SULTANS OF PING FC (Setanta, Salthill)

SUPPORT act LMNO Pelican don’t so much break the ice as slide straight across it in a strangely unmemorable fashion.

Out they come, all indie haircuts and odd dress sense. They play a number. S’alright. Bit loud. Make a joke. No-one gets it. Another song (or three?). Lead singer steps off stage and lugs microphone into the centre of the hall. sings sitting on floor. Takes out conveniently placed stepladder and, erm, stands on it. Song goes right over out heads. Steps down and goes back on stage. Does ‘Call Yossarian’ (their best song, ever). Exit, sans encore, stage right.

Yep, the same as they ever were.

The same applied to the Sultans for the most part. Cork’s finest have been turning Japanese over the last few months (Sultans of Ying anybody?) and unfortunately, in the process have become somewhat more predictable. Old favourites like ‘Rasa’ and ‘Where’s Me Jumper?’ have lost some of their original flavour (like all bubblegum pop) and the harder punk riffs of their ‘Teenage’ trilogy and ‘Japanese Girls’ aren’t diverse enough to sustain a full set. Tonight the two jewels are the manic ‘Psychopath’ and the soon to be released ‘Wake Up And Scratch Me’. The rest of the set is all smokeless fuel.

So thank Buddha for Niall O’Flaherty. A Sultans’ gig may not be up to much musically but the soundbites between songs are to be cherished. The man’s a comic genius and has turned use of the word “wanker” into an art form. I’m a wanker (journalist), the people at the front are wankers (because he can see them) and the crowd at the back are wankers as well (because they’re not at the front).

O’Flaherty insults, mocks and preens in true spandex style. The obnoxiousness and humour of punk is personified here not in the music but in all the parts in between. Which begs the question: Is rock and roll the new comedy?

I dunno. But I hear Newman and Baddiel are both in the market for a new partner.