Stiff Little Fingers, Nov. 12, World Café Live

POSTED: Tuesday, November 13, 2007, 5:34 PM

Filed Under: Music | Last Night Photos

Photo | John Vettese

Don't believe them, don't believe them. Question everything you're told.

That photo was taken, believe it or not, at World Café Live. No, mohawk dude is not in the band. See the blurred hands to the right? A roadie, getting ready to grab the hyperexcited punk and toss his ass out the backstage door to Lower Walnut Street. Even beyond this climactic chaotic fray, the evening proved to be quite eye-opening, and for everybody's benefit, I've compiled a list of Five Myths Dispelled by Monday Night's Stiff Little Fingers show:

Myth 1: World Café Live only works for AAA rock - Mellow, acoustified sit-down shows are still the UCity venue's bread and butter, but its programmers have gotten relatively edgier this fall, bringing in a Fringe performance from Brooklyn anarchist punk cabaret World / Inferno Friendship Society and hosting a gig by Pylon earlier this weekend. I was honestly skeptical of how well straight-up punk would go over in this setting, though, and a painful opening set by Long Island nasalcore combo New Rivals sure wasn't promising. Everybody in the room stuck to the wings, sitting at tables and leaving the floor empty as waitresses milled about to see if the leather-clad, ripped-pants dudes would prefer the antipasto platter for two or the grilled salmon entree. But once the blokes from Belfast got onstage, the crowd crammed the front, pogoing and pumping fists to speedy, throat-searing old-school jams. It felt like a dirty rock dive, if you ignored the slick wood paneling, expensive lights, a posh bar area and sheets of menus kicked to the floor.

Myth 2: Tours by aging punks are depressing and money-grubbing - Yeah, frontman Jake Burns definitely looked old with his droopy face and multiple chins. The band seemed kind of ridiculous in its matching jump-suit attire, too. But absent was that feeling of disinterest, the just-in-this-for-the-money boredom that usually comes from gigs by reunited or otherwise aging punk rockers. These guys seemed quite elated that they're still out, performing and drawing so many people who want to hear them. And goddamn did they bring it, ripping out the riffs and bouncing to the doubletime tempos, shrieking with the venom of a group that's just starting out, not celebrating its 30th anniversary. After about a half dozen tunes from across the Stiff Little Fingers catalogue started the show - they were well-received, but probably unfamiliar to many - Burns announced that, for the aforementioned anniversary, the band was playing its landmark 1979 album Inflammable Material from start to finish. Jaws dropped to the freaking floor.

Myth 3: New material by old artists is a good time for a bathroom break - It was easy to forget about once the album kicked in and everybody was thrilling to indictments of the Northern Irish government and chants of "SUSS! SUSS! SUSS! SUSS OUT!" So, for the record, "The Liars' Club" - a protest tune from Stiff Little Fingers' upcoming record - takes down the union of George Bush and Tony Blair in a tight, punchy, to-the-point rant, all lean, no flab. I've never seen an audience respond this well to the oft-dreaded "uh, yeah, so this is a new one..."

Myth 4: Crowds at World Café are well-behaved - Make no mistake about it: if you put punks in a room of any shape or size, they *will* start a circle pit regardless of pristine condition. A guy I talked to afterwards told me the slippery hard wood floors made it so skanking was more present than slam dancing (which I guess mostly worked with "Johnny Was"), but "Wasted Life" and "Alternative Ulster" created an all-around frenzy.

Myth 5: Okay, fine, they might not always be well behaved, but they don't get tossed out or anything - I counted about five people. There might have been more. They rushed the stage, danced with the band momentarily and were then wrestled to the ground and thrown out - ejected from a punk show for behaving like punks.

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