I was sure to get off of work when I discovered that Blood or Whiskey were playing in my city....Unfortunately, it was out of the hands of the bands playing this show, for which day the show would take place, and that's why the results was a very low turn out (because the show began at 7 PM and on a Tuesday night); for one of the most legendary and kick arse Irish Punk bands in history, the glorious Blood or Whiskey, "Irish punk without all the plastic paddy posing", as one fan called their great music, and when I saw the lads walk into the club I didn't waste anytime telling them how much of a fan I was ...I hung out with the band's new bassist, Ronan, before the show as he told me a liitle about their U.S. Tour, and later briefly talked to accordion player Sean Fallon, banjo player Peter Townsend, and lead singer and guitarist Dugs Mullooly (who wore a cool jacket emblazoned with the proud Basque seperatist flag), before they took the stage with the punk rock ferocity of Joe Strummer meets Shane Mac Gowan...
But before I further discuss the performance of Blood or Whiskey, I wanted to briefly comment on the band from Staten Island who opened up the night, The Blame, with loud and boisterous Punkrock tunes with heavy Rockabilly and Hardcore influence, like "New GeneratIon" , "I'm Not Listening", "Second Chances", "Can't Find A Reason", NYC", "Yesterday, Today", and "Streets of New York", all really good songs with a strong spirit, Johnny C on second guitar and Phil Cadaver on lead vocals and guitar deliver a powerful sonic bombast, channelling all their working class rage into some really amped up and unforgettable music. My only bone of contention is that, even though Johnny C gave me two free CDs to promote on Radio Rebel Gael, none of their tunes are convertible to MP3 format, so I have not been successful with adding them to the Radio Rebel Gael playlist, and after repeated emails to the band (asking if they can send some mp3s to me), being ignored, as a result, it looks like The Blame won't be on the Radio Rebel Gael playlist any time soon.
Finally after some delay and a disappointing turn out, Blood or Whiskey, Dublin's best Punk band, stormed the stage....Playing "La La La" from their debut self-titled album,as well as "Wack the Widdle", "Galway Town", "Keep The Baby", "Drunken Priest of Dingle", "New
Banjo Thing", and "Breaking Through", "Sober Again", "Never Be Me", "Your Majesty", "Submission in Portarlington", "Rudy" and "Sometimes" from their second album "No Time To Explain", and three great covers of the traditional Irish folk songs "King of the
Faeries", "Mero" and "Follow Me Up To Carlow", from their debut and "No Time To Explain" albums, as well many great tunes from "Cashed Out On Culture", like "No Answers", "Poxy Pub", "Glory O", "Jar'd for Life", and "They Say No!"....Along with the strong performance of lead man Dugs, the band really soars high above the run of the mill, with the powerful banjo playing of 7 feet high Peter Townsend and new bassist, Ronan, who isn't just a great bassist but also a really cool dude and down to earth, lacking any pretention or "rock star attitude".
But before I further discuss the performance of Blood or Whiskey, I wanted to briefly comment on the band from Staten Island who opened up the night, The Blame, with loud and boisterous Punkrock tunes with heavy Rockabilly and Hardcore influence, like "New GeneratIon" , "I'm Not Listening", "Second Chances", "Can't Find A Reason", NYC", "Yesterday, Today", and "Streets of New York", all really good songs with a strong spirit, Johnny C on second guitar and Phil Cadaver on lead vocals and guitar deliver a powerful sonic bombast, channelling all their working class rage into some really amped up and unforgettable music. My only bone of contention is that, even though Johnny C gave me two free CDs to promote on Radio Rebel Gael, none of their tunes are convertible to MP3 format, so I have not been successful with adding them to the Radio Rebel Gael playlist, and after repeated emails to the band (asking if they can send some mp3s to me), being ignored, as a result, it looks like The Blame won't be on the Radio Rebel Gael playlist any time soon.
Finally after some delay and a disappointing turn out, Blood or Whiskey, Dublin's best Punk band, stormed the stage....Playing "La La La" from their debut self-titled album,as well as "Wack the Widdle", "Galway Town", "Keep The Baby", "Drunken Priest of Dingle", "New
Banjo Thing", and "Breaking Through", "Sober Again", "Never Be Me", "Your Majesty", "Submission in Portarlington", "Rudy" and "Sometimes" from their second album "No Time To Explain", and three great covers of the traditional Irish folk songs "King of the
Faeries", "Mero" and "Follow Me Up To Carlow", from their debut and "No Time To Explain" albums, as well many great tunes from "Cashed Out On Culture", like "No Answers", "Poxy Pub", "Glory O", "Jar'd for Life", and "They Say No!"....Along with the strong performance of lead man Dugs, the band really soars high above the run of the mill, with the powerful banjo playing of 7 feet high Peter Townsend and new bassist, Ronan, who isn't just a great bassist but also a really cool dude and down to earth, lacking any pretention or "rock star attitude". 
Afterwards, Los Angeles Punk Hardcore band, Time Again hit the stage and played a good mix of old school sounding tunes, reminiscent of Youth Brigade or older 7 Seconds....
Next, another Los Angeles band, The Briggs, concluded the night with some great punk rock rhythm, that was much older school and not hardcore like Time Again, sounding more like a band in a class of their own, with a good and unique rhythm reminsicent of The Ramones, The Adicts, early Clash and maybe even a little bit of Johnny Thunders meets Elvis Costello....Playing tunes from their "Back To The Higher Ground" debut album, like "Everyone's An Actor", "Wasting Time", "Song of Babylon", "My Own Enemy" and the title track, "Back To Higher Ground", I really thought they were one of the best purely Punk bands that I have heard for some years, with a driving infectious sound that keeps you moving, pogoing your toes off, or slam dancing your arse off. Lead by brothers Jason and Joey Larocca, I predict that this Los Angeles band will become legend if they continue on this unadulterated Punk rock path...Joey Larocca, the lead singer and guitarist is a really cool guy as well, with a good sense of humour, I confess that I was a wee bit plastered when I talked to him, and he was, regardless of my slurred ramblings, a down to earth non-pretentious dude with a cool atttude and not another Blink 182/Green Day plastic pop punk product.....
Check them out at :
http://www.thebriggs.org/
Rory Dubhdara, Radio Rebel Gael
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