My second trip to the fair city of Belfast was on the lads first post-covid trip in 2023 as we thought we would reboot the annual shindig that year by going for a nearby location instead of mainland Europe.
We headed over on an early flight from Manchester to the International airport with five of us in total but additionally with Moggy and Gareth ploughing an alternate furrow into the City airport. Late morning found us tucking into a huge fry up in one of the numerous cafes dotted around the city streets.
A proportion of the travelling crew were fans of the Slow Readers Club who happened to be playing in town that very evening. In fact, Moggie and Gareth had earlier had a star spot when they encountered members of the band at the airport, and it transpired after a brief chat and photo shoot they were also on the same flight.
After we located and booked in at our hotel in the Cathedral Quarter and Jez Catlow found his room which was down an ‘infinity and beyond’ corridor. He was also not assisted later on by the fact that his door card needed resetting a couple of times which involved each time a long trog to reception and back!
John Hewitt pub. Image Credit niplanner.com
Our first port of call was just around the corner to the John Hewitt, the namesake being a poet and socialist who opened the Unemployed Resource Centre in 1983 which evolved into the public house and restaurant in 1999. It is the first social enterprise bar in Belfast. They had some fine ales available and regular live music, and we did return the following night to endeavour to catch some tunes but were denied entry as they had closed the doors due to the rest rooms being unavailable.
Our next venue was the Belfast Kitchen Bar which prior to its opening in 1859 was a women’s boarding house. It was located next to the Empire Theatre so hence regularly full of actors and thespians. In July 2004, it was controversially and shamefully demolished to make room for the Victoria Square shopping centre. The bar then moved to a new location nearby in 2005 and they host regular live music including a chap called Gerry on our sojourn there.
The next hostelry of choice was the Belfast Garrick on Chichester Street, it was a homely traditional pub with three bars. It has been in situ at that site since 1870 and evolved into its current name in 1892 with a purported nod to the fashionable Garrick Club that was in vogue in London at that time. They have regular bands performing and on the night it took me a little time due to the hubbub in the establishment before noticing there was a ceilidh band playing quietly away in a corner by the door.
We then grabbed some tucker before heading down to the main event at Belfast Limelight 2. The venue has been in operation since 1984 and consists of three separate spaces, the first being the rooftop terrace the Rock Garden which stages live shows, the second is Limelight 1 which is the newest kid on the block and Slayer and Steve Earle have played there. We were in Limelight 2 which is the slightly smaller venue, which was in place when the club first opened, and luminaries such as the Strokes and Joe Strummer have performed in that space.
Slow Readers Club on stage at Limelight. Image Credit limelightbelfast.com
Slow Reader’s Club evolved in 2009 from the ashes of 2000’s rock band Omerta and the four piece contains Wythenshawe siblings Aaron and Kurtis Starkie. In the spirit of the 1980’s ethos, they have been patently DIY in their approach via relentless gigging, social media endorsements and the self-release and design of their first two albums. These components all resulted in developing a loyal fanbase which reminds me of the Hold Steady level of fervency. Their third and fourth albums bore the fruit of these endeavours as they both hit the Top 20. They are not totally my bag, but they put on a decent show live and are firmly in the Interpol/Editors mould.
Also in the audience was my pal and superfans Ian Watson and his wife Elise who were travelling around watching the band and attended the Dublin show the following night. Post gig, we decamped to the nearby Belfast Pug Ugly’s Draft House which was a tidy little bar with an orange exterior. On an elevated stage there we saw a chap called Eamonn playing.
The following day we jumped on the train to the bonny town of Bangor with its funfair and its seaside walks. The second pub we visited was the famous Trident pub immortalised in the opening lines to Stiff Little Fingers ‘Alternative Ulster’, namely ‘There’s nothing for us in Belfast, The Pound’s old and that’s a pity, Okay, there’s the Trident in Bangor, and then you walk back to the city’. We stayed there a while and watched a chaotic Grand National.
Bangor seafront. Image Credit sunnybangor.com
When we landed back in Belfast, Uncle George, Jez and I had an excellent curry in one of the local restaurants before heading back to Belfast McConnell’s near our digs. It was a cavernous pub with several rooms, and we negotiated our way past the bouncers into the large music room. There was a bash em out band called Aidan’s Boys, and the venue was absolutely bouncing with a terrific atmosphere. We leaned on the corner of the bar and sampled a couple of fine Guinness’s.
On the Sunday we worked our route via a couple of hostelries prior to arriving back at the airport. We had a less troubled route than Moggy and Gareth whose flight was cancelled, and they were subsequently put up for a night in a hotel before departing the next day. They were also fortunately provided with a small stipend with which they chose to spend on more ale!
