Stiff Little Fingers

The Brook, Southampton

Northern Irish punk idols Stiff Little Fingers return to Southampton’s Brook as part of their annual UK Tour and tonight the venue is completely full with an expectant crowd who by the feel of the atmosphere are all in for a great night. Tonight disappointingly there is no support band and the bar staff do their best to keep up with demand from the impatient punters who are all after a pre-gig drink. It is Friday night after all.

At 9pm the intro music starts and the excited fans all crowd around the high Brook stage, the band arrives to a very warm welcome and you can see by the band’s reaction they are impressed with the initial reaction and large turnout. They launch into ‘Wasted Life’ and the band are almost drowned out by the voices of the audience singing the words right back at the band. Front man Jake Burns despite his years still manages deliver some fine vocals, from new(ish) song ‘Liars Club’ to the classic ‘Barbed Wire Love’ you cannot find fault with the performance. In-between songs we get a bit of Jake’s dry Irish humour with well versed intro stories included news that Stiff Little Fingers are to be inducted into the Northern Irish Rock ‘n’ Roll hall of fame.

Gallery: 1–2–3–4–5

Despite the bands regular touring, the set list is kept fresh with a mixture of classics, covers with even a few rarities thrown in to keep the most avid SLF fan happy. With a nod to the 1st time the band were formed as ‘Highway Star’ they performed a stunning cover of Alice Cooper’s ‘School’s Out’ once again giving the crowd an opportunity for a sing-a-long.

The 90 minute set culminated with the last two songs causing a minor earthquake on Portswood Road with lots of sweaty 40 something blokes including myself jumping up and down to the bands two most famous numbers ‘Suspect Device’ and the awesome ‘Alternative Ulster’ which gets the biggest cheer of the night, the band leave the stage with their adoring fans calling for more. After the amazing atmosphere from this near sell out crowd I am sure the band will return once again in March to delight their ever growing audience.

Set-List
Intro:
Wasted Life
Just Fade Away
Nobody’s Hero
Silver Lining
Fly The Flag
Liar’s Club
Back To Front
Barded Wire Love
Harp
At The Edge
That Doesn’t Make It Alright
Love of The Common People
Wait & See
Strummerville
Straw Dogs
Roots Radicals Rockers and Reggae
Tin Soldiers
School’s Out(Alice Cooper Cover)
Suspect Device
Alternative Ulster