Vibrations Once Again

Now that the Ulster Hall premiere of Good Vibrations is over, some of you (if there are any of you!) may have noticed I’ve been indulging in a spot of moonlighting of late. I’ll hold off on the full (true?) confession until the film gets its general release, but in the meantime, and on the understanding that normal service will resume in the next issue, I’ve scribbled down ten things I learned during the course of a pretty insane night.

1. Terri Hooley can’t half rustle up a guest-list.
The Hewitt, Hudson and Duke are emptied. The great, the good, the not so good – they’re all here to see how the filmic Hooley measures up to the man himself. Playwright Martin Lynch, Undertone John O’Neill, the Belfast-born film theorist Mark Cousins, and Oliver Jeffers, the brilliant children’s author, are amongst those spotted in the lobby of the Ulster Hall minutes before show time. Which adds much to the sense of occasion, but does little for the digestive health of the film’s co-author. And don’t even get me started on the real Brian Young, the real Greg and Marty Cowan, the real Ruth, the real Anna, the real Dave and, of course, the real Terri.

It’s the Ulster Hall!
It’s the Ulster Hall! Okay, because of the high ceiling maybe the sound isn’t perfect for a movie showing. But it’s the Ulster Hall!

The local music fraternity stepped up to the plate.
Yes, there are members of Mojo Fury, Colly Strings and The Wonder Villains in our Rudi, Outcasts and The Undertones – all adding musical back-bone to the Equity-carded frontmen (and there’s young John D’Arcy, too, playing John O’Neill) – but off camera, sterling work has also been done by the Cashier No. 9 guys who, produced for the occasion by Rudi’s Brian Young, are responsible for the roaring versions of ‘Cops’, ‘Big Time’, ‘I Spy’ and ‘You’re a Disease’ that appear on screen. There had been talk of a de-indiefiction ritual taking place before the boys hit the studio. Whatever they did – it’s worked a treat.

The originals still stand tall.
Mr. Young – who, if he wasn’t so modest, could stake a claim as the heart and soul of Belfast punk – leads his Sabrejets through a great set at the after-show. The reformed Outcasts follow up, rattling through an hour’s worth of their old classics. One of the most striking features of the shoot was the enthusiasm with which our young extras took to the Ulster Punk songbook. When filming the big set-piece gig scenes, spontaneous sing-alongs were very much the order of the day –raising blood-pressure amongst the continuity people, but gladdening the hearts of everybody else. Big, big time.

Play ‘Dream Baby Dream’ by Suicide loud and there’ll be tears.
Lots of tears. Well, blame David Holmes for that one. Also, doesn’t ‘Tin Soldier’ by The Small Faces sound wonderful when it’s turned all the way up? But then, you’d probably have guessed that yourself.

There’s only two Terri Hooleys.
The “Future Mrs. Hooley” T-shirts on sale outside the venue may have opened the position up to any consenting female of marriageable age, but after watching Richard Dormer’s portrayal in the film, my worry is that Belfast now has two Mr. Hooleys wandering the streets. Even though I’m pretty sure there’s a law (civic/quantum) that forbids this. Dormer, of course, as anyone who saw his portrayal of Alex Higgins in Hurricane will tell you, has form on this front. But watching this twinkling, mild-mannered son of the stage transform into a brandy-downing folk devil (as Richard himself puts it, “from the black coat down”) has been a thrilling, educating and intermittingly spooky experience.

It isn’t just a Belfast film.
Yes, a lot of those involved share a BT postcode, and yes – if minded that way – that is something to celebrate. But whether its Jodie Whittaker, David Wilmot, Killian Scott, Diarmuid Noyes, Liam Cunningham or Dylan Moran amongst the cast, or Ivan McCullough and Derek Wallace in the crew – the Good Vibes family spoke with many accents. Not always separately , and not always soberly – but yip – in one voice.

There aren’t half some decent local actors coming up.
Michael Colgan, Mary Lindsay, Ryan McParland, Andrew Simpson, John Travers, Kerr Logan, Chris Patrick Simpson, Conor McNeill, Niall Wright, Mark Ryder. Take a bow.

It’s always worth having one good suit in the wardrobe.
Especially when your writing partner is a onetime recipient of ‘Northern Ireland’s Best Dressed Man’.

It would be great if we could do it again?
And – if you didn’t make it on the 31st – maybe get you lot could come along too. No pressure, though.