THE YEAR OF STIFF LITTLE FINGERS
SLF Fan at Rebellion 2018-All photos ©dickslaughter.com
2024 is going to be a big year for Stiff Little Fingers with the "Hate Has No Home Here" tour, which starts in March in the UK with our favorite EX Pistol about town Glen Matlock as the supporting act for the UK shows, and then crosses the pond for their final U.S coast-to-coast tour in May with renowned Belfast artist Ricky Warwick opening most shows. The boys will also be making a stop at Punk Rock Bowling in May and headlining the Rebellion Festivals in August. If you have not witnessed Stiff Little Fingers live, I urge you to take this opportunity to do so—it’s guaranteed to be an electrifying experience that will transport you back to the time you first heard life-changing songs like “Johnny Was,” “Wasted Life,” and “Nobody’s Hero.
Jake Burns at Rebellion 2018
2024 also marks the 45th anniversary of the release of Stiff Little Fingers' groundbreaking debut album Inflammable Material, one of the greatest and most influential punk albums of all time and the first independent LP to enter the UK top 20. In the early days, this album was in everyone's collection and left a deep mark on punk and its many future incarnations.
if you are unfamiliar with SLF I envy you—I ONLY WISH I could discover SLF for the first time again. here are the Crib notes.
Stiff Little Fingers formed in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1977 during the height of “The Troubles” and the early stages of the punk movement. In February 1978, in jest and as a very shrewd marketing move, the band made tapes of their inaugural single "Suspect Device” in packaging resembling a bomb, and dispatched it to record companies and radio stations. One notable recipient who refrained from promptly tossing it into a bucket of water was John Peel. He played the track repeatedly, ultimately catalyzing a deal with Rough Trade and igniting a career that has endured for nearly 50 years, encompassing countless performances, 10 studio albums, 18 live albums, and only one breakup.
Steve Grantley at Rebellion 2022-All Photos ©dickslaughter.com
Jake Burns expressed his excitement about the tour and said, "We're fired up and looking forward to playing in America again.” Burns also revealed that although this tour will be SLF’s final U.S. Coast-to-Coast tour, he assured fans that occasional U.S. dates might still happen in the future, albeit in the form of fewer select shows—likely scheduled around festivals such like their slot at this year's punk rock bowling in Las Vegas.
I’ve been fortunate enough to experience Stiff Little Fingers live many times in my life, most recently at Rebellion in 2018 and 2022. Each time has surpassed the last: the band sounds incredible, and Jake's voice remains just as powerful as it was the first time I saw them in the '80s. But what makes these shows even more special is the enthusiasm of the fans.
Jake summed it up perfectly at Rebellion 2022 when the band paused during a hand-waving, sing-a-long rendition of "Barbed Wire Love" and said to the crowd, "We've been playing that song for forty-five fucking years, and it never ever ceases to crack me up when I see a room full of big, hard-tattooed punk rockers all going OOOUUEEEEEOOOUUU."
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PUnk rock bowling, Rebellion festivals
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