Tom Robinson

Ploughing the social issue and sexual politics furrows for over 20 years now, Tom Robinson may not be the cutting edge artist he briefly was (during the punk wars), but he still manages to make a point now and then.

As opening act for Dublin's newest music venue (superb, by the way, prepare to be impressed), Robinson might not have been the audience-puller it needed to start off with a bang, but there was enough partisan enthusiasm and general genuine interest to counteract any claims to the contrary.

One of the few remaining of the class of 1977 to still trade his political wares (and suffering the commercial downside because of it), Tom Robinson sang his hits (Glad To Be Gay, War Baby, 2-4-6-8 Motorway, Atmospherics: Listen To The Radio). Yuppy Scum, an adaptation of Jacques Brel's La Bourgeoisie, and Hard typify his two sides. The former is an ironic barb at middle class hypocrisy, the latter a wry look at sexual politics in the modern age.

Between these (and a smart glance at bisexuality in Rum Thunderbird), Robinson says things that other semi-pop stars his age seem to have forgotten. If he had less of a conscience and more facile points of view, he'd probably sell out bigger venues. But he doesn't, and frankly, we're all the better for it.