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STIFF LITTLE FINGERS w/ Spec. Guest: RICKY WARWICK – The Ventura Theater – Ventura, CA – 5/23/2024

WillG

May 25, 2024

2981

Stiff Little Fingers

The “Hate Has No Home Here” Tour

w/Special Guest: Ricky Warwick

Opening set: Romper

The Majestic Ventura Theater, Ventura, CA – Thursday, May 23rd, 2024

Review/Pics: Will

It was a Beautiful Belfast affair as Punk legends, Stiff Little Fingers and their friend and Black Star Riders frontman, Ricky Warwick, brought a taste of the Emerald Isle to the Majestic Ventura Theater on Thursday evening.

For this lad who grew up in N. Ireland, the evening was a very welcome blast of “home”. (I can even hear myself slipping back into my “Norn Iron” accent as I’m writing this review).

Ricky Warwick

As jazzed as I was to see the legends that are Stiff Little Fingers, I was equally as excited to see this evening’s special guest, Ricky Warwick, who I have followed since his days with his band, The Almighty. I unfortunately never got to see him with that band, but I did catch him back in 2002 opening up for Def Leppard at the Universal Amphitheater. Like that evening, he was again performing, solo and acoustic.

I’ve seen Ricky perform on several occasions since then at local Jams, The Ride for Ronnie events as well as with his band, Black Star Riders. And with a band or without, Ricky is a ball of energy and puts on one hell of a show. His opening line “I’m Ricky Warwick. I’m from Belfast, Northern Ireland and thank you for having me in your country” brought a huge smile to my face.

If you’ve met anyone from N. Ireland, you’ll know they’re great storytellers and Ricky is no exception. He mentioned the Belfast shipyards where the Titanic was built and how the workers used to bring “Brown Lemonade” (an Irish staple) back from their wet lunches as a decoy from the whisky that was actually being consumed. With that he launched into “The Whisky Song” otherwise known as “Fucking Whisky“.

He also talked about how he got his love of music from his dad, who would play Patsy Cline and Guy Williams songs. It led to Ricky searching for artists like Johnny Cash and the Clash and eventually at 13 years old getting to see his first gig in Belfast… None other than Stiff Little Fingers.

(Coincidentally, my first gig was also at 13 years old in N.Ireland: Dio w/ Queensryche)

For tonight’s show, Ricky showcased a number of songs from his different bands (although NOTHING from The Almighty). We had several solo songs, “The Arms Of Belfast Town“, “Fighting Heart“, “Schwaben Redoubt“; a selection of Black Star Riders’ tunes including “The Killer Instinct“, “Bound For Glory” and an audience participation clap along for “Kingdom Of The Lost“. He also threw in a couple covers kicking of (of course) with Thin Lizzy’s “Jailbreak” and his show closer, “Ace Of Spades”. What started out as a relatively mellow audience, concluded with an engaged, singing mass as Ricky commanded everyone’s attention and brought his set home.

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Stiff Little Fingers

Born out of the rubble and fiery ashes of “The Troubles” in 1977, Stiff Little Fingers (who started out as a rock band called “Highway Star”) channeled all that rage, angst, anger and talent into Belfast’s first punk powerhouse band.

SLF didn’t give a shit if you were Protestant or Catholic; they wrote about the times and their experiences. That legacy endeared them equally to the people that lived up The Shankill or down The Falls.

What Stiff Little Fingers are touting as their final U.S. Coast to Coast Tour was an absolute must for me to see. Having the opportunity to actually shoot this show for WillToRock was icing on the proverbial cake.

Much like Ricky did when he walked out, SLF frontman, Jake Burns saw that I was the only photographer covering the Ventura show and gave me a nod and a wink as he took his place front and center. Without much ado, the band ripped into one of their biggest hits, “Suspect Device“.

The band these days consists of original members, Jake Burns (guitar/vocals) and Ali McMordie (bass). They’re accompanied by long time members, Ian McCallum (guitar) and Steve Grantley (drums) who have been part of SLF since 1993 and 1996 respectively.

For the next hour and 15 mins, the band packed in as much of their musical history as time would allow. It wasn’t long before fists were raised and a slamming swirl started circling around in the pit.

Before “Fly The Flag” Jake mentioned that the song was written 43 years ago and then added, “you’re probably gonna hear me say that a lot tonight”.

They played all the best from their catalog including “Roots, Radicals, Rockers and Reggae“, “Silver Lining“, “Nobody’s Hero“, “Wasted” Life“…Each song intro producing a louder cheer from the crowd.

As mentioned before, the people from N. Ireland know how to tell a story. Jake talked about growing up in Belfast where most bands wouldn’t tour out of either fear or due to insurance issues. One band they admired had a gig scheduled at the Ulster Hall and while everyone was there waiting to get in, they got word the gig had been canceled. “So we did what they do in Belfast, we rioted. Although it wasn’t much of a riot”. He remembered one of the members of the band coming out to calm the crowd down and promised they’d get things sorted and come back soon. They all thought “yeah, right”. However, “true to their word” that band did come back. “That made me respect that man and taught me that even if you’re a person in a well known band, to remain down to earth. That man was Joe Strummer and this song is for him wherever he is” as the band launched into “Strummerville” (Crowd… goes… wild).

Jake also talked about always adding a reggae song to their albums. One of the bands they were friends with (as well as labelmates) made the mistake of playing one of their songs for them before it was released. Jake said they found out when the record was going to be released and made sure to record it and release it before that band did. That song was “Doesn’t Make It Alright” and that band was “The Specials“. That’s some pure Northern Irish cheek.

The band finished their set by not allowing the crowd a moment of calm. Their final four songs were “Tin Soldiers“, “Gotta Gettaway” and the encore of “Barbed Wire Love” complete with crowd accompanied “Doo Waps” and of course their greatest hit and show closer, “Alternative Ulster“

I’m far from a punk aficionado, but I know a great band when I hear them and I know that SLF are legends. I can now say I’ve seen (And shot) Stiff Little Fingers and will tout that as a badge of honor everytime I venture “back home”

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Romper

Romper are a local, 4 piece band from Oxnard consisting of Karina Lopez, vocals, Vivian Pondella, guitar/background vocals, Christina Adame, drums and Maxine Lemuz, bass.

I wasn’t aware that another band was on the bill, but was excited to hear these 4 punk rock ladies rip up the Ventura Theater. They brought a lot of the people standing around the bar up to the front with their raucous raw sound and energy.