Reviews / TMTCH: Fans enjoyed another memorable show
FIRST IT was the Clickimin in 1986 for the Shetland Rock Festival, a raucous gig so I’m told, followed by a return to the same venue 13 years later, and on Saturday night folk-punk rockers The Men They Couldn’t Hang visited Shetland once more, putting on another memorable show for the couple of hundred ticket holders at Mareel.
Anyone who has listened to their new release The Defiant could tell you they have retained their energetic, anthemic and fiery sound despite now being 30 years into their time as a band.
The night’s performance featured – unusually – no support, but when the London based group kicked off proceedings it didn’t take long at all for some eager fans to make their way to the dance floor.
Opener Devil on the Wind was a suitably rousing start and a statement of intent, with the group proving to be effective at getting hesitant gig-goers up and moving, clearly what they had intended.
In their own words, it had been a “hell of a day”, with air travel drama resulting in both their tour manager and guest fiddler not managing to make it to the isles, which was a shame as it was clear to see the ways in which the bowed instrument could have added to the tunes. All trace of folk was not lost, however, as Paul Simmond’s excellent mandolin was an important feature.
Newer songs such as Night Ferry and Raising Hell were popular with the audience, the former a country rollicker and the latter a high-powered rocking number that lived up to its name. There was an interlude midway through the set where the two vocalists/guitarists Phil Odgers and Stefan Cush played consecutive solo acoustic numbers, with Odgers’ rendition of the sea shanty Barrett’s Privateers a highlight.
The political charge of TMTCH’s music is still evident in the manner that it would have been three decades earlier, with the band commenting disdainfully on UKIP’s rise, whereas 1984’s debut single and No.1 hit The Green Fields of France carried extra weight with it being a hundred years since the Great War.
The ballad, originally written by the Scottish singer-songwriter Eric Bogle, concerns the loss of a young soldier and bitterly reflects on the futility of war. The song built up to a spirited and poignant conclusion.
As their performance drew to a close they played more songs from around the same time, such as Ironmasters and Shirt of Blue, which demonstrated why they have such a dedicated cult following wherever they travel.
And not just a cult following, but an animated audience based on this evidence – by the encore half the crowd were bouncing and promoter Davie Gardner’s pre-gig promise that this would be one to remember proved to be very much correct.
Patrick Mainland
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