Rifles fired up Dublin punk scene S
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shores”.
ydney might have been homebase to the Celibate Rifles had a special affinity for playing in Ireland. There is strong evidence to suggest they performed there on a number of occasions and had a loyal following. In 1987 Hot Press music writer Paul O’Mahnony wrote that they were “occasional visitors to these
They played Dublin in 1986 with local band The Slowest Clock as the support act. The same four piece group – Frank Pryce (vocals), Gerry Fahy (guitar), Brian Neavyn (bass) and Pete Kinsella (drums) – also supported the Rifles at the Underground in August 1988, which would appear to be when Albo saw them play live. It was quite a night apparently. An account of the gig on irishrock.org remarked that “the drummer played one-armed”. The Slowest Clock broke up in 1990 but in their time they also supported big acts of the day such as A House and Something Happens, amongst others. The Rifles were also in Dublin in 1987 according to the date on a photograph taken by George Curran and published with a story ‘All our lives spent Underground: Dublin’s finest music venue remembered’ written by Paul Page, published on Betweenthebars.net. “Situated on [Dame Street] one of the busiest 8 | THE IRISH SCENE
intersections in the city centre, a passer-by would easily miss it if it wasn’t for the iconic London Underground rail symbol that marked the narrow doorway leading down to its subterranean location,” Page wrote. “A tricky, tight staircase (perilous if inebriated) brought you down to a long, narrow bar – immediately to the right and just behind you at the foot of the stairs stood the tiny stage. When the band were playing, a trip to the toilets was fraught with the risk of decapitation. That trip usually involved a well-timed duck under the neck of a guitar to make it through. The bar itself wasn’t anything special – it wasn’t plastered with posters or rock memorabilia. It wasn’t a hang out for Dublin celebrities. It was a place for genuine music fans, there was no bullshit VIP area (incredibly, such a thing existed in Dublin nightclubs, even in the grim 80s) or welcome mat laid out for Dublin scene-sters.” George Curran had some great memories of the place and a rare photograph of the Rifles on stage. “You could get close up to the band due to the“intimate”nature of the venue. Only problem was trying to take a photo and jostling for space with people coming and going to the loos. Happy Days!.” Decades later the Underground – in the basement of what is Peadar Kearney’s pub in Dame Street in the city centre – appears to have rediscovered its roots as a lively punk venue. There is a great photograph of the Rifles that places them in Ireland. All
