Zebra

Zebra From; Ireland Active; 1979 – 1980
Style; Reggae
Line Up;
Guitar & Vocals; Pete Deane
Guitar & Vocals; Steven Rekab
Percussion & Vocals; Bernard Rangel
Bass; Brian Narty
Drums; Mark Thyme

Zebra were Ireland’s only reggae band at this time. Reggae had become very popular in Ireland with many reggae bands coming over from the UK for gigs in McGonagles & the Downtown Kampus in Cork. They also recorded the only 12″ single on Terri Hooleys the Good Vibrations record label. Good Vibrations was a Northern record label dedicated to promoting Irish punk bands. All releases on the label were self financed by Terri. Zebra scored notable support slots with XTC and Stiff Little Fingers at the Belfield UCD during April 1979.

From March to May 1979 Zebra held residency at the Mississippi Rooms, Bray. During May ’79 they also had a residency at the Belfield Bar UCD, May also saw them playing the now famous Dandelion Market twice, they would return for a third concert in July. During September Zebra had a residency at the Magnet Bar, Dublin.

Steven Rekab was formerly with the very successful The Lookalikes. Mark Thyme was replace by Leo Mallon on drums, although Leo appears on the Repression single, he was not with the band very long and was soon replaced by Mark McCormack. Mark later would go on to play with Known Authority & Kissed Air. Peter Deane would go on to form Some Kind of Wonderful.

16-17/02/1979 Project Arts Centre, Dublin “Dark Space Festival” with The Atrix, D.C. Nien, The New Versions, Berlin, Rocky DeValera & The Gravediggers, U2, Revolver.

The Project Arts Centre “Dark Space” festival brings together the biggest ever collection of Irish “New Wave” bands under one roof, from both the north & south. After Public Image pull out, the only non Irish band are The Mekons. Much like many modern festivals “Dark Space” had two stages, one in the main hall & one in a smaller hall. Many of the local Dublin bands play in the smaller hall including D.C. Nien, Zebra, Modern Heirs, The Letters, The Vultures. Revolver kicked off the 24 hour “Dark Space” festival at 11pm on the Friday night. They are the “old men” of the Dublin “New Wave” scene, they and The Vipers were at the first Project “New Wave” festival in 1977. U2 close the festival on the Saturday night. Their set is stopped mid way through due to late scheduling. There is also no time for a “Live Aid” style finale with all the bands on stage together. From reading reviews of this festival, I believe that Rocky DeValera & The Gravediggers & U2 played two sets.

The price of admission was dropped from £6 to £4 after John Lydon’s PIL dropped out.

Irish Times Review by Joe Breen In the wake of the euphoria surrounding Van Morrison’s concerts in Ireland last week the success of the Project’s Art Centre 24 hour “Dark Space” festival may be overlooked.

In fact, it was was a 26 hour event as the music continued until midnight last Saturday week. Aside from the more controversial aspects of the festival, such as the strip tease act, the music, played entirely by leading young Irish bands (with the exception of The Mekons from Britain), was of an unexpectedly high standard. maybe it was the appearance of Britain’s leading rock DJ, John Peel, which prompted the energetic performances & it is reasonable to assume he was accordingly impressed.

Prior to the venture many people feared the worst. The festival idea has strong hippy connotations & it was felt that possibly the New Wave fans & bands would find it all too boring. Allied to that the disappointment over the non appearance of Johnny Lydon & his PIL band & the confusion over whether some Irish bands would play added to the pessimistic view.
However, as events showed, it was probably better that Lydon did not appear as Public Image’s star appeal might have detracted from the impact of the local bands. I caught The Atrix, The Mekons, The Virgin Prunes, U2 & many more. They were all enjoyable but I was particularly impressed by U2, who have made great progress in the last few months, & the very promising, The Atrix. The Virgin Prunes very theatrical act was highly entertaining, but the limitations of the music & playing are too severe.
The crowd, John Stephenson of the Project told me, totalled about 800 over the 26 hours, but at the reduced price of £4 a head (owing to the non appearance of John Lydon & Throbbing Gristle) he said that the festival would lose a lot of money. Invariably, there were many small problems, such as the sound not always being correct or the music drowning out the soundtracks of the films which were shown throughout the festival. But these minor cribs amount to little when compared to the peace, the good music & the general good atmosphere which permeated the East Essex Street building. Even the Project workers remained in good spirits at the snacks counter though they were there for 12 hour shifts.

Unfortunately, along with the many unusually dressed people there were (including one fan with a Mahican hair style) I noticed two people wearing Nazi insignia, a despicable trait that I thought the New Wave had dispensed with. They is nothing funny about fascism, as many people of different races & colours have found out, & are still finding out to day.
Incidentally, I tried to find out the meaning of the title, “Dark Space”, but nobody seemed able solve the mystery. However at 7am on a Saturday morning “Dark Space”, adequately summed up the the state of my head, so maybe that’s what the organisers meant.
Bill Graham Hot Press It may have been the most significant Dublin rock event since the Rats left town. Certainly Project’s “Dark Space” momentarily took capital rock out of the doldrums it’s been fighting for the last two years. Van Morrison can provide the motto – it surely is too late to stop now.
In fact, the non appearance of Public Image was a boon. Bereft of their presence and the weekend punks they would have attracted, the flow wasn’t distorted nor energies distracted by that overriding event, instead, but for the presence of The Mekons. “Dark Space” was a completely local event, allowing the bands to sow the seeds of self-conscious community.
It wasn’t just Dublin. The Belfast contingent in their denims & black leather jackets were just as important with Rudi possibly the band who gained the greatest advantage out of the event. The two scenes mixed as they never had the opportunity to previously “Dark Space” significance must include the cross border detents it achieved.
Admittedly Project lost money. But the spirit of the affair appears to have convinced them of the necessity to repeat the experiment & if there were faults in the organisation, the lessons have surely been learnt.
The event had to be over-the-top to make the desired impact & the scope of the occasion at least allowed every band to democratically show their wares. None the less few had the stamina to make it through the full twenty four hours. It may be wiser to concentrate the next into an all nighter.
It was the less estimated bands who provided the surprises, D.C. Nien, The Letters, Zebra, The Modern Heirs and, so this non-witness gathers, The Vultures all proving themselves as fully capable as the groups in the lager hall. As for the bigger names, they all performed close to or at the peak of their abilities.
Except for early gobbing & numbskulls at the finale who ripped off the reception desk, the event was never petty. The organisation wasn’t always perfect but it invariably coped & was never the shambles some pessimists had previously predicted. If I’ve one grip, it was the closing scene, U2 being cut off in mid set due to late scheduling. Whatever about them, it really should have climaxed with every band or at least a representative on stage. That celebration didn’t come.
No matter, an orphan scene finally found a home where it didn’t have to deal with Fagins, publicans, gangsters, hucksters, and failed star trippers. Those who were there know its importance, in five years time, those who weren’t will be clamouring to pretend they were there and Project will discover they’d had as large audience as filled the G.P.O. “Dark Space” was the first Irish rock gig for the eighties. Jump aboard.

07/04/1979 Downtown Kampus, Cork with The Bogey Boys, Overnight Bag

11/04/1979 Belfield University College, Dublin

21/04/1979 Belfield, University College, Dublin with XTC, D.C. Nien

02/06/1979 St Stephens Green, Dublin with Zebra, Rocky DeValera & The Gravediggers. Liam Mackey “Frontlines” Hot Press All concerned have agreed that the colourful several thousand strong Anti Nuclear march in Dublin on June 2, winding up with a concert and speeches in Stephen’s Green, was a successful blow struck for the cause, even allowing for the late evening rain which dampened audience enthusiasm and terminated a reportedly excellent set from Zebra. “They could’ve played all night” was the offered by one observer……………..Earlier in the afternoon, the Boy Scoutz had opened the gig, with a set which however raw it may have been, indicated that they’re treating things more seriously than of days of yore, and there are no major problems afflicting the band that assiduous rehearsal won’t iron out. Cathy’s amazing vocal range is still the trump card though, and she gets better with every outing. Anyway, how can you honestly dislike a band discriminating enough to do a version of the Boys’ “The First Time……”

Also on the bill were Barry Moore and ace harpist Eamonn Murray (currently doing business with the Gravediggers) who joined forces for a set, which served as a fore taste of their soon to be released, adaptation of “Danny Boy” on Mulligan……….. but at the end of the day it was Zebra it seems, who stole the show. Here’s to the next one………

13/07/1979 Liberty Hall, Dublin with The Letters

04/08/1979 McGonagle’s, Dublin with U2

08/09/1979 Downtown Kampus, Cork with Street

10/10/1979 Common Room, UCG

13/10/1979 Dining Hall, Trinity College, Dublin Freshers Ball with Rocky DeValera & The Gravediggers

01/12/1979 Teach Furbo, Galway with D.C. Nien, Nightrider, The Scheme, The Blades, The Atrix, Moondogs, Day Glows, Tears & Rust.

Where Are They Now?

Bernard Rangel has a diverse cultural origin and he is a self-taught artist painting for more than 40 years. He started by painting backdrops for the Amateur Hong Kong Ballet group and has since then painted household and commercial interiors, ceramics, bed linen, jeans, paper and on canvas. He works with acrylic, Indian ink and oil paint and plays with a wide variety of colours. He is the founder of the art genre Contemporary Tribal Surrealism.