A to Z of N. Ireland Punk Bands

MISTAKEN IDENTITY

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A short lived Antrim punk band formed in 1981 by Paul (Rut) Rutledge (bass) and Colin Pennie (guitar). They were soon joined by Paul McElligott on vocals and Sean Kelly (Rat) on drums. The band only possessed two guitars, one amp and set of plastic blocks as a substitute drum kit! They played gigs at the Manhattan Club in Belfast earning the princely sum of £7 a show! Their shows were plagued by numerous problems such as lack of practice, drunkenness and the obvious lack of equipment. Paul and Sean soon split the band to be replaced by the Pennie brothers, Rab and Rodney (cousins of Colin). Rehearsals ensured for an imminent Battle of the bands contest at Coleraine University on 22nd May 1982, (above photograph © John Campbell).

The band played three songs, including No Law and 8 Days A Week. Rab Pennie - This was the first and last time this line up of the band played. I'd taken over on vocals the previous week as Paul had got drunk AGAIN and forgotten the lyrics. We WERE scary. It's just too bad that we were the first band on. I can remember spitting mouthfuls of beer and biscuits off the stage. I would have peed too, only I'd done that earlier in a Coleraine phone box! I can also remember Terri Hooley stopping Colin and myself after our set and saying that we were fucking brilliant, but that we swore too much! I told Terri that those were just our lyrics to which he replied "No between the songs". To be fair, Terri was blitzed, but he did say that we were fucking brilliant. I suspect that it was our amateurishness that he liked. I told him that we weren’t there to win, just to have the experience of playing through big amps. If he’d seen us practice, he'd have known what I meant!

Shorty after this memorable gig Colin and Rab both left the band. Paul (Rut) would go on to form Assault around six months later with some previous Mistaken Identity members.