THE HARP BAR STORY...home of Belfast Punk Rock!! 1978 -1982
The Harp Bar, Hill Street was the home of Belfast PuNk Rock. In 1978 Hill Street was a very threatening cobbled stoned back Street, in a forgotten part of Belfast....nothing like the thriving Arts & Cultural centre of the Cathedral Quarter that it is known as today, with a multitude of music venues, bars and restaurants! (Please note thi
s is not the new Harp Bar in the Cathedral Qtr)
It was the equivalent to that other legendary punk venue 'The Roxy Club' in London. It was a bit of a dive, with a core group of punks attending regularly in the early days to watch local punk bands, namely The Outcasts, Rudi, The Androids, Ruefrex and Stage B, who played there on weekends. Belfast became a ghost town after 6pm creating a tumbleweed effect across the city when the security barriers closed their gates to the city centre traffic. There were very few live music venues for the bands to play in the city centre, except the Pound Club and the punks/bands felt they needed a place to call their own. After months of organising private parties at hotels and bars in the suburbs of Belfast, Joe Moody and Jeff Moon, two members of the band Victim eventually discovered a place only too willing to host a gig and so the Harp Bar PuNk venue was born when it opened its doors in Hill Street on 21st April 1978 for the first punk gig with two superb bands, Victim and The Androids playing upstairs in the Harp Lounge with a capacity for two hundred people,
At last they found a home, even if it was reluctantly received by the locals who begrudgingly accepted their strange clothes, bizarre hairstyles and music allowing the bands and punks alike to express themselves in their DIY home made clothes and fast energetic music!! Bands were forming each week and punks were creating their own identity with redesigned second hand clothes before bravely making their way across the city to hear The Outcasts, Rudi and others. Outside, the doorway was a caged entrance with CCTV cameras and bollards for security. Inside there were the wonderful delights of a space invaders gaming machine, a pool table, soft seating and the locals, sitting quietly giving suspicious looks to the punks on arrival, then leaving them to enjoy the bands. Despite a sign advertising Pub Grub, there was a limited choice of food on the menu and a pickled egg jar sat on the counter for what looked like years, but no one would ever eat there! Upstairs was another world! The entrance fee was .50p (for members) and new punks filled the place every week. It was a strip joint on Saturday afternoons much to the amusement of some of the younger punks and an electrifying music venue in the evening intermingled together at weekends in a bizarre way. Punks often travelled to Belfast early Saturday afternoon making a pilgrimage to Caroline Music and Good Vibrations to discuss the latest releases with Kyle Leitch or Terri Hooley, before making a purchase on their recommendation. In the evening Punk DJ Davy Hamilton played all the classics at the legendary Harp Bar Disco with the memorable, 'Action Time & Vision', The Mekons 'Where were You' and the best Clash song ever..'White Man in Hammersmith', The Members 'Sound of the Suburbs', Menace 'GLC', to name but a few... the crowd danced ecstatically on the small dance floor, before the main band took to the stage to perform their latest set. Every weekend the music bellowed out from the PA upstairs and the room was transformed with an energy and excitement that was surreal to Belfast and to the Harp Bar. The crowd went manic on the small dance floor and the atmosphere was electrifying. Everything was forgot about for those few hours and the effects of the pogoing punks could be felt downstairs, with the fast rhythmic beats of the drums and guitars vibrating through the ceiling above the pool table. Religion, Politics, Class and Gender were irrelevant in the Harp Bar amongst the punks who came from North, South, East and West Belfast and beyond, they respected each other for just being there.
‘The troubles’ had been constant for 10 years and had now become a ghastly back drop to everyday life as nothing had changed. This was the generation who grew up during the worst atrocities of the troubles and they didn’t want any part of it. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights it was of no importance to them what was happening outside in the real world, they got lost and intoxicated to the sounds of the Pistols, Clash, Damned and Siouxsie.. The locals never really fully embraced the punks at the Harp Bar, some of them were still trapped in supporting ‘the cause’ which did raise its ugly head at times when on one occasion someone held a gun to Joe Zeros head asking him to remove his beret!! It must have been very strange for the locals to suddenly have a crowd of punk rockers descend on ‘their pub’ and turn it into a club which would soon became the home of Belfast PuNk rock!! Many bands played there: The Outcasts, Rudi, The Androids, Rufrex, SLF, Stage B, The Defects, Shock Treatment, The EX-Producers, The Idiots, The Undertones, The Basics, Rhesus Negative, The Tearjerkers, Protex, The Detonators, Acme, UXB, Emergency and many many more. The venue was also braved by some visitors, The Nipple Erectors with Shane MacGowan, the Fall, The Monochrome Set, The Jets, Raped along with Radio 1 DJ John Peel who also made a pilgrimage to the home of Belfast PuNk. The local Teddy Boys from the Bailey Bar would often visit with everyone dancing to the rock ‘n’ roll sound of Eddie Cochrane and Sid Vicious singing ‘Come on Everybody’. Firm friendships were made and are still evident today with Big Bear Rockabilly often seen at gigs selling Outcasts DVD's.. John T Davis filmed part of the legendary 1979 SHELL SHOCK ROCK film there along with a host of other documentary makers across Europe with film crews eager to tell the story of the new 'cross community' music venue in the heart of bombed out Belfast!! The police, army and paramilitary also made the occasional visit and on these occasions it would become a harsh reminder of the reality of what was going on politically in NI, but it was all part of growing up in Belfast in the late 70’s which we thought was normal!!. TERRI HOOLEY, owner of GOOD VIBRATIONS record shop and label was introduced to PuNk after visiting The Pound Club and The Harp Bar on the advice of Gordie Owen, a young punk who often frequented Good Vibrations. Terri felt the energy and immediately signed a few bands to his record label. He also set up the Punk Workshop at the Harp Bar, with The Undertones, punk band from Derry/Londonderry (also on the GV label) playing at the official opening. Membership was opened in September 1978 and the Harp soon became the second home for not only Belfast Punks but with many now travelling up from Ballymena, Antrim, Bangor and other areas. Later,Terri also took some of the bands to the surrounding provinces to the fans who couldn't make it to Belfast because of age and lack of transport. Terri's story is well documented in 'Good Vibrations: The Film' which had its movie première at the Ulster Hall on 31st May 2012 and was warmly accepted by the audience of punks and bands alike from 1977 who lived through that era with him. The film was released on 29th March 2013 across the country. To mark the significance of Terri’s contribution to Belfast’s music heritage and to celebrate the role Good Vibrations played in putting Belfast back on the international music map, a couple of us old punks were instrumental in Belfast City Council erecting a PLAQUE in Hill Street during Belfast Music Week 2012. It also honours the Harp Bar, the Punks who went there and the Bands who played there, The Outcasts, Rudi, SLF, The Defects, The Undertones and many many more. According to Belfast City Council, It was largest crowd for attending the unveiling of a plaque ever. Those ten months of meetings and emails were worth it as now it is a pilgrimage for punks young and old to visit the site and celebrate the home of Belfast punk by sending in their photos and memories to our page. After the unveiling Terri arranged a walking music tour of Belfast finishing at The Hudson Bar where everyone celebrated together. A gig was arranged at the Oh Yeah Centre during the weekend with The Outcasts, Brian Young (Rudi), The Defects and Terri also taking the stage at times, lol! A fantastic weekend to be remembered in Belfast puNK rock history. Along with the many bands that played there, many lifetime friendships were made and the Harp Bar is affectionately remembered when reminiscing about Northern Ireland Punk. It survived for a few more years as a punk venue but with a changing scene it eventually turned into a Country and Western pub. The crowd changed, some got married, some of the bands and others moved to the bright lights of London to live the dream with the outrageous Jules Night Club taking over as the after show party of punk, with the first unisex powder room for punks and Belfast Blitz kids. The bulldozers eventually moved in to Hill Street and the Harp Bar became a car park and a graveyard for punk rock. Other venue's opened shortly afterwards such as The Anarchy Centre, The Manhattan and Giro’s with new and exciting young bands. Stalag 17 playing regularly and visitors Crass and the Poison Girls playing at the Anarchy Centre, but sadly it too eventually closed down all too soon. Today, we honour the bands and people who played their part in the Belfast PuNk scene and celebrate the legacy of Terri, Good Vibrations and the legendary Harp Bar, home of Belfast PuNk rock! To celebrate the good times at the Harp Bar, William Maxwell from Immortal Records and guitarist of 'Start Start Stop Again' organised a reunion which was held on Saturday 8th September 2012 at the Black Box, Hill Street. To mark this very special night a couple of bands reformed for a one off gig such as The Androids & Stage B and played like they have never been away, Others in line up that night were XSLF, Shock Treatment 21, Protex and The Outcasts who continue to play and tour today...... the Harp Bar Lounge revisited ...was a night to remember!!! The Harp Bar reunion
http://nipunk.weebly.com/harp-bar-reunion2.html. http://vimeo.com/59243682. The Harp Bar, home of Belfast Punk is well documented in:
‘It makes you want to spit' by Sean O'Neill and Guy Trelford, an informative book on NI Punk.
‘Shellshock Rock' award winning film by John T Davies
‘Gangland Warfare’ The Outcasts
‘Hill Street’ The Defects
The Bafta nominated ‘Good Vibrations: the Film’ (2013)
Writers: Colin Carberry, Glenn Patterson,
Directed by: Lisa Barros D'Sa, Glenn Leyburn. Produced by: Chris Martin, Andrew Eaton, Bruno Charlesworth
Cast: Jodie Whittaker (Ruth) Michael Colgan (Dave Hyndman) Adrian Dunbar (Gang Leader) Liam Cunningham (Studio Engineer) Karl Johnson (George Hooley) Dylan Moran (Harp Bar owner Oates Lennon) and an amazing performance by Richard Dormer as Terri Hooley. Film score writer David Holmes ... and is the soundtrack to my life. It is ls also worth mentioning that during the most turbulent troubled times in Belfast, The Harp Bar was the first venue to receive the first ever 'Belfast City Night Life Award' from Belfast City Council and well deserved for keeping a pub/venue open during those times. I would also like to say a massive thank you to Patsy Lennon, the Proprietor of the Harp Bar, who made all this happen. It was a huge risk and brave decision the day Patsy agreed to open the doors for Victim and The Androids to play the first ever punk gig at his pub on 21st April 1978, when no-one else cared or was interested for fear of trouble....and as we know...the rest is history!!! Thank you Patsy ��
Update: More recently a planning application has been submitted for a 17 bedroom boutique hotel on the original site of The Harp Bar with a nod to the building's past, the owners hope to construct a timber facade designed to look like a curtain being raised over a stage! Please add any any humorous stories, comments, photographs or just leave a message.....we would love to hear from you.
