WHAT A TEMPER!: STIFF LITTLE FINGERS AND RENO DIVORCE ROCK DENVER

More of the same weekend fun working on the bathroom: ripping up the old tiles, ripping up the old plywood underlayment, scraping off the old grout, cutting to shape new concrete fiberboard underlayment and grouting it to the floor, along with screwing it to the underlying plywood. This is the foundation for the tile I hope to lay down next weekend. A hot filthy job. So by the time Saturday evening rolled around, I was ready to enjoy the music.

I made the trip to the Summit Music Hall where I met the English Beat girl and her friend. Red Stinger (local band) opened the show, followed by Reno Divorce and the headliner of the night, Still Little Fingers. A night of punk rock, from old school to new school. The Belfast, Ireland band SLF had their beginning back in 1977 during the punk wave sweeping the UK and have apparently been around, to some degree ever since. Jake Burns, their lead singer, is the only original member to have been with the band during all its incarnations.

"This is an old Irish folk song," announced Stiff Little Fingers frontman Jake Burns before the very last song of the show. After an entire set of some of the band's best material, it could only be "Alternative Ulster," and as the song began, the crowd, punk rockers older and younger, seemed to go wild instantly with enthusiastic dancing and even a "friendly" circle pit of sorts fully broke out, after threatening to the rest of the night.

Read it all here:
http://blogs.westword.com/backbeat/2011/08/review_stiff_little_fingers_denver_8-20-11.php

My personal favorite for the evening was Reno Divorce, who's described as:

"With equal parts Orange County punk, honky tonk country, and rockabilly sensibilities, Reno Divorce strikes a unique chord of their own in a diluted genre of what passes as “Punk rock’n’roll”. Throw in well-crafted and deftly executed songs that straddle the line between Smithereens and and Social Distortion, and you’ve got a band that truly stands out amongst the herd. Oh, and there’s one more thing…this aint the boys’ first rodeo…they’ve played with almost all their punk hereos (ALL, Social D, TSOL, Adolescents, Agent Orange, Shattered Faith, X, The Blasters, Motorhead), and shared a tour bus with more contemporary heavy hitters, ala U.S. Bombs, The Bones, and Street Dogs. They’ve worked with the cream of the crop behind the scenes, as well. Their last record, “Tears Before Breakfast” was produced by Jason Livermore at the world famous Blasting Room and the support tours for that album were handled by M.A.D. Booking in Europe, where among other great festivals, they graced the Saturday Night Fever Stage at With FUll Force. Always captivating live, and wrought with more hooks than your uncle Bob’s tackle box, Reno Divorce has carved out a reputation as the real nitty gritty, a true “musician’s band” that pushes the envelope with every release, without sounding contrived or formulated. Brent Loveday’s adept songwriting and clever storytelling are brought to life by the bands expert musicianship. With Brent Loveday on lead guitar and vocals, Tim Jadowski on bass, Tye Battistella on Rhythm guitar, and Ruben Patino on drums the band fires on all cylinders. backed by a band that fires on all cylinders. Reno Divorce has earned honors in Kerrang, Metal Hammer, Loud Fast Rules, and (more importantly to the band) the respect of their peers."

"Punk rock may have been declared dead in the mid ‘80s, but Stiff Little Fingers never heard the news. In fact, save for a brief five years, the Belfast force has been active with a consistent, political brand of simple punk rock behind its only constant member, front man Jake Burns. A predominantly solid (if slow and heavy at times) 90-minute set in front of a small, condensed crowd at Summit Music Hall last Saturday night showed that the band’s charisma remains strong."

Read it all here:
http://www.heyreverb.com/2011/08/22/stiff-little-fingers-summit-denver/