The Dublin Castle is a pretty
apt venue for
DeafSchool,
near as it is to the present Mr
Bright (Suggs) stamping ground
and a nice if compact place it
is too. I chatted briefly to a
bloke who saw the
School
back in 1974 on the University
circuit and realised that the
place was filling up with the
youth of the mid-70s, old
DeafSchool
fans to see their band.
Bizarrely enough the DJ plays
“Fun House” by the Stooges all
night, not exactly fitting for
the main band I would have
thought!
Having positioned myself right
at the front of the stage, I
took in the support band Vanessa
and the O practically face to
face. And what a lovely face it
is. Vanessa (the O consisted
tonight of one male guitarist
who also played a bit of drums)
is a blond, French and
breath-taxingly beautiful. They
play a brief set of some nice
Velvet-esque material, mainly
sung in Vanessa’s mother tongue
which sounds very sexy even
though to be honest as far as my
studies go she could be
discussing the merits of the
latest government white paper on
non-stick chewing gum. They are
very well received by the
already quite excitable crowd,
which has now packed out the
small music room.
After another spin of “Fun
House”,
DeafSchool
emerge through the crowd. First
off bass player Mr Average,
Cliff Hanger (Clive Langer), on
the keys Rev Max Ripple and the
replacement drummer (sadly
original Tim Whittaker died in
the early 90s), start up. Its
plain to see that time has been
kinder to some Schoolers than
others - vocalist Eric Shark
looked particularly ill and
didn’t make the encore - but as
soon as they struck into “Last
Night” (my favourite
DeafSchool
song fact fans, a brooding and
touching song of regret), they
showed exactly why they were so
highly rated and why even if you
take the Pistols out of the
equation, music in the mid-70s
wasn’t a complete washout.
Enrico Cadillac Jnr is still the
master of ceremonies, spiv-like
evoking some seedy glamour and
Bette Bright showed what a great
one of a kind singer she still
is and deserves to be remembered
as more than someone who married
into Madness. The third wheel in
the singing department Mr Eric
Shark, doesn’t let his apparent
ill health dim one bit his role,
taking part in the manic dancing
mayhem on stage - there is
almost too much happening!! -
and the whole thing swings like
it was minted yesterday.
Most of the set came from their
first two LPs (the exceptions
being “Thunder And Lightening”,
a version of “I Wanna Be Your
Boy” which was a bit scratchy
due to it being the first time
they had played it in 30 odd
years and a graceful “Morning
After”). Its wrong to pick out
favourites, but the very
wonderful “What A Way To End It
All” and “Cocktails At 8” among
many other provide delirious
sing-a-longs (led by Deaf School’s
number one fan who was beside
me, the man they call Spizz) and
it all climaxes with a wonderful
Bette Bright vocal performance
on the fitting “Final Act”.
They left the stage to a massive
ovation and were quite simply
wonderful. If this sounds like a
massive, rabid fan rant, it is
and I’m not apologising because
Deaf School
are that darn good!
Epilogue
The advertised special guests
didn’t turn up (Suggs was
lurking around!), but I was glad
to be honest.
Deaf School
have probably had enough of
someone turning up late and
claiming all the glory! What
last night offered among other
things was a chance to look back
at a time when things were just
forming, the future was coming
together, a time away from 2007
when any sort of attitude apart
from “please love us” is termed
“punk”.
Deaf School
weren’t punk in any way, apart
from if you class doing it your
own way and doing it bloody well
punk.
Far from being the ghosts of
youth from 75,
Deaf School
in 2007 are still vital, still a
top live band, still the best
night out you’ll have. If a band
like
Deaf School
emerged today, they would take
over!
