More Anti Stuff

As I’ve mentioned before-the Anti exhibition is now up and running and I thought it might be nice to publish the piece I wrote for the Therapy? section, so here goes.

Therapy?

“I was 13 when Therapy? first burst onto the mainstream boasting short sharp shocks for the masses. The year was 1993 and at that point in history cock rock was still very much in vogue, but these three short haired blokes from mid-Ulster bucked all conventions with glee, irrevocably snaring millions of jaded metalheads under their spell in an instant. While their peers pranced and preened during their endless guitar solos (snore), Therapy? gave us three minute slices of lunacy served up with a side order of perverted punk rock bravado. Needless to say, I was in love the first moment I heard the opening chords of ‘Opal Mantra.’

While I found the skewed guitar solos and oddly named tracks jarring at first, I knew that this was where the future of rock music lay and I wanted in on it too. So, ever the comic fanboy, I sold old copies of Thor, Captain America and others, bought a busted up bass and amp and formed a band in a bid to ape their sinister, but utterly perfect pop songs. I wasn’t the only one either. You see Therapy? gave hope to a generation of NI musicians that it can be done. You really can boot down the doors of convention and “make it” on your own terms. Best of all, the boys (Andy Cairns, Michael McKeegan and Fyfe Ewing) actually cared about homegrown acts too and took the likes of Joyrider and Ash under their wing, giving them their first crack at fame and helped kick-start a resurgence in local music not seen since the seventies.

These days I firmly believe that without Therapy? leading the charge in the early nineties, NI’s music scene would be a very different place indeed. Perhaps what is most exciting is that they’re still continuing to kick ass and take names to this very day, making some of the best music of their career. A few years ago I got the band’s mirrored question marks from their ‘Infernal Love’ album tattooed on my arm and it’s a permanent reminder that regardless of what the cynics say-music can really change your life forever. Twenty years on and the Church of Noise’s sermons are as loud and proud as they ever were and I for one wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Edwin McFee is a music journalist and writes for NME, Hot Press and AU.   

Girls Girls Girls

I fucking love Girls Aloud. A few weeks ago I was charged with the task of defending them in the Telegraph ahead of their gig at the Odyssey and here’s a reprint.

In Defense of Girls Aloud

I first fell for the all too obvious charms of Girls Aloud back in ’02. At the time, the band were formed right before my eyes by way of Pop Stars: the Rivals and, much to the chagrin of train-loving cheesy song merchant Pete Waterman, his boyband One True Voice never stood a chance when Louis Walsh’s five-piece (Kimberly, Nadine, Nicola, Sarah and Cheryl) belted out ‘Sound of the Underground’ for the very first time.

 Now I know what you’re thinking. You’re already assuming that my affection for the feisty pop band lies in a deep rooted (steady on!) appreciation for their gravity defying mini-skirts and pins that Bettie Page herself would have been proud, but you’re wrong. You see while admittedly the charms of Kimberly et al is as obvious as a high-waisted trouser joke round Simon Cowell’s gaff, it’s the band’s unique sound that gets this writer all hot and bothered.

 Up until Girls Aloud, commercial bands were a boring breed. Seemingly content with churning out covers of Bee Gees songs (courtesy of Stock, Aiken and Waterman) these translucent pop idols never put much thought into their music and were more concerned with pulling a cheeky pose for Smash Hits magazine and telling pre-pubescent girls they “love animals and stuff” than singing a song that make people want to dance. Girls Aloud changed all that. From their very first single, the quintet hit the ground running and ‘Sound of the Underground’ shocked everyone with its fusion of drum and bass, surf guitar and lyrics that made very little sense (but sounded oh so right).

Thanks to their writer/producer Xenomania, the band had a style all of their own and over the last decade they’ve rewritten the rule book on what you can and cannot do on a pop record. It also helps that four of the girls have really distinctive voices (sorry Sarah) and can take lyrics like “Baby, I miss you, so tell me, is she really that beautiful?” on ‘Whole Lotta History’ and sing them so passionately it would make Mr T break down in tears and blub like a baby.

And while the girls themselves have little in the way of musical training (bar childhood singing lessons and hands on experience performing throughout their youth) their keen ear for a tune has aided them in choosing some pretty stellar singles in the past and the final decision of which tracks they actually sing rests of their heads, proving they’re not merely songbirds for sale. Begrudgers may mock the idea of them working with a producer and giving little input into the actual songwriting process, but considering some of the best pop bands in the world had a similar sven gali behind them (the Supremes, the Shangri-Las, the Ronettes etc) I genuinely don’t care where the songs come from-just as long as they’re good.

I often find when I tell people of my love for Girls Aloud’s songs they look at me like I’m that dude who worked at the chicken factory on the X Factor. For some reason, there are a fraction of people who think it’s uncool to listen to hook-laden harmonies and inventive song structures simply because the teeny boppers like them too. Well it’s their loss, because Girls Aloud have been making some of the most exciting music in the last few years, splicing genres, experimenting with styles and generally never putting a Jimmy Choo clad foot wrong. So, ladies and gentlemen, I can unequivocally state with pride that I’ve been a Girls Aloud fan from day one and if you can’t hear the sheer genius of tracks like ‘the Promise,’ ‘Love Machine,’ ‘Something Kinda Ooooh’ and ‘Call the Shots,’ well then that’s your loss. You should probably go and share your feelings with Pete Waterman. I hear he has a lot of time on his hands too…

 Edwin McFee

Flight 666

Today I am a very excited young man. You see after a year of waiting, I’m finally going to watch the Iron Maiden film-Flight 666-in the cinema. I never thought I’d get to see my favourite band on the big screen and I really can’t fucking wait. To put my excitement into perspective-I’ve been a  Maiden fanatic since I was 8 (Daddy Christmas gave me a copy of ‘Live After Death’ that year) no matter how bad tempered I get, ‘Flight Of  Icarus’ always cheers me up, I’ve a Maiden tattoo (and I’m getting an Eddie on my leg this summer) and they’re a band who have never let me down in the last 21years I’ve been following them. One day I hope to have an Iron Maiden room in my house for all the tshirts/LPs/toys/posters I’ve got  and interviewing Bruce Dickinson, Paul Di’Anno and Blaze Bayley have been some of the proudest moments of my life.

If you’re heading to see Flight 666 tonight too then I hope you enjoy it as much as I will. Happy Maiden Day y’all.  Up the Irons.

Eagles of Death Metal

Last week I was faced with a dilema. Either take my Ma to see superstar medium/modern day Merlin Derek Acorah in the Waterfront, or go and cover the Eagles of Death Metal in the Mandela Hall. It was a simple enough choice (my Ma is hard as nails) but thanks to a dodgy bass amp, I ended up seeing both shows. Below is a review of the gig from this week’s Hot Press.

Eagles of Death Metal at the Mandela Hall, Belfast

To my right hand side there is a gaggle of guys walking around wearing fake moustaches and aviator shades. To my left there are a group of people clad in AC/DC t-shirts who are frankly old enough to know better and in front of me is one of the best good time rock ‘n’ roll bands on the planet-the Eagles of Death Metal. Tonight is their first ever visit to Belfast, and despite a few technical hiccups, Jesse “Boots Electric” Hughes and his team of misfits are bringing out the big guns with ‘I Only Want You,’ which prompts the ‘tache-wearing tunesmith to tell us “If rock crowds were canons then you just blew England outta the water baby!”

Jesse has every reason to boast a shit eating grin at the moment. Not only has his inaugural Belfast gig been upgraded to the much more roomier Mandela Hall, there are kids swinging from the rafters, sweat is literally dripping from the walls and the females in the crowd are all over him like Vanessa Feltz on a Mars Bar. As the band blaze through a set cherry picking the best of all three records (Peace, Love, Death Metal, Death By Sexy and new one Heart On) we get the feeling that if Jesse stopped slabbering inbetween every song then this would be the show of the year.

Still, ‘Bad Dream Momma,’ ‘Don’t Speak (I Came To Make A Bang)’ and ‘I Gotta Feeling (Just Nineteen)’ are pretty much perfect rock ‘n’ roll songs so we’ll forgive his over excitement. At one point during the night, Jesse’s almost smothered by a random pair of tights thrown by an amorous fan and as he holds up the hosiery along with more than a few bras he quips “I wanna thank y’all for the undergarments. I didn’t know they’d be in my size as well.”

You’d have to be a particularly picky punter not to raise a smile at an Eagles of Death Metal gig. Not only have they got the tunes (‘Cherry Cola’ and ‘I Want You So Hard’ nearly raise the roof off of the venue) but Boots Electric himself is as a fun as a week at the funfair. Next time though, we’d like to hear more of the songs and less of the chat.

Edwin McFee

The new issue of Hot Press is out now, so go check it out.

Mr Lonely

In this job I get to do all sorts. Because I don’t work for any one publication I can find myself interviewing everyone from the Pussycat Dolls to Cliff Richard to Blaze Bayley to more general lifestyle features. I have to say I prefer it that way. Man cannot live by punk rock alone afterall. Where am I going with this? Well, last month I found myself covering Akon and Coolio for Hot Press. It was….interesting.

Akon and Coolio at the Odyssey, Belfast

Picture the scene, if you will. The Odyssey is two thirds full, this writer is sitting in an area which reeks of Clearasil, B.O. and Tayto crisps and Celebrity Big Brother reject Coolio is shouting about “bitches” and “ho’s” for no apparent reason. It’s all well and good telling the crowd “this is how the gangsters do it,” but in Belfast it takes on another meaning entirely.

            For the next half an hour Coolio proves to us all without a shadow of a doubt that ‘Gangsters Paradise’ (which tonight sounds about as dangerous as an episode of Heartbeat ) will forever mark him down in history as a one hit wonder. His vocals on ‘I’ll See You When You Get There’ is about as tuneful as karaoke night at Helen Keller’s house and at one point when we see a member of Coolio’s “homies” literally struggle for five minutes trying to take his vest off, we realise that this could possibly be the worst gig in the world.

            Still, there’s always Akon to look forward to, but before the diminutive Senegalese-born song-writer comes onstage we get a short set from his transvestite DJ pal Benny D (OK, so he was wearing a kilt…). Quite frankly, Benny’s beats are wasted on the crowd, but when the headline act finally does meet his public it’s to a thunderous reception. It’s clear that Belfast loves Akon and during ‘Locked Up’ one formerly hard as nails bloke is reduced to screaming “I love you” every five minutes. It’s a sight to behold alright, but it’s quite sweet in a way. Unfortunately the same can’t be said when the rapper urged “All my Catholics in the crowd, get your x’s up” as you could hear a pin drop from the back of the venue.

            Sadly, while this writer considers himself a fan of Akon (particularly his work with Gwen Stefani and more recently Lady GaGa) tonight’s set is criminally bad. For some reason he decides to perform shortened versions of songs such as ‘I Wanna Love You’ and ‘Right Now (Na Na Na)’ and the production is, shall we say, somewhat lacking. For such a large arena, it’s a shame to see the star performing in total darkness, but that was probably a conscious decision to spare the star’s blushes at a criminally under-populated venue

            Even the ace ‘Put The Blame On Me’ sounds flat tonight and if Akon wants to become a true modern day legend he really needs to work on his live show. Still, what do I know? The knackers beside me loved every minute, but considering they also look like they love their own sisters too, we’ll take that verdict with a pinch of salt.

 

Edwin McFee

The new issue of Hot Press is out now by the way homies. It has an interview with Morrissey. http://www.hotpress.com/news/5319968.html

How’s Your Pauline?

On Sunday night I ended up going to see the Mighty Boosh at the Odyssey. About this time last year I wrote that “The Mighty Boosh has not only jumped the shark,it’s made it into an Olympic event” so I was a bit wary of what was on offer.

Now don’t get me wrong. I loved the first series.I loved the zoo, the stupid jokes and all the rest, it’s just that after that it’s gone nowhere.Needless to say all the “wacky” students were there dressed up as various characters and muggins here ended up sitting behind some tool in a white cowboy hat and his female chum who made the Joker’s laugh seem sane. Fun, fun,fun….

He’s Just A Sexy Boy

Well after slabbering in my blog yesterday about always hoping Shawn Michaels would turn up in Belfast but never does, he only bloody made an appearence last night!

JBL came out and had his usual “America’s great” promo and mentioned kicking Michael’s ass.I was trying not to get my hopes up but once his music hit I was well chuffed. I even did a wee dance as he made his way to the ring. The da’s in the crowd were amused.

Needless to say I was as happy as a dog with two Mickeys. All in all it was a brilliant night. Batista led a tribute to Eddie Guererro (he died three years ago to the day) and they played his music. Got to see Santino too but sadly he wasn’t playing a heel which kinda sucked.