Last week (bear with me, catching up!) I helped out at Do You Remember The First Time? A gig organised by Belfast City Council and broadcast live by ATL and recorded for TV (being broadcast this Tuesday, details at the end of the post).

The gig was held to celebrate the re-opening of the Ulster Hall after a two year refurbishment. Put together by the ATL team, each act performed two songs – one of their own, and one a cover from a band that they had seen play at the Ulster Hall in the past. Acts were all local, including Kowalski, Panama Kings, Lowly Knights (attractive girls included), Ash, and a surprise appearance from Snow Patrol. Unfortunately my favourite local band, General Fiasco, were missing from the line-up.

It was a great night really – I was just looking after some of the bands, making sure they were where they needed to be when they needed to be, so I managed to catch quite a lot of the concert, and it should be well worth viewing as well – the footage does look great. The Ulster Hall has definitely benefited from a make-over as well. Although you won’t notice much of a difference in the hall, the entrance is much nicer, as are the backstage areas (although they are still being finished by the look of things).

At the end of the night, all the acts got on stage for a performance of “Teenage Kicks” which with pyrotechnics and paper cannons was a bit like some weird X-Factor final!

After the gig of course, came the drinks – first in the Ulster Hall, then the Stiff Kitten (as the shutters were coming down and the floor was being hosed in disinfectant) and then the Holiday Inn bar. I left about half four in the morning I think.

Fun night though. ‘A’ was there as well, but I managed to avoid tipsy texting or anything like that. Result!

You can catch the concert “ATL – Live At The Hall” on BBC Two Northern Ireland at 9pm on St Patrick’s Day (Tuesday the 17th of March). If it’s still available on the iPlayer, you should be able to find a link to it on this page.