Touring Bands - The Gas

THE GAS

Review from local Newspaper the County Down Spectator 1981.
…..and it has to be said that the appearance of The Gas at Bangor’s Market hall on Saturday night was the best gig in the town this year.
The London trio, ignoring the advice of their record company (the ultra -rich Polydor) came across to Northern Ireland, and as far as the Market Hall is concerned, they won over an entirely new audience. What’s more, they’ve promised to come back in September. So how do I describe them - I’m non committal, call it high energy Rock, Power Pop, New Wave, Punk, best of all label it FUN. But then there hasn’t been a recent rock show in the Market Hall that I haven’t liked - so how do other people feel?
I hand you over to fellow reporter Ann-Marie Hillen for her impressions of the show:
There could have been more present at the Market Hall on Saturday night to see local name, The Co-ordinates support The Gas, but it was tour loss you couldn’t be bothered to make the trip down. Just don’t complain about Bangor never sees any decent live entertainment, because the standard on Saturday night was excellent, the the Co-ordinates winning everyone’s hearts and The Gas proving themselves to be genuine, both in their musicianship and warmth of feeling for their audience.
As support band, The Co-ordinates took the stage first, and a legion of fans of good music took to the floor. Both the band and their audience were energetic in performances, and complemented each other - the response from the fans giving the band confidence, and the band’s performance adding to the enthusiastic atmosphere.
The Co-ordinates were competent all-round, displaying inventiveness and talent which are perhaps missing from some other local names. Singer Steven McBride was very good, confident in his relationship with the band and the listeners, with a strong voice and the added bonus in that he wasn’t afraid to move about the stage (his whistle blowing in their song ‘Disco’ wasn’t bad either). Robin Benson on backing vocals was equally impressive, sustaining the harmonies well, and proving to be just as good on lead as Steven, and the guitarists and drummer together showed how practice does make perfect.
“Your local heroes” was how Terri Hooley described them, and judging by the reaction they got from the audience, he was right. Their style was original, and I’m not going to attempt to categorise, so don’t miss them the next time they play!
Following The Co-ordinates there was a break which I think now was necessary if The Gas were to have any chance of impressing at all after the bingo band’s performance. However, they managed it well, playing about a dozen songs in all, ranging from strong, listen-to-me! types like their first single ‘It Shows In Your face’ and ‘Slow Down’ through the slow, pounding ‘Don’t Treat Me Like One Of Your Possessions’ to an excellent bluesy-reggae number called ‘The Treatment’.
The Gas come from the London district of Pimlico, the same area as the Ruts (now Ruts DC), and in fact they have known that group for about four years, supporting them on the last tour of the Ruts’ lead singer Malcolm Owen, before his untimely death last year. They seem to have picked up some tips from their association with the Ruts, evident especially in the way they handled ‘The Treatment’ - confident and professional, without losing and emotion. The lead singer worked well with the bass player and drummer to create a tight, balanced sound, and their warmth of feeling towards the audience was obvious, with promises to return which sounded genuine for once.
Overall, there was really nothing which anyone could complain about - the bands worked hard and got the results they deserved, the audience enjoyed themselves and got value for money, Terri Hooley was impressed with the reception and promised to bring more bands over, and the commendable behaviour of all involved meant that the police had a quiet of it.