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| Don Letts / Terri Hooley
The Black Box, Belfast 10th July 2009 Perpetual TV punk talking head and all round good guy "Don Letts" is fast becoming one of our own, he's now an honouree Belfast man as he's such a frequent visitor to the city these days. As Mr Hooley said in his introduction "they even burnt a few cars in another part of town earlier today to welcome him, they put on a cabaret roadblock." This is the fourth time I've met Don since his "BAD" days in the 80s and he's always been a nice enough guy to me and on a couple of recent occasions to my son "Spikey Steve ". This evenings Q&A at the Black Box which stands only a few doors from where the legendary punk dive "The Harp Bar" once stood proud was part of the "Trans 09 festival" and it was none other than that other local punk legend Mr "Terri Hooley" who was to play "Parky" and be our host and also Don's interrogator. There was also going to be a Don Letts heavy dub DJ set here later on. Appearing under the billing "Art as a form of protest" we had this pair of renowned and well respected punk gentlemen both of whom like to talk, both with more than a single story to tell and both on one small stage in a very relaxed setting . It had all the elements in place to make it a great sunny summers early evening treat for everyone in the nicely filled room and in the end it really was first class . Terri and Don were so good together they should consider doing this kinda thing more often as a double act , sorta like a latter day alternative Saint and Greavsie . Though Hooley and Letts sounds like a firm of dodgy solicitors . They interacted so well and so effortlessly it was a pleasure to sit there and listen as they bounced stories off each other from throughout their eventful lives, like their colourful pasts during their individual punk eras in Belfast and London and everything else that has come and gone in the many years before punk and after. They joked about getting old with their bus passes and oyster cards but never shied away from commenting on serious topics like racism, British MPs dodgy expenses claims and their treatment of people labelled by them as benefit thieves, where's the justice? Where's the revolution?, the state of world politics, finance and more. They were both very entertaining but always informative and direct. Technically this was Don's gig with interjections from Terri so obviously Don handled most of the chat in his own very laid back style. He certainly has a social conscience and strong opinions plus he still has his finger on the pulse and knew what he was talking about. On a lighter note Terri had the place in hysterics when he revealed that one of his favourite tunes was a song called "a little dog cried by "Dickie Doo and The Don't" which was a sad song about a little dog who was at the crucifixion of Jesus! and which he had bought in Soho many years ago and treasured until someone nicked it from his record collection at a house party and he's gonna kill the bastard when he finds out who it was . They discussed Don's movie and media career and their own mutual love of reggae (which wasn't shared by some of the Harp bar punks apparently) and there was plenty of names dropped in the conversation like Shane McGowan, Bob Marley, Joe Strummer, Malcolm McLaren, Bernie Rhodes, Jimmy Lydon, Sex Pistols, Sinead O'Connor and more but there was no nastiness or muck spreading involved at all. Questions were also taken from the floor but overall a diverse and interesting range of subjects was covered and honest comments and views were expressed in either a humorous or serious fashion depending on the topic. Then after over an hour it was all over, jeez the time had flown by and we all gave them both a well deserved round of applause. Before we left the room "Terri and Don" both posed for a photo with Spikey Steve and I told Don about his bands and asked would he scribble a note of encouragement for SS and autograph it. He then gave SS a copy of his autobiography "Culture Clash", personally signed it and said "there's the encouragement" and handed it to him and shook his hand then mine. Steven was chuffed. I was genuinely touched by his unexpected gesture of good will towards my son and I really appreciated it. Terri signed the book as well and then said in jest that it was now devalued, but that's never gonna happen as it's now a special piece of punk memorabilia amongst tons of it in our house because of both men's generosity and good nature . All I can say is this was so much better than expected in fact it was great and I'm glad we were there to see and enjoy the first and hopefully not the last "Terri and Don" show . Joe Donnelly Belfast. 10.7.09. |
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