October 8 was a day I had been looking forward to for months. Not only was Stiff Little Fingers headlining the Showbox, but the Avengers were opening. This was a show not to be missed by any punk rock fan.
Stiff Little Fingers opened their show with my favorite song, “Roots, Radicals, Rockers & Reggae.”
These lyrics…
You got to pass the bowl and make the food go round
Cos that’s the only way to trample crime to the ground, Equal rights and justice for one and all,
Cos only through liberty freedom shall form. Don’t fight against no colour class or creed.
For on discrimination does violence breed,
…ring as true now as they did nearly four decades ago when the song first hit the airwaves.
Hailing from Belfast, SLF was on tour celebrating 40 years as a band and playing their first album in its entirety. Front man Jake Burns (vocals, guitar) talked about how the Clash were the band’s biggest influence and this led into their tribute song to the late great Joe Strummer, Strummerville. He also spoke of his bouts of depression and encouraged everyone who suffered from depression to reach out and talk about it. This brought raucous cheers from the crowd.
Although there was a decent sized crowd, the show was not a sell-out. I’d guess the club was about two-thirds full. Still, those in attendance were very enthusiastic and there was actually one lone crowd surfer during Alternative Ulster. SLF songs mostly cover the subjects of anti- violence, anti-racsism and anti-war and that’s what punk rock is all about. The remaining members of Stiff Little Fingers are Ali McMordie on bass, Steve Grantley on drums, and Ian McCallum on guitar. It was an absolute pleasure seeing SLF again.
As mentioned the Avengers opened the show. Led by the very charismatic Penelope Houston, this Bay Area punk band has also been around for four decades. Despite the tour being well under way, Penelope’s voice was in top form. Her voice is both gutsy and succulent. This is backed by some wild slamming and powerful, grinding power cords. Toward the end of their set they performed a great version of the Stones’ Paint It Black, which was followed by their very powerful The Amerikan In Me. With the lyrics, ask not what you can do for your country
What’s your country been doing to you? Ask not what you can do for your country, What’s your country been doing to you, kept with the aforementioned punk rock ethos.
When the night was over and the dust settled, there was nothing else to do but stream the long line of sweaty bodies out the door. Another night of punk rock went down in Seattle.
– All photos property of Holly Homan, all rights reserved.
