Mon 03 Nov 2025
7:30PM
€16
ONLY CORK SHOW
John Robb talks about a life in music, his best selling book ‘The Art Of Darkness : The History Of Goth’, being the first person to interview Nirvana, coining Britpop, his adventures on the music frontline and so much more.
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DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF ROCK & ROLL? is a history of alternative rock from John Robb with the music still ringing in his ears. This collection follows John’s journey from the late 1970s, when he was first caught up in punk’s high-octane thrill, to the present day, via the early days of the rave scene, the birth of electronic and techno and myriad bands that spun off on their own idiosyncratic paths.
John was the first person to write about Nirvana, he coined the term Britpop and he documented the Stone Roses’ rise out of Manchester before anyone else was interested. He was at every pivotal gig and has interviewed every key player in the business, including Jordan, the queen of punk, founding father of new American rock Steve Albini, goth-rock guitarist Daniel Ash, infamous Oasis co-founder Noel Gallagher and music greats like Lemmy and Poly Styrene.
Few others have witnessed first-hand so many important moments of the last forty years of rock history. Here, they come together to form the essential history of a personal quest to document the ever-changing soundtrack of the modern world.
Richard Jobson will join John to talk about Skids, how punk rock changed his life, how he went to London and became the youngest kid on the punk inner circle of the Banshees and the Sex Pistols, the art of creating, and his relationship with Stuart Adamson (who moved on to form his new band Big Country).
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JOHN ROBB
John Robb is a many-faceted creature. Not just a well known face from TV, but also a best selling author, musician, journalist, presenter and pundit, music website boss, publisher, festival boss, spoken word artist and frontman of punk outfits The Membranes and Goldblade.
As well as ‘The Art of Darkness : The History of Goth’, John has written best sellers such as ‘Punk Rock – An Oral History’ and ‘The Stone Roses and the Resurrection of British Pop’. Current projects include a new book with Alan McGee as well as writing the new Oasis book.
RICHARD JOBSON
Richard Jobson is the lead singer with the punk rock group Skids whose original run was from 1977-1982.
Both Green Day and U2 recorded a cover version of ‘The Saints Are Coming’ (the third single from the Skids and featured on their debut album) for charitable purpose. His love of politics (staunch socialist), art, movies, literature informed everything about Skids and from the mid-1980s, Jobson became a prolific front man for music and arts programmes on the BBC, ITV and Sky.
