THE ALMIGHTY frontman / CIRCUS DIABLO guitarist Ricky Warwick recently wrote the following column for Jukebo.cx:

Chicken Sh*t Or Rock N' Roll

"A question that I get asked quite often is 'Do you think music has the power to change people or even the world?' My answer to this is 'Yes, absolutely.' Let me give you an example: Me!

I grew up and spent the first fourteen years of my life on a small farm in a small town in Northern Ireland called Newtownards about ten miles east of Belfast. My life was pretty much mapped out for me. I would go to school, leave at sixteen years of age and come home and work on the farm, which was a chicken farm. So chicken sh*t was to be my life and my life to be was chicken sh*t. It wasn’t a case of the future being so bright that I had to wear shades; more like the future was so full of the smell of sh*t I had to wear a surgical mask!

Northern Ireland back in the seventies and early eighties when I was a kid was vastly different to the peaceful, thriving Northern Ireland of today. Back then, the troubles were at their height and Belfast city centre was a no-go area after dark. There were armoured cars, bombs, bomb scares, shootings, punishment beatings, religious bigotry and riots and if you were a kid growing up back then, there was absolutely nothing to do. Very few bands would come over and play, shops would close early, no fast food chains to hang out in, but you know what? All I have is fond memories of my childhood there. Let me explain. Every Thursday from about the age of eight I would religiously watch Top Of the Pops. I was in awe of bands like Slade, T Rex, Sweet and David Bowie. The people in these bands seemed like some sort of musical aliens to me - and in Bowies case, they were! The sound they created, the way they looked, there was certainly nothing like that happening in Belfast… oh, but we had Van Morrison!

Fast forward about five years to Punk Rock. Now, punk rock really took hold in Northern Ireland. It gave the kids from both sides of the religious divide a unity, something positive to direct their anger towards and most importantly of all we had our own bands, bands like The Undertones, Rudi, The Outcasts and Stiff Little Fingers. My sister bought me Inflammable Material by Stiff Little Fingers and the first time I heard the guitar riff off track one, Suspect Device, I was hooked. All me and my friends would talk about at school was music and football. The reason that I liked Stiff Little Fingers so much was that they were singing about stuff that I could relate to and as they were from Belfast, it made me feel they were my own personal band.

I found out that Stiff Little Fingers would be playing a hometown gig in Belfast in a couple of weeks. I told a good friend of mine that we had to go and he said his older brother could get us tickets. The only problem was, I had just turned fourteen and wasn’t allowed to go anywhere near Belfast at night!

After making up some elaborate excuse to my parents about going to a late football practice or something as dumb as that, myself and my mate Brian sneaked on to the bus and headed into Belfast to see Stiff Little Finger. It was to be our first ever real concert. We stood nervously at the back of the hall, while what seemed like giant punks, pushed and jostled, somebody smashed a bottle near by us, the atmosphere was like nothing I had ever experienced in my short 14 years on the planet… it was amazing!

Then Stiff Little Fingers hit the stage and started playing and for the next hour I was transfixed. I had never heard an aural assault like it, the energy, the passion and the power… it was pure magic! When the gig was over I felt like I could take on the world, everything had changed, life now had a purpose and a meaning, anything was possible. I had just seen the raw power of rock ‘n’ roll whip a thousand kids into a frenzy, myself included. I knew exactly what I had to do, where I wanted to go and what I would need to get there.

The next morning I asked my father to lend me the money to buy an electric guitar. He did and I bought one. What I also purchased that day was my future!

Never underestimate the power of Rock ‘n’ Roll… ever!!"