex-Stiff Little Fingers drummer has decided to launch his latest musical project... Jim Reilly's Little Fingers" by playing support to a band called Amparanoia who specialise in a mix of world music afro Caribbean, Latin American, reggae sounds. They seem to be well known and very popular with 18 to 80 year old audience and the large contingent of visiting tourists who packed the festival marquee. Although I've never heard of them myself!? This show was a real miss match, the Selector were onstage the previous evening and with the Little Fingers would have made a much better less eclectic bill. A line-up keeping alive the vibe of those glorious punk / rude boy days of the late 70's early 80's. However Little Fingers got off to a good start with a very professional intro tape of flying helicopters and machine gun fire. Searchlights criss crossing the stage backdrop of the inflammable material LP sleeve flame motif and the main hall. It looked good but there was one problem, someone forgot to dim the house lights in time ruining the effect. The band came onstage to polite applause. But instead of grabbing hold of the situation after the big build up and blasting into the first song, they started messing about tuning up! Causing an uneasy awkward interval for a minute or two. First song up was a weak rendition of 'Alternative Ulster' followed by an equally weak '78 rpm'. What me and my mates picked up on right away was that the vocalist John Guilar was singing these songs in his own style that didn't suit the material. He had none of the grit or passion of Jake Burns chainsaw cutting rough vocals. A delivery which is the heart of these songs, so this is going to be a big problem for a tribute act. Little Fingers are a very competent outfit, and although the lead guitarist Chris Brennan and bassist Brendan McKinley are good musicians they have all the stage presence of someone from Dire Straits not SLF! The way one sways from side to side and the other stands still is not the SLF way. I saw the early SLF Burns / McMordie / Cluney / Faloon and Reilly play live a load of times during 78 / 79, in such legendary punk venues like the Harp, Pound as well as Queens uni and the Ulster hall. They were always a powerful and visual band which at the moment Little Fingers aren’t. Jim Reilly with his onstage banter comes over as a bit of a Belfast cheeky chappie who likes the spotlight. He was always last off stage, though he's still a very solid drummer. But let’s be fair. This was the bands debut gig and they will surely get better in time. The gig was on a very big stage in front of an audience who were really not there to see them. I'm sure nerves played a big part in the performance. When they play in a club with an audience more in tune with what they're doing it should be a lot better. These are the pitfalls of being a tribute band. For the length of time you are on that stage you have to be as close to the real thing as possible, you just can't turn up, plug in and become the band. That leaves you open to this kind of criticism as comparisons will be made and expectations are always high. On the plus side, the band played a great version of 'At the edge' which was the highlight of the set and their versions of 'Johnny was', 'Wasted life' and the encore of 'Suspect device' deserve a mention. Personally I can't see what Jimmy hopes to gain playing in a tribute to his old band? Marky Ramone also a well known punk drummer is touring with a Ramones tribute and they played a gig at the Belfast Empire recently, which didn't do him any favours either. Although he has the excellent spoken word Q/A section of his show. which is worth the money alone. The Little Fingers should think about changing their name as this moniker has a lot of baggage and history attached and if they altered the set to include a number of well chosen vintage punk covers mixing them with a good selection of SLF classics then I think they have the potential to become a draw for a good retro punk night out . But if they continue with the straight SLF tribute show then they are going to have to up the anti before they face an audience of SLF die hards of which I'm certainly not one. Funniest sight of the evening was an old man of about 80 sitting at his table with his fingers in his ears during the Little fingers set, he must be the oldest man to ever sit through a punk style show. I wonder what the other ex SLF members will make of all this. Joe Donnelly - Belfast 2/8/04 |