A seated show with acoustic guitars is not what you would normally associate with Punk but then Dead Men Walking are no ordinary band.
Formed as a sort of loose association of musicians with a revolving door where members dip in and out depending on their schedules means that no two tours are the same. Tonight featured an amalgam of true Punk royalty from Stiff Little Fingers (Jake Burns), The Ruts (David Ruffy and John ‘Segs’ Jennings) and Spear Of Destiny/Theatre of Hate (Kirk Brandon). This promised to be one memorable evening.
A memorable evening it most certainly was. Drawing on their combined rich catalogues of iconic songs then drastically stripping them back to their raw components and reimagining them in an acoustic form turned snarling Punk venom into beautifully constructed, almost Folk-like songs with “Nobody’s Hero”, “Radio Radio,” and “Kill The Pain” coming early in the set.
In between the songs there were some stories and with a combined touring history of almost 200 years, there were plenty to tell. Some were sad and spoke of depression or lost friends but others had the crowd in stitches whether from the exploits of throwing a TV out of a ground floor window into a flower bed or out on the booze with Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp, these were seasoned storytellers.
Of course, people were here for the songs and they delivered in spades with “In A Rut,” “Never Take Me Alive” and “Suspect Device” sounding surprisingly robust in the acoustic setting.
The closing trio of “Do You Believe In The Westworld,” an incendiary “Babylon’s Burning” and a biting “Alternative Ulster” had the crowd on their feet and what a way to bring their whole UK tour to a triumphant, climatic end.
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