Following the trauma of the fatal stabbing of Patrick Coultry at the Belfield concert in UCD, the band were largely in a state of shock and disarray. We considered breaking up in the aftermath but received some strong council that there was nothing we, as band, could have done to prevent the stabbing. So, when the NME published their cover story on the event we felt that the sensationalised nature of the cover was not what we had expected from a music paper that we considered an ally; A fact that filtered into the lyrics of ‘Enemies’. We became scapegoats. We were tarred and feathered by the press, and punk become more of a dirty word in Ireland than ever. The event had a direct influence on the band recording the TV Tube Heart album somewhat ahead of time and the subsequent move to the London. To a certain degree, we had to relinquish our Irish identity, something we had stood strongly behind. In a weird way, this was the beginning of the band, and also the beginning of the end.
Pictured is the NME cover, using photos by Nigel Averill.
The second image is before the gig with Phil and Dermot O’Meara, member of our crew.
The third image is Pete Price and Jude Carr, earlier in the day.
Then it is the NME article itself.
Lastly is a clipping from Barry Cain’s article in the Record mirror.
This even has been written about in detail in various places, such as broadsheet.ie, Brand New Retro, UCD Hidden History and Come Here To Me.
Links:
https://brandnewretro.ie/2012/06/03/nme-the-belfield-punk-festival-ucd-june-1977/
https://ucdhiddenhistory.wordpress.com/2009/04/27/4-belfield-punk-festival-1977/
https://www.broadsheet.ie/2012/06/05/35-years-ago/
https://comeheretome.com/2012/04/11/interview-with-philip-chevron-the-radiatorsthe-pogues/
https://comeheretome.com/2014/04/14/violence-and-the-dublin-live-music-scene-1977-1988/
RIP Patrick Coultry.
The NME article itself.
