Stiff Little Fingers

Stiff Little Fingers return to Belfast on 22 August 2026 at Custom House Square. Formed in the city in 1977, the band shaped a sharp, melodic strain of punk rock built around Jake Burns’ lyrics on daily life, political tension and youth disillusion. From their early days as Highway Star to the first blast of Suspect Device in 1978 on their own Rigid Digits label, they quickly found wider echoes with Alternative Ulster and the debut album Inflammable Material (1979), followed by Nobody’s Heroes (1980), Go for It (1981) and Now Then... (1982). A split in 1983 was followed by a return in 1987.

Since then the line-up has shifted, with Burns steering the course. Today’s quartet — Jake Burns, Ali McMordie, Ian McCallum and Steve Grantley — keeps the edge of the early material: direct guitars, tight rhythms and choruses built to be shouted back. Later records, from Flags and Emblems and Get a Life to No Going Back (2014), broaden the themes without losing bite. On stage, a set that threads early staples with deeper cuts, played where much of the story began.