Like every city, Belfast has its quirks and there are many important details to acknowledge upon arrival in order to be best suited for survival. They call mashed potatoes “champ”. On July 12th a small minority of Belfast light huge bonfires and listen to dirty rave in car parks around the city. It is normal to eat four varieties of bread with your cooked breakfast including soda farl and potato bread. And in amongst all the chip shops, churches, chapels and piss-head pubs there is a small but thriving underground music scene. This week ’SUP readers will be presented with five days of the very finest in underground, in-the-know Belfast bands and hot-spots that make the city perfect for people who have an idea and want to make it known through the art of noise. In our 2nd installment, Harriet sits down with the man behind Ordinary Days.
Words by Harriet Pittard
Behind every great music scene there are fantastic promoters.Today Mark Reid, the brains behind Belfast based Ordinary Days talks to us about putting on gigs and being a promoter in Belfast.
Tell me about Ordinary Days.
Ordinary Days hatched in 2005 after a bunch of people who had either been making or promoting music in town decided to pool their resources and work collectively. At the time, we had pipe-dreams of getting hold of a space and doing more creative work but we seemed to settle in to solely promoting gigs.
What kind of acts do you book?
The bands we book are bands we love. We tend to book alot of up and coming U.S. bands usually on their first UK or Irish tour (ie: Wavves, Lightning Bolt, Pocahaunted).
Is there a big crowd in Belfast who dig that kind of stuff then?
There’s a small but enthusiastic crowd for the stuff we do. It would be nice to reach out to some new listeners but these things take time.
Ordinary Days Lightening Bolt Photo by Mark Leetch
What venues do you use for the shows?
At the moment, we’re mostly using The Menagerie. It’s an intimate, spit ‘n’ sawdust dive in South Belfast with lots of curious art and artifacts dotted about the place. It would be hard to classify it as a professional concert venue but it has a really good soundsystem, cool visuals and the staff are relaxed and actually interested in the bands (something you don’t usually find elsewhere). There’s always a great buzz about the place and the crowds are always receptive. We try to do as much stuff in here as possible and it seems to work well for both artists and customers.
Anywhere else that’s great for gigs?
The Black Box in the Cathedral Quarter is cool too but a little more sterile as it’s a proper concert / arts space.
Any bands in Belfast that you are really excited about?
Favourite Belfast band at the moment is Girls Names. It actually seems to be a pretty decent time for new bands. For a while nothing had sprung up since the days of Clone Quartet, Desert Hearts and Tracer amc about 5 years ago. Now we’ve got Not Squares, JL Seagull and Girls Names, plus quite a few too many more to mention!
The music scene – is there one big scene? Or lots of little scenes? Or no scene at all?
Try not to think about this too much. Usually ends up in bitching and backbiting when people talk about scenes. Best just to let people get on with whatever they wanna do. I should add though that I definitely feel a sense of community with other people in the city. We have friendships with Oscillations Festival, Bop Yestrum, Cass/Flick, Strange Victory and more…
Best gig you have seen this year?
No real life-changing live moments that I can think of this year but there’s been a few excellent shows – HEALTH, Times New Viking / Lovvers, DJ Scotch Egg, Sun Araw.
How do people respond to live shows in Belfast – rowdy or reserved?
Belfast crowds are usually really up for it! Luckily, not too many people in Belfast have the pretence of being hip so we can just get on with partying.
Any cool cafes, or record stores we should know about?
Favourite cafe is Common Grounds – a charming little non-profit coffee house in the University Area. Good sandwiches and free refills too which is always a bonus. Back Beat Records is pretty much the only decent place to buy records. You can stock up on krautrock bootlegs til your heart’s content!
What keeps you in Belfast?
My pals. Having a decent job for once. Fear of fucking up if I went elsewhere.
Sun Araw : Heavy Deeds by SUPMAG
Ordinary Days Gig Listing:
Tickley Feather, JL Seagull – Tuesday 17th November: The Menagerie
James Blackshaw, Robyn G. Shiels, Ruby Colley – Thursday 26th November: The Menagerie
Gary War & support – Thursday 7th January: TBA
