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| + Martin / Kara Cowan (Dynasty)
Mike Kinder (DJ) The Pavillion, Belfast 22nd December 2006 After all the retail led Christmas overkill and the grind of work, is there a better way to unwind than to get yourself along to a punk rock gig and escape the festive madness for a few hours? Tonight $hame Academy threw the best Christmas party in town and when I say party instead of gig its not a typo. The atmosphere in the room was excellent no bad vibes of any kind and the craic was mighty! Even found out that I was in the same class as Marty from the Sabrejets at secondary school many years ago, which I'd totally forgotten. The DJ (the legendary!!!) Mike Kinder played a good selection of punk/glam tunes. Some of which I hadn't heard in years, which kept the crowd happy until Martin and Kara Cowan took to the stage for a surprise unadvertised performance. Now I saw the duo play under their Dynasty (which I'm not sure if they still use or not?) moniker a while back. But a name change or maybe not doesn't change the fact that they shouldn't be on a punk rock stage no matter what your dads pedigree is. Surprisingly this time the acoustic format suited them better than being backed up by $A. On the right bill and in the right circumstances they would be alright, but I was glad to see their thankfully short set end and the DJ return after their last song which was an X factor standard (Rod Stewart/PP Arnold) 'The First Cut Is The Deepest'... jeez! I was standing beside Marty Cowan at the bar later on when $A were playing the Outcasts 'Teenage Rebel' and by the look on his face I bet he wishes he was onstage playing that instead of the acoustic stuff. There were some old faces from the Harp scene in the crowd tonight, as well as a few local female TV newreaders and a crappy chef from one of those afternoon cooking programmes. Why they were here I dunno? But the newsreaders were really getting into it. $hame Academy fresh from their recent triumph in Dublin were on good form all evening "tight but loose" as they say and were bantering each other from the stage throughout their set of legendary local punk classics. Which tonight included a fantastic revived version of (Ohio Express/Rudi) 'Yummy Yummy Yummy'. Great to hear that live again and they ended with two Dickies style punked up seasonal covers of 'Silent Night' and 'White Christmas' with Petesy on vocals which had everyone jiggling and singing along to. The crowd thorougly enjoyed $A and the band clearly knackered, enjoyed the gig too. Some of the ex punk punters even managed to imagine they had been transported back to the Harp circa christmas '79 and were throwing themselves around the dancefloor and joining the band on backing vocals especially during 'Big Time' and the 'Cops' numbers. Dr Who's tardis has nothing on the NI punks for impromptu time travelling. This was another of those nights that was just right, it was up there with the best local punk get togethers since the 'Spit' book launch gig in 2003 for which $A were formed. When I left the gig I was in a much more Christmasy mood than when I entered the venue. The festive feelgood factor was in full effect and you can't ask for more than that. $hame Academy have been confirmed as the support for Stiff Little fingers on 9.3.07 at their 30th anniversary gig in the Ulster hall. I fully expect $hame Academy to blow SLF away on that big famous stage! Merry Christmas and a Punky New Year to you all from me and Spikey Steve. See you in 2007!!! Joe Donnelly (Belfast) 23.12.06 |
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