THE STIFF OF LEGENDS
Stiff Little Fingers are back for their annual St Patrick’s Day shindigs – and their music is more relevant than ever
NO St Patrick’s Day would be complete without wearing green, drinking Guinness and seeing Still Little Fingers at the Glasgow Barrowland.
The punk survivors have hosted their annual gig at the city’s famous ballroom for three decades.
Next weekend will be their 28th year playing the Barras on Paddy’s Day and as well as performing on the Sunday, they’ll also play the Saturday, creating an unmissable St Patrick’s Day weekend.
Singer Jake Burns, 61, said: “This is our 28th year which isn’t bad considering we only got the gig by accident.
“The Pogues had been doing it for years but in 1991, they couldn’t make it and we got a last-minute phone call asking if we’d step in, which we did and from then on, it’s been ours.”
Belfast-born Jake is speaking from his home in Chicago. He has been the frontman of the politically-charged punk group since he was 19.
And he’ll be playing the Barras on St Patrick’s Day for as long as SLF are going.
He said: “After doing it for a few years, Mark from Regular Music said he’d be holding it every St Patrick’s Day until 2000 and we just laughed at him.
“And here we are. He was right and we were wrong.
“I think we’ll always be doing the gig. We’ve been offered other shows but it’s the one day of the year if you’re an Irish band you’re actually turning work down.”
A second show was added for the Saturday due to phenomenal demand in the last couple of years. It sold out first.
“You can’t pass up a Saturday night in Glasgow,” said Jake. Free T-shirts have even been given to those who bought tickets for both nights.
So what is it about Glasgow that loves SLF so much?
Jake said: “We first played Glasgow in 1978 opening for the Tom Robinson Band at the old Apollo.
“We were really looking forward to it but also dreading it because we all knew that if a Glaswegian crowd like you, they really like you but if they don’t, you’re dead.
“So we played and got an encore and there was this huge wave of want from the audience and it’s never changed.
“We clicked. There’s always been a very special connection between the band and the people of Glasgow. Something we are hugely grateful for.”
This year is another milestone year – it’s the 40th anniversary of the group’s debut Inflammable Material, which includes classics Alternative Ulster, Barbed Wire Love, Suspect Device and their cover of Bob Marley’s Johnny Was.
It’s the voice of young men dealing with The Troubles.
Like Sex Pistols, Clash and The Damned, Stiff Little Fingers have become immortal and the first album especially stands shoulder to shoulder with the ground zero punk bands.
Jake said: “We started because
we wanted to hear that music played live and the bands weren’t coming to Northern Ireland.
“We thought we’d get six months out of it. But to find not just ourselves but The Damned, The Stranglers and, I was going to say the Buzzcocks, still playing is a testimony to the songs we wrote. It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.”
Pete Shelley, the lead singer of Buzzcocks, died in December, aged 63. Buzzcocks had supported SLF at the Irish group’s Belfast homecoming shows in May last year.
Jake said: “Because it was such a big deal for us, I went round to thank the other bands.
“I only spoke to Steve (Diggle) because Pete had already gone to the hotel but I thought, ‘Never mind. I’ll say thank you the next time I see him.’” No longer the stick-thin punk of his youth, Pete’s death led Jake’s wife to tell him: “That’s it, you’re going on a diet.”
The current SLF line-up includes original bassist Ali McMordie, who has been back since 2006 after The Jam’s Bruce Foxton quit.
They are joined by Ian McCallum on guitar and drummer Steve Grantley.
Jake’s songs are incredibly relevant to the current mess of Brexit and the Irish backstop with a return of The Troubles a fear in many minds. Jake said: “It’s disheartening that these songs are still pertinent.
“I’d have hoped they would nowadays be remembered like it was the bad old days but people say it’s like that now.”
At least next weekend, fans will be able to stick a stiff little finger to the outside world.
● Stiff Little Fingers play Glasgow Barrowland on March 16 and 17. The Albums 19911997 is out now.