2000 people with a cousin named Kevin
The Undertones are celebrating their 50 years in the business with a tour called, unsurprisingly, 50th Anniversary Tour. I caught up with these Derry Boys at their London show where I was loudly reminded what a great band they were, writes Michael Holland.
On my way over to Shepherds Bush Empire I was wondering if the music would be the same without Feargal Sharkey singing, but just a couple of verses into their opening song I realised I didn’t care and it didn’t matter and that I always found Sharkey’s voice a bit whiney anyway, as if he was being strangled.
Paul McLoone, who replaced him in 1999, is more punk, more rocker, and has now been with The Undertones a lot longer than the previous vocalist. In fact, there were people in the crowd who wasn’t even born before the changeover.
Seeing them play together now, I don’t visualise any ‘musical differences’ on their horizon because they look so at home together and are very much enjoying themselves. This band know each other very well; they seem to play by osmosis and with no weak links. There is a tight, solid foundation in Michael Bradley’s bass and Billy Doherty’s drumming that allows Peckham’s very own Damian O’Neill to add the necessary fripperies and riffs on lead guitar, while the driving rhythm is provided by John O’Neill. Singing his way out of all this magic created around him is McLoone, who, with trust in the band, only has to concentrate on getting the words right and the audience engaged.
And fully engaged we were. Right from the very first chord. And there was very little that could stop us – and them – going right to the end with the best of their catalogue of great tunes. It was non-stop punk rock from start to finish. There was no ‘we’d like to play something a bit slower for you now.’ None of that, ‘This is something off our new album’ malarkey. This is a greatest hits show that hits all the right buttons.
Yes, the crowd were mainly of an age where they might forget why they had walked into the kitchen, but they remembered every single lyric of every single song, and let The Undertones know it! It was as if there were 2000 auditions for McLoone’s lead singer position all going on at once. What a sight to see. Two thousand people all with a cousin named Kevin. What s brilliant sight to see and hear.
The Undertones are not raw, unrefined punk that fights against the system; The Clash and The Sex Pistols did that perfectly well. The Undertones wrote about personal relationships and perfect relations, elusive girls who only love on Wednesdays, and looking for a girl in the summer sun. Their punk rock was in the music, not in the lyrics. And while I’m a little too old for pogoing now, that suits me right down to the ground. I can get my teenage kicks vicariously through tours such as this.
Booking and full tour details: https://www.theundertones.com/
