The Undertones
With a 25 song main set and five song encore, picking highlights is next to impossible
With the Undertones rolling into OPEN, tonight is a chance to tick another box on the punk-bands-I-never-managed-to-see-first-time-around bucket list. But, before that, we have THE NEVILLE STAPLE BAND. It has been 15 years since I last saw the ex-Specials/Fun Boy Three man supporting the Buzzcocks at the Waterfront. That night, he was a ball of energy, shadow boxing as he constantly bounced around the stage. Tonight, he has slowed down but then so have I…. That doesn’t matter though as his excellent band don’t stop moving for the entire hour set.
Co-lead vocalist Christine Sugary Staple skanks like she is trying to dislocate her shoulders and knee herself in the face. Guitarist Billy, bassist Sledge, keysman Joe, Spencer on trombone and saxophonist Spencer are almost as frenetic. On drums, Matty holds the beat down. Given the main man’s history, this set of high energy 2Tone is unsurprisingly heavy on songs from his Specials days. Now, I am not saying that the Neville Staple Band are better than the Specials but they certainly seem to be happier on stage and having more fun than the Specials managed at the UEA a while back. Ghost Town – complete with introductions to the band members – tops the version that I heard at the UEA whilst Gangsters, A Message to You, Rudy and Long Shot Kick the Bucket are always a pleasure to hear. It is the Fun Boy Three song The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum) that is the highlight of the set, however.
And so to the main event and THE UNDERTONES. For some reason, I am not expecting much more than a perfunctory greatest hits set. Jumping Jehoshaphat, this is so much more than that. I mean, how many bands can crank out 30 songs in 90 minutes with nary a duffer in sight? Original frontman Feargal Sharkey may be long gone but that doesn’t matter. This band have more authenticity than many of their contemporaries that are still plying the circuit. With the O’Neill brothers John and Damian on guitars, Michael Bradley on bass and drummer Billy Doherty, there are three original members from the band’s founding in 1975 and the fourth has been with them since ’76.
Vocalist Paul McLoone has actually been in the band for far longer than Sharkey. On the Sharkey-era songs, his voice is almost indistinguishable from the original, albeit still with his own character, and he becomes more individual on the post-reformation material. McLoone’s Ricky-Wilson-meets-Greg-Davies-doing-flamenco stage moves might be an acquired taste – I thought they were great, my mate thought they were over the top and unnecessary – but he certainly puts on a show.
The sound is poor at the start but is soon up to scratch. The songs are, for the most part, played fast but there is a true pop sensibility here. With a 25 song main set and five song encore, picking highlights is next to impossible. Of course, Jimmy Jimmy and Teenage Kicks are superb but less familiar songs like I'm Recommending Me, Here Comes the Rain, Thrill Me and Dig Yourself Deep are just as strong. In fact, the only real complaint I have as I leave is that I just can’t get closing song My Perfect Cousin out of my head.
