Stiff Little Fingers
If there were a prize for the touring band that has played Norwich the most times, Belfast punk act Stiff Little Fingers must surely now be nearing the top of the leaderboard.
If there were a prize for the touring band that has played Norwich the most times, Belfast punk act Stiff Little Fingers must surely now be nearing the top of the leaderboard, if not actually heading it. Because, by my reckoning, last night’s gig at Epic Studios was their seventeenth visit to Norwich since first headlining the LCR at the University of East Anglia back in 1981.
And yet, and I say this as someone who was a student in Chelsea from 1976-1980 and who saw so many classic punk bands during my college days, it had taken me until this evening to finally pop my Stiff Little Fingers cherry.
Okay, let's be fair here. Although Stiff Little Fingers were around in 1977 (having previously been members of a Belfast rock covers band called Highway Star), their debut album Inflammable Material was not released until 1979, by which time punk had already begun to morph back into pub-rock in London, and was beginning to be referred to instead as 'new wave'. However, the spirit of punk remained true in Norwich, and still survives to this day. However, for me, this was my first night with the Fingers.
They began their set, as I am told they usually do, with a cover of the Bunny Wailer song 'Roots, Radics, Rockers, Reggae', one that they first performed live on a John Peel session back in March 1981. I certainly felt that I was the only person in the entire room to be hearing this song for the very first time. Yet, it was the perfect starting point for the 15 strong set of Stiff Littler Finger originals that would have the audience moshing and singing like we were back in the early 80's. Hairstyles and fashions traversed the decades as original punks and gen-z students came together to share in the enthusiasm and energy of the band and their music.
Tracks from Inflammable Material and its 1980 follow-up Nobody's Heroes made up nine of the sixteen songs on tonight's generous setlist, tracks that lead singer and vocalist Jake Burns and bass player Ali McMordie would together have performed on the band's earliest tours. Guitarist Ian McCallum has been in the line-up since 1993, and Steve Grantley has been the Fingers' drummer since 1996. No wonder this band sounds so synchronous and authentic as they rattle through the decades, pausing only briefly to introduce us to the brand new song 'Mary's Boy Child'. One of the most moving moments for me came with 'My Dark Places', a highly personal song taken from the band's last album No Going Back in which Burns sang candidly about his own mental health.
But is Inflammable Materials that lit the inevitable fuse for an incendiary encore, and what followed was another two slice serving of high-energy late 70's Northern Irish rock - 'Barbed Wire Love' and 'Alternative Ulster'. I leave Epic Studios slightly ashamed that I had not ever seen this band before, but elated at having finally made it to one of their gigs.
Opening support came from Essex rock duo The Meffs who, judging by the substantial number of T-shirts being worn in the audience tonight, have also developed a significant fanbase here in Norwich. I first heard them headlining The Hunter Club in Bury St Edmunds three years ago, and again when they were main support for Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls here at Epic last year. Successfully avoiding any comparisons with certain other well-known drum and guitar duos, Lewis Copsey and Lily Hopkins together create an infectious sound, fuelled with impassioned vocals, thunderous drumming and blistering guitar. Theirs is a heart-on-the-sleeve musical energy that simply demands to be heard. Check out their debut album 'What A Life' (produced by Frank Turner), and catch them when they return to play the Adrian Flux Waterfront Studio on September 4th.
A full gallery by Mark Stimpson can be found here
