Harp Bar

35 Hill Street in the Cathedral Quarter of Belfast’s City Centre is the home to the Harp Bar. However, prior to 1978 most gigs in Belfast had taken place in bars and youth clubs on the city’s outskirts, such as the “Glenmachan Hotel, Girton Lodge and Paddy Lambes”(96) Before the Harp bar though, there was The Pound Club. A venue found on Townsend Street. Blues and heavy rock were its sound. However, it was also a home of sorts to upcoming bands like Victim, Rudi and The Outcasts to name a few. However, this wouldn’t be the only place where bands like those previously mentioned would congregate. The Harp Bar became that new home for punk rockers and bands alike. It’s inaugural punk gig played by Victims in 1978 was the first of many and Wes Graham of Victim looks back fondly on what the bar had and has done for the punk movement, “Some may say the Harp was a major catalyst for the Ulster punk scene in the late 70s, a unique environment which spawned and nurtured a wealth of undiscovered talent, a seminal meeting place where disillusioned, like-minded teenagers congregated to launch a music-inspired crusade against Northern Ireland’s deep-rooted traditions of bigotry, discrimination and apathy” And it did that. It brought those from both sides of the divide, working class, upper class and even the rich kids from Bangor together. This was an environment where they could mix and mingle freely away from the intimidation of the Troubles. A regular of the bar, Joe Donnelly states, “It was a place where people could be different to the ordinary guy and girl in the street, and express their individuality through their taste in music and dress sense without fear of getting your head kicked in” It was this inclusive nature of the punk movement that brought both sides together and encouraged it, sure anarchy brought divide and it comes naturally with a movement such as punk, but the Harp emphasised and honed the inclusive nature of what being a punk is all about.