STIFF LITTLE FINGERS + RICKY WARWICK & THE FIGHTING HEARTS – CONCORDE 2, BRIGHTON 11.3.25
For the second time in four days I’ve made the commute from Hastings to see one of my favourite bands, though tonight’s band members happen to be old enough to be grandads to HotWax whom I saw on Friday (Review HERE). Yes, the beauty of live music is that you are never too young, or even too old to play to the adoring punters.
Tonight, I am seeing the legendary punk band Stiff Little Fingers who are performing the first night of their nine date ‘Flame In The Heart’ UK Tour in Brighton at the Concorde 2, courtesy of Family Ents promoter. As is well documented, the band hail from Belfast and having formed in 1977, quite a few of their songs are related to the troubles in Northern Ireland at said time. Their anger transferred into unbounded energy when playing live back in their first stint and was great to see, though I didn’t get to personally witness it until 1981.
Then in a blink of an eye they split up in February 1983 and I happened to see them play their ‘final’ concert at Glasgow Apollo when visiting family up there. I got the dodgiest ticket ever for the gig as it was handwritten on the back of a ticket for Reggae Shuttle ‘82 which had been held the previous October at the venue. The entrance fee was a mere £3.50. The reports were that the band had imploded with talk of fist fights sorting out their issues rather than mediation, but I mean how else would you expect a punk band to sort out their differences? It came as a complete shock to me at the time and I was pretty devastated thinking that I would never see them play live again, but thankfully the split didn’t last too long and I have enjoyed seeing the band play on numerous occasions since. The last time I saw them at tonight’s venue, Concorde 2, was in 2017 when I got an injury in the mosh pit which put a dampener on my night as I got smashed on the funny bone, which trust me was far from funny.
Hearing the wonderful ‘Train In Vain’ playing through the PA is always a good sign for me and I am feeling optimistic as we near the 8pm start. Long time friend of SLF who played with them in 1993 appearing on the ‘Pure Fingers’ live album, Ricky Warwick is the man charged with getting the crowd warmed up tonight along with his band The Fighting Hearts. Ricky’s CV includes having been front man for The Almighty, Black Star Riders, and even a reformed version of Thin Lizzy, but tonight is the first time I will have seen him play live. He appears to be in a good mood despite his beloved Glentoran having lost the Northern Irish Cup Final two days earlier, and luckily there are no Cliftonville shirts being worn in the crowd tonight or it might have been a different story.
It’s obvious that Ricky is proud of his Northern Irish heritage with stickers on his Gretsch and Gibson Les Paul guitars of choice with the wording “Belfast” and “Star of the County Down” and that is confirmed by his recently returning to live in the country of his birth. After opening their set with ‘Angels Of Desolation’, a song about giving up the demon drink, taken from the new album out on Friday, the Irishness is instantly noticeable on the Black Star Riders ‘Another State Of Grace’ with an unmistakable Celtic sound.
The latest single ‘Rise And Grind’ has a ferocious bassline that I can feel pumping through my body whilst I’m stood at the front. There is no relenting as it’s followed by a rousing cover of the 1977 American punk classic ‘Born To Lose’ by Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers, which really gets the crowd on their side.
My favourite songs in the set though are the last two numbers which leave me wanting more of the same. ‘Arms Of Belfast Town’ is like a rock version of The Pogues with Jack Taylor on drums being key to creating the vibe, and ‘Schwaben Redoubt’ a tale about the first world war, is more a folk song of the same ilk as The Pogues, in which Jake Burns guested on vocals on the original recording. There is plenty of experience in the band with Richard Vernon on his Fender Precision, who was a member of The Mission, and Ben Christo on guitar who plays with The Sisters of Mercy, but there is no Goth music on show tonight.
By all accounts Ricky has worked his socks off over the years and judging by tonight’s performance the 58 year old will be rocking forever more as he still appears to have a great appetite to entertain.
Ricky Warwick And The Fighting Hearts:
Ricky Warwick – guitar and lead vocals
Richard Vernon – bass guitar
Ben Christo – guitar
Jack Taylor – drums
Ricky Warwick And The Fighting Hearts setlist:
‘Angels Of Desolation’ (from 2025 ‘Blood Ties’ album)
‘Another State Of Grace’ (from 2019 Black Star Riders ‘Another State Of Grace’ album)
‘Fighting Heart’ (from 2021 Ricky Warwick ‘When Life Was Hard And Fast’ solo album)
‘Crickets Stayed Clovis’ (from 2025 ‘Blood Ties’ album)
‘Crocodile Tears’ (from 2025 ‘Blood Ties’ album)
‘When Patsy Cline Was Crazy (And Guy Mitchell Sang The blues)’ (from 2016 Ricky Warwick ‘When Patsy Cline Was Crazy (And Guy Mitchell Sang The blues)’ album)
‘Rise And Grind’ (from 2025 ‘Blood Ties’ album)
‘Born To Lose’ (cover of 1977 Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers song)
‘Celebrating Sinking’ (from 2016 Ricky Warwick ‘When Patsy Cline Was Crazy (And Guy Mitchell Sang The Blues’ album)
‘Arms Of Belfast Town’ (from 2009 ‘Belfast Confetti’ solo album)
‘Schwaben Redoubt’ (from 2014 ‘Hearts On Trees’ album)
There is a real James Bond theme in the interval between the bands as we are treated to the theme tunes from numerous classic films including ‘From Russia With Love’, ‘Goldfinger’, ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, ‘Live And Let Die’, and of course the theme tune. I am almost thinking Stiff Little Fingers aren’t going to enter stage to the traditional ‘Go For It’ instrumental as time wears on but thankfully they do and proceedings get underway at nineteen minutes past nine. Opening with the tribute to one of the all-time punk greats the band hit some early technical troubles during ‘Strummerville’, which is a shame after the sound had been virtually perfect throughout the support act. Jake’s microphone goes dead for a while and by the looks on the faces of the band members they can’t hear themselves. Thankfully this was resolved in time for ‘At The Edge’ which was the band’s most successful single reaching No.15 in the Top 40 back in 1980, and we are in full throttle.
Jake tells us that the set is a mix of classics (13 from pre-the original split), a new one, and songs never played live before. He also jokes about professionalism going out of the window as he keeps looking down at the setlist and wondering what the next song is. Well as it’s the first night of the tour he will hopefully be able to remember more during the tour as they become more versed with the setlist.
First up, never played live before is ‘Won’t Be Told’ from the last album ‘Now Then…’ before they split first time round. The album was a step away from the punk sound they had previously mastered and hence why it’s possibly never been played live before, but it was an enjoyable listen and I can now say that I was in the first audience to hear this played live some 43 years after its release. We also get the debut play of ‘Mary’s Boy Child’, a new song about someone born to Fred and Mary who has fooled the American public not once but twice, as the World seemingly looms towards disaster.
The rarer live tracks include ‘Piccadilly Circus’, and the introduction of an acoustic guitar which looks anything but, though Jake ensures us it does sound like one, for Ian McCallum to play during ‘Each Dollar A Bullet’ and ‘Harp’. As seems to be a regular occurrence at SLF gigs nowadays, Jake highlights the battle with mental health for men aged 50 and over having had first-hand experience himself and urges them to speak with someone rather than bottle it up, before playing ‘My Dark Places’.
The main source of energy onstage tonight is understandably 63 year old Steve Grantley on drums though original member, soon to be 66 years old, Ali McMordie, gives a good account of himself on bass guitar, and adds a nice touch by sporting a New York Dolls t-shirt in memory of recently deceased lead singer David Johansen.
It’s always good to hear ‘Straw Dogs’ live especially as it’s the only non-album song on the setlist apart from the newbie, and it is on a par with the songs included in the monumental ending to the set, of which the last six of the night are all taken from the first two albums which are generally considered to be the best by a lot of Fingers fans. It really doesn’t get much better than this at many gigs in my mind, with ‘Suspect Device’ following on from ‘Tin Soldiers’ being my personal highlights. According to the setlist I acquired to add to my never-ending collection, which my wife must secretly be sick of, the first song in the encore should have been ‘Johnny Was’ but it Johnny Wasn’t as the band opt to play ‘Barbed Wire Love’ unless Jake really is that confused looking at the setlist. With ‘Alternative Ulster’ ending the night, I am left in a state of bliss and the hour’s journey home flies by as I am accompanied by even more SLF music on my car stereo.
Stiff Little Fingers:
Jake Burns – lead vocals and guitar
Ali McMordie – bass and vocals
Ian McCallum – guitar and vocals
Steve Grantley – drums
Stiff Little Fingers setlist:
‘Strummerville’ (from 2003 ‘Guitar And Drum’ album)
‘At The Edge’ (from 1980 ‘Nobody’s Heroes’ album)
‘Wasted Life’ (from 1979 ‘Inflammable Material’ album)
‘Won’t Be Told’ (from 1982 ‘Now Then…’ album)
‘Roots, Radicals, Rockers, Reggae’ (Bunny Wailer cover) (from 1981 ‘Go For It’ album)
‘Mary’s Boy Child’ (new unreleased song)
‘Straw Dogs’ (a 1979 single)
‘Piccadilly Circus’ (from 1981 ‘Go For It’ album)
‘Just Fade Away’ (from 1981 ‘Go For It’ album)
‘Each Dollar A Bullet’ (from 1991 ‘Flags & Emblems’ album)
‘Harp’ (from 1994 ‘Get A Life’ album)
‘My Dark Places’ (from 2014 ‘No Going Back’ album)
‘Nobody’s Hero’ (from 1980 ‘Nobody’s Heroes’ album)
‘Tin Soldiers’ (from 1980 ‘Nobody’s Heroes’ album)
‘Suspect Device’ (from 1979 ‘Inflammable Material’ album)
‘Gotta Gettaway’ (from 1980 ‘Nobody’s Heroes’ album)
(encore)
‘Barbed Wire Love’ (from 1979 ‘Inflammable Material’ album)
‘Alternative Ulster’ (from 1979 ‘Inflammable Material’ album)
