Touring Bands - The Stranglers

THE STRANGLERS

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THE STRANGLERS IN NORTHERN IRELAND 1977 - 89

Jean-Jacques Burnel (The Stranglers)
“The first impression wasn’t made until we arrived at the Europa Hotel, which was surrounded by a wire fence and there was some kind of checkpoint or hut that we had to go through for security checks before being admitted into the hotel. Did I imagine it or was there really a plaque stating that this was the most bombed hotel in Europe? The next thing that I recollect was that was received some kind of warning from a paramilitary group regarding our security and that of our audience. I suppose that was just some kind of local welcome for those times! Driving through the streets of Belfast one couldn’t help but notice the number of boarded and shuttered buildings. Burnt out houses added to the general feeling of gloom. One other thing I can recall is playing in Coleraine and the support band were called The Undertones. I remember reading a sunsequent review of that gig where the band claimed they had blown us off stage. Well, our star was high by then so I suppose that was par for the course!
Jet reminded me of an incident that took place backstage at our Ulster hall gig. We were having trouble using a corkscrew to open a bottle and one of the minders from Belfast just took hold of it from me and opened it without further ado. Apparently I said something like ‘cor you’ve got powerful fingers’ and he replied ‘it’s all the trigger pulling I do’“.
Quote © It Makes You Want To Spit! Book 2003.
Above Image - The Stranglers live in Belfast - Photograph © Louis McCullagh

The Stranglers - Black And White Becomes.....
Alternative Ulster Fanzine No 8 - Review & Interview 1978.
Stranglers...in Belfast. The queues outside the Ulster Hall are massive but, as at the Rats gig, it’s largely the token weekenders who are out in force once again. Young Fredrick’s father puts down his copy of ‘The Times’ and shrieks “You’re not going out dressed like that are you? What would your mother say” Thus being the background from which many of these real poseurs have apparently emanated from tonight.
7:35pm and inside the hall the steadily growing crowd is seething with anticipation and energy - “We want The Stranglers!” They chant, naively optimistic as the band aren’t due on for another 2 hours, but after waiting over a year for this moment, 120 minutes doesn’t seem much longer to wait ; but most of the fans have burned themselves up before The Stranglers hit the stage.
The support were like a wet cloth smartly smacked round the ears ; drizzly, painful, uninspired - oh dear, I seem to have forgotten their name! You don’t really want to know who they were anyway, now do ya?
The Stranglers bound on to deafening cheers and burst into action. The stage is invaded, three or four times during the set by excited fans. The next day Hugh and Dave both said they didn’t mind “It happens all the time in England. We enjoy it actually, but there comes a stage when there are just too many people on it and it becomes impossible for us to play our instruments”. But even with all the people on stage grabbing a piece of the action, there did seem to be some barrier between band and audience. A barrier which wasn’t really satisfactorily broken down - Black and white becomes grey.
Hugh Cornwell displayed little rapport with the crowd, but then that’s not what The Stranglers are about. It didn’t seem to matter anyway. The music was their means of communication and, believe me, was it hot! All your Stranglers faves perfectly executed and the songs off Black And White surprisingly coming over much stronger than on record. Rather a short set, but 3 encores including ‘5 Minutes’ and ‘Down In The Sewer’. A lot of very numbers left out, but when you’ve got a repertoire as full as The Stranglers, you just can’t play them all....Black and white becomes white.
......And in Portrush. So the show moved on to sunny Portrush on Ulster’s North Coast. We were hoping for some holiday snaps of our heroes down on the beach, but it poured with rain practically all afternoon, so that wuz that!
Inside the New Arcadia Ballroom (without doubt the best gig in the whole province - I hope it stays that way!) The soundcheckin’ Stranglers find more problems with Dave Greenfield’s faulty synthesiser. However they thoughtfully cut their check short in order to give tonight’s support act, Londonderry’s red-hot Undertones a chance to tune up and get themselves sorted out.
A big crown was expected tonight and when the doors of the Arcadia were opened, they poured in like it was a January sale at C & A! It was the first time a show like this has come to the holiday resort of Portrush and the place fairly buzzed with excitement. Soon The Undertones were on stage doing their thing. Incredible is not too strong a word to describe their set on this particular evening. It was only the 3rd time I’d seen ‘Derry’s heroes but, hell, they’ve sounded better and looked more confident each time! The EP I know is great, but it doesn’t really do them justice, though the improved Sire mix sounded much better than the original ; they’ve got stacks more great songs like ‘Mars Bars’, ‘You Won’t Get POP AtThe Casbah Rock’ and the marvellous ‘Get Over You’ (even better than ‘Teenage Kicks’ I think) are great little gems and shows the depth of the ‘Tones song writing abilities. The two are ace tracks off the disc ‘Kicks’ and ‘True Confessions’, with its charming backing vocals, come over tonight as the classics they rightly are and the crowd responds accordingly. A full set of originals all brimming with potential greatness, powerful, catchy, melodic, instantly memorable. This year’s Rock ‘New Roll band in the true sense.
And the guys themselves? Full of character and humour. They used to throw Mars Bars into the crowd when they performed their song of the same name ‘til Feargal got tired of being hit on the back of the head with those hurled by Billy the drummer! Honest! Anyway, let’s see the headliners follow that! Before The Stranglers come on we get more spins on the ‘ole turntables from Ace D.J. Al Uminium who really keeps the whole show flowing and alive.
Soon the lights go down. All is quiet. The locker room boys prowl on and before you can dare say ‘No More Heroes’ they’ve set the place alight. They are the heroes in the eyes of a great many who have turned up to see them. There was a lot of gobbing from the crowd who were promptly told that that practice was 2 years old, and this was 1978 and nice boys didn’t do that anymore etc etc They didn’t stop it though so J.J. Decided to employ his own particular brand of persuasion and half-way through ‘Peaches’ lent into the crowd to hand out some bovva! Surely there are more subtle and less violent ways to deal with gobbers, but since when were The Stranglers nice and subtle; and you just don’t mess with Jean Jacques, black and white becomes black.

The Stranglers in Northern Ireland remembered by Graeme Mullan 2014

A week or so after the 'infamous' cancelled Clash gig at The Ulster Hall in 1977, The Stranglers were also booked to play the same venue, but this concert also fell foul of Belfast City Council who, in their infinite wisdom, deemed this naughty Punk Rock to be a bad influence on the children of the Ward, forthwith banning these evil, sweary and spitty monsters from playing. This leg of the tour however also took in the New University Of Ulster, Coleraine - the students and many punks travelling from across the Province were entertained by the distinctive gnarly bass, psychedelic lead guitar and the swirling baroque keyboards of The Stranglers.

Mickey Bradley (Undertones): "The punk scene where we lived was just us. The Stranglers were the first big band I'd seen apart from Eddie & The Hot Rods the previous year in Belfast. They started with No More Heroes and I remember running to the front of the stage – yes, it was loud!” Following the gig and, for some unknown reason, The Stranglers were given a lifetime ban by the N.U.U. ENTS. Social Secs!!

Pubs And Clubs Tour 1978. The Stranglers were my first 'real' gig - Ulster Hall, Belfast 7th September 1978. The energy and excitement of that performance have remained with me over the years (even though I wasn't part of the stage invasion) everyone in the venue seemed to be as one. Support was provided by Rain - never heard of them before or since and quite frankly I'm not surprised!! They were absolute drivel (IMHO). Not really punk, but seemed to be 'jumping on the bandwagon' and trying to be 'punksters'. As usual, the support act's sound was not the best - but they were an Eddie & the Hot Rods type band. The lead singer was all 'attitoode, maan'.

The gig was a sell-out and The Ulster Hall was packed. I originally had a ticket for the balcony (as previously stated - it was my first ever gig!!) So I was able to look down on the throng - one of the best/fondest memories was watching the whole of the ground floor - the whole hall was pogo-ing en masse, from the front right to the back - it was absolutely amazing!! The crowd were going beserk, a mass of tightly packed, undulating heads - every single one moving to the rhythm. People up in the balcony were trying to get access to the ground floor but were thwarted by the Security - so some were actually jumping from the 20 or so feet to the floor - my memory may be playing tricks, but I always think of this whenever I watch 'Quadrophenia' when Jimmy (Phil Daniels) dives off!! I didn't bother though - funnily enough!!!

The band really got the crowd going - there were very few artists who even bothered to tour Northern Ireland in the good ole/bad ole days!! So anyone that made the effort were shown immense appreciation and everyone just freaked out. Of course it also helped that they were regular occupants of the Top Ten at this stage too. Highlights were obviously the singles at the time - but some of the B&W album was played including 'Nice'n'Sleazy' and that was a real mind-fuck!! Hugh in his long mac and leather choker, thrashing away on his Fender Telecaster - JJ, stage left, biker jacket and Converse baseball boot, thumping away on his beloved Fender Precision - pogoing and karate kicking his way throughout the set. Jet and Dave situated behind - a pounding backbeat and intricate keyboard runs perfectly supplementing the two front men.

I don't think the gig was actually shortened - but the stage was completely full of kids at the end - I seem to recall it was during the encore (but I may be mistaken). You can see the pics in Sean & Guy's book 'It Makes You Want To Spit'. The stage was invaded and the kids were just pogo-ing on around them as the band sang/played on!!

After the gig, as we were leaving, I noticed that all the plaster along the front of the balcony had been punched &/or hit through with holes - everyone (me included) had been banging along with the Strangler beat and wrecked the whole facade - if you have ever seen the decor in The Ulster Hall - it must have cost a small fortune to fix.

Many years later when talking to Joe Donnelly about this gig, he recalled: "Me and a mate had backstage passes and when JJ removed his black string vest , he just threw it on the stage. My mate grabbed it. Afterwards we went backstage and by now he had put the vest on. Walking into the dressing room, JJ immediately spotted it - I've been looking for that. You weren't going to argue with Burnel, so my mate immediately took it off and apologetically handed it back!!" Another memory from Tony Spence: "The first Ulster Hall gig in Sept 1978 was the most unbelieveable experience a 12 year old punk rocker could have ever have. The Stranglers were raw and pure and played as if this was their last ever gig. To see them in the flesh was just amazing. I remember I had a white t shirt to which I stitched on a cut out Stranglers logo from another black tee shirt and with my drainpipe cords and red DM's I thought I looked the absolute bollocks. Probably looked like a nob on reflection but that was the whole point ! I was able to push my way up to the front where I spent the whole time watching JJ cock the leg up and strut around the stage like a snake. He wore a string vest which later came off when he sang Bring On The Nubliles with a German accent "Bring ...on... ze ......nubilez". I remember he punched the air in time to the drums and I was totally convinced he looked me straight in the eye and his expression said "great fucking tee shirt kid". A fantastic night and heart pounding experience that could never be bettered. Then the following month I went to see The Clash ....."

The next night The Stranglers once again were in the North-West, playing a small venue in Portrush - Chester's (New Arcadia). You can read an excellent review of this gig in Robbo's piece (below). The support act this time were The Undertones.

Mickey Bradley: “Supporting The Stranglers in 1978 was one of the highlights of the early Undertones. They were absolutely brilliant to us, and we hadn't even the record out at the time. They delayed the doors opening so that we'd get a decent sound check. We had a great show, went down really well with what was almost a home audience. But then The Stranglers came on and they were brilliant. And of course, best bit of the night was when JJ jumped down off the stage and dealt with someone who was spitting. Cool guy, absolutely.” It was reported at the time that The Undertones boasted of blowing off the headline act at this gig. A fact that made it's way back to The Stranglers. Mickey Bradley: "When the newly reformed Undertones played a recent festival along with The Stranglers, a rather irate JJ cornered me and Damien O'Neill about this statement. Well aware that JJ was a black-belt in karate, obviously had a long memory, and not wanting to anger the man, Damien with a bit off quick thinking said - Oh, that was Sharkey".

The Raven Tour 1979. Earlier this year saw the release of the band's fourth album The Raven and the return of The Stranglers to the Ulster Hall, Belfast on the 4th October. By this stage many fans queuing outside were regaled in the all black garb associated with the band - motorcycle jackets, straight skinner jeans and the obligatory Dr Marten eight hole boots (some with white laces).

Once inside the hall and had visited the Merchandise stall, I was confronted with The Raven backdrop bedecking the rear of the stage - amazing!! Soon the band made their way onstage and I was right at the front - a soon to be regular spot - stage left under Burnel. The crowd were ‘up for it’ and it was hard, not only keeping your place, but also your feet - an ever relentless wave after wave of bodies pushing you tighter to the stage, swaying from left to right as the band played song after song. Before long it was too much and I managed to push my way back a couple of rows and was able from this vantage point to watch the band in full menace mode. Cornwell was wearing the widest pair of trousers I had ever seen as he scratched out the hits on his all black Telecaster. Burnel was, as usual, often hunched over the Precision bass, if not ambling around the stage in that inimitable bastardised duck-walk then karate-kicking as he played. Jet Black and Dave Greenfield were happy maintaining a lower profile at the back - keeping the powerful rhythm and erratic keyboard runs going.

At one stage an over-excited punter clambered up onto the stage in front of JJ and stood proudly, saluting the crowd. Without missing a note, Burnel duly sent him from whence he came, with an accurately placed DM right between his shoulder-blades - receiving a loud cheer from the amused throng. During the set Cornwell removed his Telecaster and donning another bass guitar, the dual bass intro to ‘Dead Loss Angeles’ started up - the kick was hitting you right in the solar plexus as the booming PA blasted out.

All too soon the main set was over and as we awaited the final encore, a red light emanated from the eye of the raven. As it beamed back and forth across the audience, the band re-emerged and the sound of a fog horn burst out from Dave’s synth. Burnel began the bassline to ‘Toiler In The Sea’, Jet’s drumbeat kicked in and Hugh’s intricate guitar solo carried us all off, retracing our steps back to the mother-ship. As the track wound down and Hugh and JJ were doing their twisting, swaying dance, first Hugh unstrapped his guitar, waved to the crowd and exited stage right. Dave flicked a switch on the keyboards and they continued to ‘whoosh’, replicating the sound of waves washing the shore, as he departed. Jet finished his sequence and also left the stage, leaving a cavorting , ambling JJ as he continued with the closing bassline. He crossed the stage, still playing and walking his walk, as he proceeded to make his way up the side stairs and leaving through the stage door at the back of the hall just as the last note was struck. Dave’s keyboards continued to echo the sound of the sea until the house lights went up and the crowd exploded as one to a chorus of cheers and applause. What an end to a concert - AMAZING.

Alastair Kerr: "My first ever gig was The Raven Tour - 4th October 1979 (Ulster Hall) as a young 16 year schoolboy......the rest they say is history." Ben Allen: "At the Ulster Hall they were of course dressed in black, they were covered in spit, it was disgusting, they stopped playing at ask them to stop and then had to stop again as the keyboards were overheating and malfunctioning. My mates met the band on the street and they signed the linings of their coats, later their sisters embroidered over the signatures." Gavin Martin: "Disgusting , some of the most irresponsible and incitefull behaviour I've ever witnessed at a gig. After the jacket was stolen from the stage. Lotta Violence, from what I recall. But then any violence was a lot - is a lot - to a wimp like me. Get a grip etc" J Doyle: "Class venue, when we weren`t blowing it up. And yes, watched the Stranglers explode onto that stage decades ago. Heavy days, heavy rock. All quiet, on the eastern front."

La Folie Tour 1981. I was in attendance at (obviously!!) the Ulster Hall gig in Belfast. This was the third visit to Belfast (or fourth if you include the cancelled gig in '77 - but I don't!!) and my third time seeing The Stranglers. By 1981, I had left the troubled streets of inner-city Belfast to attend University in Coleraine - incidently where The Stranglers first played these shores, the night after the aborted gig in the capital!!

I travelled back home for the gig by train that afternoon, dragging along a couple of MiB virgins and a fellow fan from Scotland (who was also attending the New University of Ulster). As we trundled along the tracks we started delving into our carry-outs and once disembarked at Botanic Station, we headed straight into Robinson's Bar (my favoured pre-gig drinking emporium and a short dander from the venue). Further liquid nourishment was quaffed until it was time to depart gig-ward. It was on the walk around to the gig that I realised I was slightly the worse for wear and was ever so slightly pissed!!

Memories of the gig are very sparse (see above) - I do remember that the La Folie figures were not in attendance, the support were possibly local band Big Self, we stood near the back of the hall (as the two women in our company were wary off all the big bad punk rockers), the set was probably brilliant and I did manage to get a few photos when I ventured away from my chums during the evening.

Post gig we all returned to my family home to crash and next morning departed after a cooked brekkie (courtesy of my dear Mum) and caught the train back up to student-ville.

Shamed that I can't remember more of the night - one of the few 'missing' Strangler nights in my memory banks - but another episode in my 'Strangler career'. Great times. Alastair Kerr: "November 1981 - Ulster Hall, Tom and myself invade stage during "No More Heroes" - Tom is on Hugh's side and stays on a little longer than me as JJ boots me back into the crowd - oh the folly of youth." Tom: "Hugh Cornwell was great, he put his arm around me." Sean O'Neill: "I was at that gig myself. My mate Evan (aka Stranglers) also invaded the stage on JJ's side and was swiftly kicked off it by JJ. He claims that his hole is still sore. My memories of the gig are pretty sketchy although I do remember Hugh Cornwell getting a particularly hard time from a few gobbers down to front. After one song he proceeded to pour a bottle of water (piss?) over the offending youths. It had the desired effect. I remember the stage invasion too."

UK Tour 1989. A summer 'mini' tour saw the first date set for Belfast. The original venue was planned to be the Avoniel Leisure Centre (as ticket and my tour t-shirt imply) but this was changed to the Manedla Hall, Queen's University. By this stage in my Strangler-obsessed life I had be-friended the in-house SIS fan club photographer and knew Nik Yeomans (Strangled editor). Through these connections a group of like-minded Strangler-ophiles were planning to travel in two rental Ford Sierras and take in all six dates (Belfast, Dublin, Cork, Livingston, Cardiff and London). Unfortunately, this side of the Irish Sea dates were unfeasible for all, so it was just me attending the 'home leg' before flying over to do the three UK dates in the now infamous '89 Car Tour (but thats another story!!).

The low ceilinged, intimate venue allowed the audience a close-up experience of the band. Highlights for me were the introduction and first hearing of two new tunes from the forthcoming '10' album. 'Where I Live' and 'Someone Like You' both sounding really good - also really great having another JJ vocal performance in the set. Hugh had introduced the Gibson and red Rickenbacker guitars rather than his signature Fender - presumably adding different texture to the newer (more sophisticated) tunesmithery of their later albums. 'Was It You?' segue-ng into 'Sewer' and 'Toiler On The Sea' were kick-ass and, although it was the new single, it still irks that the band performed 'All Day and All of the Night'.

Aidan Doherty: "Mandela Hall June 1989....band came on and kicked off with All day and all of the night.....Hugh deadpanned that it was "another lovely day in Belfast" - a reference to a bomb in the Castle Court earlier in the day. Top notch, pre-10 gig with some new tunes and Punch and Judy to finish...Toiler on the sea saw Hugh doing a Chuck Berry-esque swagger and several gobs duly hung off his curly barnet. ....all in a night's work!" Ronnie Carnwath: "I saw them in Mandela Hall, 1989. After the gig, my mates and I went around to the bus, where they signed my entire collection! JJ must have taken a strop and only signed his "Freddie Laker" single. Jet Black quipped "Jesus Christ, I've never seen half this stuff before!" as he signed a Japanese "Nice 'n' Sleazy" and Spanish "Spain" 7" I wish I had some decent pictures but I had a shit camera back then..".

Brian Robinson remembers The Stranglers playing the Arcadia in Portrush Friday 8th September 1978.

The summer of ’78 was just over and I was staying at my parent’s caravan in Portrush. One of the local papers had advertised The Stranglers at The Portrush Arcadia on the 8th of September, so I decided to go down and check it out. I had never seen the Stranglers before and was very excited. I can’t remember how I got down to the gig but having just turned 15 I expect that my parents dropped me the short mile into Portrush in the family car and I made the rest of the way to the gig by myself.

The Arcadia itself is quite a small venue with probably a capacity of around 2-300. I arrived at the venue early enough and obviously arrived in time to see the support act. I hadn’t a clue who it was; all I was concerned about was The Stranglers. I remember waiting in the crowd to see the support act and standing beside a fellow punk. He was obviously from Londonderry with his strong North West accent as we chatted and he was raving about the support act. I could see his badge and it said, The Undertones - it was one of the old 2” badges, in black and white. It actually looked homemade but then again that what punk was all about back in the day. He was explaining how good they were and boy was he right, they were fantastic and a great start to the evening. I can’t remember any songs from their set, but definitely a band I would want to see again (and did!!). The Stranglers came on stage and the crowd went crazy. The fans spat as usual for those early days of punk rock, but I wasn’t a fan of this ritual. They went through a few of their early songs but all I really wanted to hear was ‘Peaches’. I remember JJ Burnel prancing about the stage with his t-shirt off. All of a sudden, quick as a flash, he unstrapped his bass guitar and jumped into the crowd from the stage. This happened at the left hand side of the stage as you look at it. He seemed annoyed about a fan, but I wasn’t sure why. He handed out his medicine to the guy in the crowd and got back up on the stage and fell straight back into the song. It all happened so fast and probably some of the band members didn’t know what was going on either!!

The crowd seemed to jeer at the fan getting a bit of a pasting and seeing JJ in action. I was about 5/6 rows back when this all happened and felt quite excited but also somewhat scared to witness this as a young 15 year old. The gig and some of the detail has stayed with me for over 30-plus years. Some memories are blurred and some so vivid - like looking the Undertones fans badge and watching JJ jump off stage. My only regret is not keeping my ticket stub to remember the first time I saw The Stranglers. One thing is for sure, it won’t be the last.