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One year ago today….

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The Last Gig Before The Apocalypse – a fantastic charity night at the Pavilion, Belfast, with the Brian Houston Power Trio, the Holsteins (reunion), One More Great Adventure (a new venture by Maghera legends James Devlin and his crew) and Dave McLarnon’s Hat Band – a one-off grouping of local legends featuring Dave McLarnon (Shock Treatment, Peacefrog), Billy Shovel (Ghost of an American Airman), Norman Boyd (Stonefish), Ali MacKenzie (Bush Turkeys, Mighty Mojos, etc.), Petesy Burns (Stalag 17, Outcasts, Petesy Burns’ Arse,. etc.).

Five Ulster rock classics by Peacefrog, The Adventures, Energy Orchard, Rudi and Them. Let’s rock!

Ulster rocked!

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On the last weekend before the apocalypse, four bands associated with the legendary Warehouse venue (1994-96) in Belfast – one band reunion, one new band of old hands, one one-off assemblage of all-stars… and Brian Houston, the ‘Belfast Elvis’ – played a ‘Warehouse Remembered’ show at the Pavilion. Proceeds went to FASD AWARE NI, a foetal alcohol support group run by Brian & Alison McNamara. It was the second Warehouse Remembered event, and there will hopefully be more…

A version of Dave McLarnon’s Hat Band came together for WR#1 in September 2019, and we simply had to have the man in the hat back! This time, Dave ‘The Hat’ (Peacefrog, Shock Treatment) was joined for a set of Ulster rock classics by Norman Boyd (guitar, Stonefish / Protext), Billy Shovel (guitar, Ghost of An American Airman), the one and only Ali MacKenzie (bass, Bush Turkeys / everyone) and the Legendary Petesy Burns (drums, Stalag 17 / Outcasts / ARSE). At very short notice, Warehouse legend Cormac O’Kane (New Brontes, now running RED BOX RECORDINGS, Belfast) filmed the show on two cameras, with ambient sound. Enjoy!

1. Heart of Stone (Peacefrog, 1994) 2. Broken Land (The Adventures, 1989) 3. Belfast (Energy » Continue Reading.

93 minutes, 20 acts – Belfast rock, folk, soul and country in 1995

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Play this in the background, AW friends – a 93-minute rollercoaster of musical superbity from mid-90s Belfast. Read the story below if you wish, but don’t feel obliged…

‘Alive in Belfast: The Warehouse Sessions’ (2CD) was recorded on a wing and a prayer over four nights in April 1995, and released locally in a run of 1,000 a couple of months later. CDs were new and the ability to self-release them was just catching on. It was, at that time, a much more expensive prospect than it is even now. I recall using a pressing place in Dublin, Trend, that seemed very swanky. It required hard cash (or a banker’s draft) up front. These days, you phone a broker up and they outsource it to somewhere in Eastern Europe and you’ll still get change out of a grand, which you’ll have paid by credit card, probably 30 days later.

The whole project cost over £8,000 – 16-track recording and mixing, photography, design, pressing. I wrote extensive booklet notes and had fun with Mark Case designing the booklet. I crossed my fingers that enough people might want to buy a double CD of unsigned local artists – ‘unsigned’ being a meaningful » Continue Reading.

Belfast icons do battle with poetry

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A shower of corporate villains who want to build shiny crap in the middle of Belfast have hired NI actor James Dornan to lend his silky voice to a rather creepy propaganda film claiming ‘We are Tribeka’. The irony that Dornan generally plays manipulative villains must have escaped them.

My friend Conor Shields, who runs a community arts charity in the area they want to bludgeon, has responded with a blisteringly powerful poem of his own. Over 30,000 FB views in 24 hours.

It seems we are NOT Tribeka – or Chewbacca or Buildcrappa or anything else. Presumptuous scumbags.

Here is Dornan’s video, with Conor’s in the comments.

Belfast blues

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Regular Afterworders will have heard me talking about Ballyclare bluesman Lonesome Chris Todd and his band the Hardchargers before. I’ve said it before but interest declared again: I’ve been helping Chris over the past year or so – and currently – towards a debut album (released last month) and furthering his performing opportunities outside of Ireland. I won’t benefit financially from any of this stuff – just an enthusiast for an artist wielding some contacts and loaning a bit of no-interest cash if needed. So, less a PR thread than an AW regular sharing one of his adventures…

Here’s the latest plank in creating that platform, the first of three live clips professionally filmed, by director Paul and his sidekick Jeff, at a show at Belfast’s Empire Bar on December 29th. Like most good things in rock’n’roll it was stitched together at an hour close to 11… or maybe 12…

We’d been introduced to Paul by NI film-making legend Michael Beattie. Paul was up for it – a plan to film three good quality live clips at the Empire show, to help get the message to overseas agents and promoters – in good time but reckoned, from costly past experience, » Continue Reading.

Bap Kennedy

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Really sad news that Bap passed away today.

His tremendous musical talent had a profound effect on me in the late ’80s, and I have treasured his songs ever since.

His new album is due for release later this month on Lonely Street Records, and is available from his website.

A top man. His family deserve to be proud of him.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/belfast-singer-bap-kennedy-passes-away-aged-54-35180767.html