It’s not just any band that can claim influences as diverse as Scotland’s favourite son, Robbie Burns and English punkers the Sex Pistols.
But then, The Real McKenzies can’t be described as just any band.
The Real McKenzies, a Vancouver-based, bagpipe-wielding, kilt-wearing, Celtic six-piece punk force blast into Banff to play Wild Bill’s, March 14, to get the town warmed up for St. Patrick’s Day.
Formed in 1994 by Paul McKenzie as a form of revenge against his parents and grandparents, “who used to make me dress up in a kilt and make me sing and dance to traditional Scottish music,” the band recently released its latest album, 10,000 Shots (on top of another eight full-length efforts between 1995 and 2010).
The Real McKenzies have toured North America a half dozen times and Europe five. They’ve toured and played with Rancid, NOFX, Flogging Molly, Bay City Rollers and many more.
The Real McKenzies are McKenzie (vocals), Dirty Kurt Robertson (guitar, vocals), Matthew MacNasty (bagpipes), Sean Sellers (war drums), Mark ‘Bone’ Boland (guitar, vocals) and Gwomper (bass).
McKenzie put the band together, “by trial and error about 20 years ago. Since then, the revolving door has accepted and turned out over 100 people, for various reasons, like jobs, family, madness, etc.
“It has always been a priority in my life to keep this band alive, for reasons of which I am both sure and unsure. The last 10 years or so, I have been assisted greatly by the old guard (Bone, Kurt and Sean) to find willing members to take the rock ‘n’ roll tasks of recording one more CD and doing one more tour.”
For the most part, a Real McKenzies show features about 70 per cent original songs, penned and arranged by the band as a collaborative effort and a few songs the members can’t resist; such as by aforementioned Burns, Andy Steward, Alex Harvey and others.
Described as a road-hardened crew of travelling minstrels, entertainers and vagabonds on a never-ending quest for good times, McKenzie says the band plays and tours for about six months each year, and they play, “anywhere they want us as we tour through an area.
“We’ve been around more than 20 years and we’re celebrating the fact that we are still alive after what we have put ourselves through the last few years.”
To describe a TRM show as high energy would be an understatement, as McKenzie himself describes taking the stage as “total control disguised as rock and roll mayhem, both electric and accoustic.”
Anthemic guitars and soaring bagpipes play off each other as McKenzie spins yarns of times long past and regales with tales of endless drunken revelries. Blistering punk rock boot stompers stand alongside passionate singalong ballads while good times and joyous camaraderie are all the order of the day.
