Friday night, beloved punk rock legends Stiff Little Fingers came to town to headline a show at the Metro. This current tour is billed as the band’s final tour and they announced that beyond this, they’ll only play occasional one-off festival dates. They packed the place full of fans from multiple generations, including some that flew in from overseas just for the show, eager to see these legends for probably the last time.
First up was Ricky Warwick. This solo act featured Ricky and his accoustic guitar playing some very entertaining pub rock. You could imagine him also opening for The Pogues, or headlining an Irish Pub and drawing a loyal crowd. He played a handful of songs and had a raspy vocal delivery. Most of the songs were his original compositions but he also did a Thin Lizzy cover that came across really well. The crowd seemed to like him too as they were filling up on beers waiting for Stiff Little Fingers.
Stiff Little Fingers took the stage to an entrance theme and picked up their instruments and got right to work blasting out the hits, in fact they opened with their best song, “Suspect Device”! When a band starts out with what arguably is their greatest song, you know you’re probably in for a treat and they sure were this night. The band played a really balanced set of old favorites, a few more obscure tracks and even a new song, “Hate Has No Home”, which proved that despite the fact they won’t be touring anymore, the band still has fuel left in the tank when it comes to writing great songs.
In between songs, Jake Burns would often tell stories about the song, or make some small talk about the past, or the irony of 1000 punk rockers singing along to a love ballad, and every story he told was personable and entertaining. The band sounded as good as ever, and it was evident they they rehearsed and made sure that their final tour was going to be one of their strongest in terms of performances. Classics like “Tin Soldiers”, “Wasted Life” and “Gotta Getaway” sounded amazing, but so did songs from less popular albums like “Get A Life”. The crowd was singing along and dancing the entire set.
The band put in a rock solid 75 minute set before leaving the stage for a few minutes, only to return for a two song encore comprised of “Barbed Wire” and “Alternative Ulster”. When they finished, the band grouped together at the center of the stage, put their arms around each other and took a well deserved bow before thanking the crowd and leaving the stage. It was a stellar performance that anyone should be kicking themselves for missing. Talk about going out on a high note!
