This is a brief piece on me and my relationship with Whipping Boy. It pretty much started with 2tv playing the video for We Don't Need Nobody Else. I was lying up one Sunday morning, watching the telly, when suddenly this video came on. There was a freaky guy spinning around in an equally freaky chair. He went on to be even cooler when he smashed up a table full of fruit. And the scrolling message thingy behind Myles was pretty neat too. After the video was over I tried to remember the name, but as usual I forgot it by the time I started on some Physics (if I knew what Physics was. Brian knows Physics but I don't).
That was at the end of November last year. Sometime around the first week in December I was sitting in a car-park listening to 2FM on the radio. Dave Fanning (the great) was on and he played a double helping of this band. The first was We Don't Need Nobody Else, and then Twinkle. As he introduced the next record I vowed to myself that I had to get their album. A few days before Christmas, I took a strange notion and went into Caroline Music (hi John) and hunted for Whipping Boy. I found it, brought it home, and devoured the whole album in a short space of time (oh, and I paid for it too). The album was pretty much a work of genius. And Brian thought so too.
One Friday in Physics (which Brian completely understands), Brian asked me if I wanted to go see the band. That night. Y'see they were playing the Empire in Botanic Avenue, Belfast. So we went, that night. Only a fiver in and after patiently waiting several hours, Whipping Boy came on stage. And there they were. Those 4 people from that album sleeve - they were right there in front of me. And they were sooo close. At one stage Ferghal put his foot over the stage monitor and knocked over Brian's pint. Before the encore, I managed to lean over the edge of the stage and pinch two of Paul's plectrums (I still use em today, and they are great. Jim Dunlop's).
During the last song of the encore a whole pile of madness erupted. Ferghal took a slithering dive into the audience, and just as the bouncers very gently helped him back on stage, some asshole behind me lifted me right onto the stage. I sort of stood up and looke around. There were faces, lights, and Ferghal was crawling across the stage. I ran over to Myles' mic and gave my loudest shout into it, before running back and diving into the crowd. Unfortunately I didn't dive far enough and the bouncers caught up with me pretty quickly. So I hung around outside for Brian coming out, and recounted the tale for about a week.
Just before my exams last June I was inspired to do this homepage. I'd really love to thank Ferghal, Myles, Paul and Colm personally for the good music, good gig, and general good times they've provided and no doubt will continue to provide. I'll probably never get to thank them personally, so thanks lads.
To the uninitiated. If you haven't heard Whipping Boy, then hear them. They're the biggest band to come out of Ireland since "Twenty Really Fat Blokes From Ireland Playing The Spoons". Go listen to them, NOW.