Blog Post
Spear of Destiny - Bannerman’s Edinburgh 9th December 2023
by Richie Adams • Dec 12, 2023
Live Review
Man, I’ve been looking forward to this one. I’ve been with Spear of Destiny since 1983. I first saw them in 1984 and loved them when I saw them as part of a legendary bill of bands supporting U2 on a rainy June day in 1986. The rest of that day’s roster included REM, The Ramones and Billy Bragg. I often wonder why SOD did not rise to the heights of some of their poster mates from that day? Kirk Brandon has a great voice, his hollow body, oversized guitars have always given him a stage presence and he has consistently surrounded himself with top quality musicians to perform his excellently crafted songs. That question remains a mystery to me.
Another thing SOD has is a loyal and busy fan base. It was out in strength tonight. I chatted with people from across the UK and, very positively, saw some young blood in the audience. Something we all need to keep the music alive. One of the nice things about Kirk is that he is accessible. He acknowledges fans on Twitter and the like and keeps good communication going over all his social media. I think that has really helped develop his legion of fans and served hm well in keeping them close.
All that would be nothing, however, without the music. Tonight that was full on drum and bass centred 80’s goth rock, and it was fantastic. More of that in a minute though.
We got to Bannerman’s nice and early. I was keen to see Derek Forbes play. Unfortunately, as Simon, the door guy for the night, told me, he was unable to make it. I was disappointed but that was made up for when Simon said SOD would now be on early and play an hour and a half. Great news.
We grabbed a quick beer and took up position in a reasonably quiet room. Kirk and the band appeared from the crowd and hit the ‘go’ pedal. The room quickly filled and 15 minutes in it was as busy as I’d seen Bannerman’s in a while. The moral of the story is get there in time to support all the bands, not just the headliner!
“Rocket Ship” kicked the proceedings off, one of my favourite tracks from 1985’s World Service album. The night then turned into a bit of a greatest hits fest with a focus pretty much entirely on the albums of the 1980’s.
The musicianship was as good as it usually is at a SOD affair. Craig Adams on bass and Phil Martini on drums underpinned the entire sound with their thumping beat and basslines. They were an incredibly tight unit and a joy to listen to. Guitarist Adrian Portas has quite a pedigree amongst the 80’s goth rock elite and his contribution gave harmony to the evening. What has always set SOD apart from their peers is the presence of a sax. Tonight, that role fell to Steve Jones who provided so much to the set with his alto and tenor saxophones.
All of this is led by Kirk Brandon. Veteran of The Pack and Theatre of Hate he is now a key member of punk survivors Dead Men Walking. Kirk’s voice has been the heart of SOD from the start. Tonight, close up in the small room that is Bannerman’s it was clear that his voice is as strong and distinctive as ever.
The sum of all these parts added up to a wall of sound which was crisp and clear right across the night; the sound guy did a great job. At one point Craig seemed to hit an issue. Whatever that was, it was not something that we heard in the audience, though it did seem to affect and distract the band a bit, which was a pity.
As the night blasted on “Grapes of Wrath”. “Land of Shame” and of course “The Flying Scotsman” all got an outing. Kirk did not spend a great deal of time talking with the crowd other to tell us a little about the Camden Ripper before the taking us into “The Melancholy of Walter Sickert”; his song about that very subject.
As the set ended, Craig let us know that this was the point of the show, the band would go off for a drink and a chat. However, this is Bannerman’s, and, as he pointed out, the changing rooms are in the next building so not the most assessable. Adrian pointed out that the next set of songs were the encore. The crowd, I felt, gave them the sort of roar that an encore would deserve. After a quick consultation with Kirk they were off for a final run round the fountain. Three blasting tunes from my youth.
“Radio Radio” from The Price You Pay then the two many had been looking forward to hearing. One Eyed Jacks is a great record that, I think, really set out the SOD manifesto in 1984. It was full of guitar based anthemic rock songs and none more so than “Rainmaker” and “Liberator” which took us home.
This was Spear of Destiny’s first trip to Bannerman’s. I hope they liked the venue. This small club sized room really suited them, it was clear the crowd loved it and they sounded fantastic. I thought the band were a wee bit flat at the end? I hope not, they didn’t deserve to be - they bossed it tonight.
It's been a long 40 years for Kirk and his everchanging line up of troubadours. Two things have remained constant across time and line-up changes; Kirks splendid voice and the loyalty of his fans, both of which were in clear evidence tonight. We headed out into the night rain with a smile and feeling very Liberated.