Touring Bands - The Rich Kids

RICH KIDS

(Click on Image for More Photos)

The Rich Kids played a short three date tour of Northern Ireland in November 1978. These shows were at the Knock-na-Moe Castle Hotel, Old Mountfield Road, Omagh on Friday 17th November 1978. Saturday night saw the band travel to Belfield University College in Dublin, before returning north again for a matinee show at McMordie Hall, Queens Student Union in Belfast on Sunday 19th November. This was part of an all day event with 14 bands, part of the Fringe Festival 78. Apparently the students hated them! The mini tour finished off in Larne on Monday 20th November at Laharna Hotel.
Drummer, Rusty Egan “Mayhem , I am Irish and I wanted to play there and we did. We did this short tour adding the above gigs. The troubles meant that we were staying in the most bombed hotel in Europe at the time, The Europa Hotel in Belfast. We travelled over the border a few times and it was pointed out to us that we were in No Mans Land. Bob Geldorf came to the Dublin gig, I became friends with Ali McMordie of Stiff Little Fingers a few years later and I got into U2 more or less right at the start as I felt they were a voice . My memory is not great and I am also trying to write my own book. The only story I have is we got lost on the way to a gig and we asked a passer by ‘Hey excuse me, are we on the right road to Derry? He said yes and its fucking London Derry”.
Stuart Bailie (Music writer and broadcaster) was at the Belfast show “The Rich Kids came on really late and some people had missed their bus home. The crowd was hurling cushions and Midge Are was being a bit of an arse. “Why don’t you go and play with your toy solders?” He shouted”.

Alan (above) wearing his newly aquired top from Rusty

‘ Local DJ Alan Simpson (DJ Al-Uminium) DJ’d at the Omagh and Larne shows. Alan “File under square pegs in round holes. I remember Omagh being a lot of people just standing around bewildered at the sights ’n’ sounds coming from the stage, think they were more accustomed to Country ’n’ Western or long haired hippy types, so these other worldly beings certainly didn’t quite fit in. I think I recall a few mohair wearing cyber punk girls hanging at stage front. Larne was memorable for one tune in particular. The Queen, which we were informed half way through the night would have to be played, at the end . As it wasn’t a regular 7-inch in my box at the time, I left it up to the band. I think that was their best received song of the night! I recall the table I was standing on collapsed as I was about to introduce them and I also managed to persuade drummer Rusty Egan to swap me his leather top".
Doc Docherty, guitarist with The Xdreamysts, who played support to the Rich Kids in Larne recalls “ We stupidly chucked our beers over them after the gig. Silly of us but these things were happening then. The Rich Kids ran off upstairs to their rooms”.
Glen Matlock - Rich Kids - "What I remember most, is after one of the shows, a very drunken Scotsman was marching up and down the hotel bar singing 'Donald where's your trewsers?' and it was actually Andy Stewart".