The Clash Live – Lanchester Polytechnic – 22nd November 1976

Supporting the Sex Pistols

Down stairs bar, Lanchester Polytechnic, Coventry

last updated 7 July 2008 - page started
major update 7 Jan 2010 - everything!
updated 16 January 2016 - added punters comments box
updated 27 Dec 2018 - huge number of additions
updated August 2022 - added Cov newspapers and corrected date to 22nd
Updated April 2024 added Ignore Laian Orders [sticker] story

Recorded by Ben Browton

(a.k.a. Seymour Bybuss of The Shapes - 1976-80).

If you know of any recording, please email blackmarketclash

For the princely sum of 50p, we saw two bands, The Sex Pistols and The Clash. We even bootlegged the sets on tape. The crowd, such as it was, hated every second of it, but we loved it. It was just raw and dangerous. We promptly cut our hair, burned our record collection and hied ourselves off to London to Neal Street, and hung out at the Roxy for a glorious, if dirty period.

We saw all the bands before the Bill Grundy thing, and before anyone had heard of punk other than those in the scene. I remember the Damned, Adverts, Nipple Erectors, Generation X, Johnny Moped, X Ray Spex, Models, etc. Then it was all gone and punk exploded onto the national scene. By this time, we had started The Shapes, and went through a million line up changes before we settled on the line up that had it's success. I'll answer all those little questions in the interview bit though.

Incorrect date circulates

Mistakingly identfied as being on the 29th, this may be because the of the lateness of the music press in finding out and publishing the wrong Monday.

The Festival archives and Coventry papers confirm the date as the 22nd.

Terry Chimes quits The Clash

Terry Chimes had left the band. Unconvinced by the politics, and increasingly put off by the growing amount of violence around the scene he had announced his decision to quit, his last gig just four days earlier at the Nags Head on the 18th.

The Clash had advertised and audiotioned '50 drummers' including one Jon Moss who would go on to trade on the fact that he had been 'a drummer for the Clash'.

Fed up with with his claims, Paul reviewing the singles for Sounds (25th June 1977) dismissed Moss when reviewing his single.

In desperation, Harper was invited back for a second audition and put the kit but he needed to learn the songs ahead of the Anarchy Tour. Lanchester Polytechnic was a warm up gig for the tour .

Harper finally perusaded the band to allow him to record a session so he could play along and learn the songs.

JOE STRUMMER AND THE LEGEND OF THE CLASH
Unconvinced by the politics, Terry Chimes announced he was leaving

Page 60
While the record labels were hesitating to offer the band a deal, Terry Chimes announced he was leaving. Unconvinced by the politics, and increasingly put off by the growing amount of violence around the scene, Terry agreed to fill in until a replacement could be found. As it happened, the drumming position wouldn't have a permanent incumbent until the arrival of Topper Headon the following year. In the meantime, The Clash tried out a guy called Rob Harper with Terry periodically reappearing up until March.

PASSION IS A FASHION
Harper described the Clash frontline as being like 'three Eddie Cochrans' after seeing Lacy Lady gig

Page 127
Whatever Mick's worries. The Clash were poised to take their message to the nation. In the last week of November, The Clash began rehearsing with their new drummer, Rob Harper-Milne (then calling himself Rob Harper).

A friend of Billy Idol's from Sussex University, Harper had seen the group at Ilford: he described the impact of their frontline as being like 'three Eddie Cochrans'. He had replied to the advert for a drummer the group had placed in the Melody Maker.

RETURN OF THE LAST GANG IN TOWN
Rob Harper persuaded back for a second audition

Page 171
Panic by now having begun to set in among members of the Clash camp, Terry Chimes suddenly found he was no longer being given the cold shoulder. ‘After they auditioned 50 or so, and couldn't find anyone they liked, they changed to a reconciliatory mood,' he laughs. ‘Bernie in particular kept on and on and on telling me I was making a mistake. He couldn't understand how anyone could walk out on what he saw as his masterplan taking shape.'

Nevertheless, Terry remained adamant that he was going to quit. So Rob Harper was persuaded back for a second audition, and Mick Jones's charm was turned full on. ‘Mick said, "Look, this is going to be a classic rock'n'roll tour. Why don't you come on it and see what you think? We need you." And that was the final arrangement.'

He might have let himself be talked around, but Rob was under no illusions about the situation. "You mustn't think that Mick was mad keen that I was the drummer for them: it was more a matter of expediency, because they had to have somebody.'

Rehearsals

Rehearsals began immediately. ‘Very thorough. Turn up every day at 11 or 12 and run through the set a couple of times,' says Rob.

He never got to play "How Can I Understand The Flies', abandoned at this point either because it no longer fitted in with the rest of the material, or because its drum pattern was more suited to Terry's clipped style than Rob's more fluid, Keith Moon-style assault.

Also dropped was ‘Deadly Serious', though it would resurface the following year in the guise of ‘Capital Radio'.

The repertoire for the tour initially numbered 11 songs, which Rob listed — along with self-addressed tips and reminders — in the front of the diary he kept for the duration of his time with the Clash: ‘1977', ‘Protex Blue', ‘48 Hours', ‘What's My Name', ‘Janie Jones', ‘I'm So Bored With The USA', ‘White Riot', ‘London's Burning', ‘Career Opportunities', ‘Deny' and encore "1-2 Crush On You'.

A private recording - wanted!

In order to help him learn his parts, Rob asked if he could record one of the early rehearsals.

Already concerned with maintaining as tight a grip on their public image as possible, the Clash initially refused permission, but in view of the limited number of rehearsal opportunities remaining, reluctantly gave way.

The tape is fascinating, catching the Clash with their guard down at this, the most self-conscious and studied period of their career.

Rob insists they were ‘just slopping through the material', explaining why there is only occasional evidence of his characteristically fluid, vigorous style, ‘Janie Jones' misses Terry's crisp staccato, and ‘1977' sounds particularly lifeless.

Joe's guitar was down to two strings on this day, and funds did not appear to be available for replacements, so he concentrated on singing. Or rather, he just sang: the evidence suggests that his concentration was somewhat lacking.

Most of the time, he cannot remember all the words, and in the case of "Protex Blue', usually sung by Mick, he cannot remember any.

Conversely, ‘I'm So Bored With The USA' and ‘What's My Name' are indecipherable because Joe had not yet written full lyrics for the songs.

Although the tape catches him in loose rehearsal mode, a tendency for him to mess up the words during bona fide performances was to remain a feature of Clash gigs.

Lanchester

On Monday 29 November, the Clash supported the Sex Pistols at Lanchester Polytechnic in Coventry. To all intents and purposes, the bands were using it as a warm- up gig for the Anarchy Tour, due to open that Friday, 3 December. Instead of taking the opportunity to let Rob break himself in for live work, however, the Clash asked Terry to play what was supposed to be one last farewell gig. The students proved far more deadly serious than the Clash even at their most intense. Not only was ‘White Riot' misinterpreted, but also the Sex Pistols' new song ‘No Future' (later to be re-titled ‘God Save The Queen'): an emergency committee meeting decided both were fascist. "They didn't want to pay us,' says Terry. Thus, he left in the middle of a fraught situation that was, if nothing else, at least typical of his time with the Clash.

Advert, Coventry Evening Telegraph

Wednesday 17 November 1976

Archived PDF

More variety for festival at Lanchester

Coventry Evening Telegraph,
4th November 1976

Archived PDF

THIS YEAR'S Lanchester Arts Festival, which begins on Saturday, November 13, and runs for a fortnight, will have a stronger theatrical bias than usual, but also includes films, pop concerts and poetry readings. ...

Lanchester Festival

Coventry Evening Telegraph,
12th November 1976

Archived PDF

THE rock group, Moon will be eager to impress when they play at the Lanchester Festival, Coventry, on Monday. ... Other artists booked include Andy Fairweather-Low on Friday 19; punk rock leaders The Sex Pistols on Monday 22, and Canned Heat on Friday W. John Palmer. ....

Book revisit
Life, out and about in Coventry in the 1970s

Link

DIRTY Stop Out's Guide to 1970s Coventry celebrates an era when the city became the focus of the nation.

The decade in Britain may be remembered as one of industrial strife and racial tensions but Coventry-born Ruth Cherrington shows how the city's music and entertainment scene helped bring people together.

In its closing years, the city's 2 Tone revolution challenged the stereotypes, not just musical ones, and even provided a new fashion trend that had ‘made in Coventry' stamped all over it - Sta-press trousers called time on flares, and vertigo-inducing platforms were replaced by ox-blood Dr Marten boots.

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Lanchester Polytechnic Students Union, Coventry

Lanchester Polytechnic, commonly known as "The Lanch," was a significant music venue in Coventry, England, during the 1970s and 1980s. The venue was part of the Coventry University campus, which was known as Lanchester Polytechnic from 1970 to 1987[2][4]. The Lanchester Polytechnic was created in 1970 through the merger of the Coventry College of Design, the Lanchester College of Technology, and the Rugby College of Engineering[4][10].

Lanchester Polytechnic Students Union became well known as a venue in the city for music in both its Main Hall and in the basement bar of its Priory Street building from the mid 1960s onwards.

It was a central hub for the emergence of 2-Tone music, with bands like The Specials and The Selecter regularly performing there[1]. The venue also hosted the annual Lanchester Art's Festivals in the 1970s[1]. Notable performances at the Lanch included artists like Slade, Billy Preston, Pink Floyd, and Chuck Berry[1]. The venue was also known for hosting a variety of other bands and artists, including the Jack Bruce Band, Colosseum, and the Modern Jazz Orchestra[5].

This reputation grew considerably with the appointment of Ted Little, a mature student who had previously worked in the music business and knew many booking agents. From 1967 to 1970 Ted Little developed the Lanchester Arts Festival of music, film, poetry and theatre.

Coventry music historian Pete Chambers, who was a regular at the venue, has documented the changes in the city's music scene and the role of the Lanch in these developments[1]. The venue's importance is also highlighted by the fact that Chuck Berry's only number one hit, "My-Ding-A-Ling," was recorded live in Coventry[1].

The festivals normally lasted a week to ten days. Significant events in the festival were advertised in the national press (including festival supplements in the music press).

The students union continued to be a major national venue for rock music throughout the 1970s from the 'prog rock' of ELP in the early part of the decade to punk and post punk, "Coventry became a centre for the UK music scene," (Pete Chambers).

Most importantly, the Two Tone Record Label was formed at the students union in 1979. Members of the founding bands of the Two Tone record label, The Specials and The Selecter, were students at the Lanchester Polytechnic, most importantly amongst these students was Jerry Dammers who had been an art student.

However, by the end of the 1990s, the Lanch, like many similar venues across the country, began to suffer due to shifts in the music scene and changing trends. Gigs and events were generally held at The Planet nightclub, and very few were held in the downstairs gymnasium that gave the Lanch its infamy[4].

Unfortunately, no images from the 1970s and 1980s of the Lanchester Polytechnic were found in the search results. However, there are some images available on the internet, such as those found on the blog "I Was A Teenage Sisters of Mercy Fan"[9] and "Coventry Music Articles by Pete Clemons"[11]. Please note that these images may not be from the 1970s or 1980s, and the actual source and date of the images should be verified.

Further information on the Extensive archive of bands and other cultural performances at the students union can be found at the Coventry Music Museum.

Lanchester Polytechnic

The Lanch as it was known back in the 1970's referred to The Lanchester Polytechnic, now called Coventry University, "can be traced back to when it was known as Coventry College of Design back in 1843. During 1852 it became Coventry School of Art which then became a College of Art in 1954. During 1960 the college's city centre buildings were erected and housed the newly created Lanchester College of Technology. The art college also shared the buildings.

About the Lanchester Poly Arts Festivals

From c1989 to the early 80's, The Lanchester Polytechnic Student Union, Priory street Coventry, organised a Winter Arts Festival for a whole week in February. These were amazing multimedia events mainly centred around some of the best upcoming underground bands and artists in many genres and solo artists. There were also poetry, theatre events etc as you will see for the programmes here and included the first ever Live Performance by Monty Python's Flying Circus.

The Lanch of course had regular Friday night band sessions in the Main hall for students and non students. Most of the budding musicians and fans would have gone to see these bands at the time. Sometimes you could see three top name bands quite cheaply by today's standards.

Lanch Social Secretary Ted Little, summed up the festival in 1970 -

"The Lanchester Arts Festival is different from most of the other leading festivals in that is aimed to be progressive, and not just in the 'Pop' sense of the word. Basically the aim of the festival is to bring together people who do not normally perform on the same stage,and get them to do something out of the ordinary. For example, Sir Adrian Boult has very rarely played with Nathan Milstein, and is likely not to do so again in the near future. Similarly what Ron Geesin and Ivor Cutler do on stage at the end of their evening will be worth seeing."

Clash roadie, Steve 'Roadent' Connolly leaves The Clash due to, 'musical differences with Mick'

28 June 2006

Online or archived PDF

"It was at the Sex Pistols Lanch gig that a Cov friend of ours Scon (Steven Connolly) became a roadie with them and later Clash - better known as Roadent.

He went on to appear in a German TV play and went out with Barbara Grogan of the Passions - who wrote the 80's hit I'm in love with a German Film Star.

As a result he says introduced the Specials to the infamous Bernie Rhodes at Mr Georges and as Mr Rhodes is the subject of Gangsters inadvertently influenced another song!"

Connolly says,

"It is true I did work for the Clash, used to live in the rehearsal room with Joe & Paul '76/'77, until musical differences between me and Mick left to my departure just after "White Man..." was released.

Then I moved from one rehearsal room to another — The Sex Pistols. What times we had. After the Pistols demise, I fled to Germany and had a couple of years acting for german tv — high point.

Connolly joins the Sex Pistols, SU won't pay the bands because 'White Riot' is 'deamed' fascist

Book: Englands Dreaming
Jon Savage, 'The Clash' Lanchester Polytechnic 1976

Link

Page 243
‘I first worked for the Clash at Lanchester Polytechnic in Coventry, on 29 November,' says Roadent (who had indulged in some Nazi posturing himself). ‘The Clash supported the Pistols and they refused to pay us because they thought ‘White Riot" was fascist. Then the Pistols did ‘"God Save The Queen", which was called "No Future" then, it was only the second time it had been played. The students called an emergency general meeting of the union and by order of the committee they decided not to pay these fascists.'

White Riot: Punk Rock and the Politics of Race

edited by Stephen Duncombe, Maxwell Tremblay

Link

Page 167: "I first worked for the clash at Lanchester Polytechnic in Coventry on 29 November" says Roadent (who had indulged in some Nazi posturing himself).

"The Clash supported the Pistols and they refused to pay us because they thought White riot was fascist. Then the pistols did God save the Queen it was called No Future then it was only the second time it had been played so the students called an emergency general meeting of the union and by order of the committee they decided not to pay these fascists."

Coventry Music Arts Festival History, 71-76

Link

Festival Guide, 1976

Enlarge

THROUGH A LENS DARKLY
Photos from Ben Browton

Link or achived PDF

Photos from the gig Ben Browton (a.k.a. Seymour Bybuss of The Shapes - 1976-80)

I had been taking photos since the age of nine, when I had a Kodak Brownie. I still have a lot of the prints; my family on top of a mountain in the Lake District, Hadrianís Wall, the monument at Waterloo and so on. I continued taking stuff through my teen years, and it was probably no surprise that I happened to have an Instamatic camera on my person on the evening of November 6th 1976, when a friend and I trekked to Lanchester Polytechnic in Coventry to see The Clash and The Sex Pistols playing.

The giants of punk rock the Lanchester bar

Coventry Telegraph
20 December 2006

Retrospective Gig review with organisers

Online or archived PDF version

IMAGINE this outrageous scenario, The Clash and The Sex Pistols, the world's most infamous punk rock bands, both playing on the same bill at Coventry's Lanchester Polytechnic.

Songs such The Clash's White Riot and The Sex Pistols' God Save the Queen (this was its first ever live airing under the working title No Future) were considered fascist anthems by the unsuspecting students' body, so subsequently payment for the gig was withheld.

Phil Dunn was the then president of the Lanchester Students' Union.

"It was the treasurer who had heard the lyrics and deemed them racist and fascist, and refused to sign the cheques," continued Phil.

"At the end of the gig there was this stand-off, with the bands down by the stage and the Students' Union at the back of the hall.

Interview with Ben Browton
a.k.a. Seymour Bybuss of The Shapes, 1976-80

This is a top class interview from Gareth Holder from a band called The Shapes.

[Blackmarketclash: This is a brilliant interview for any punk fan!]

Online or Archived PDF or text version

[Interviewer] I'll admit I knew bugger all about them but The Shapes story is a story that was repeated all around the country as a result of people seeing the Sex Pistols. People went out and formed bands thousands of them literally and made music. The Shapes were a bit more successful than most . We all know ad nauseam the story of the Clash/Sex Pistols and Siouxie. Here is a story of a band in a minor league but a story thats just as interesting.

The Shapes was formed by me and the singer Seymour (real name Ben) in early 1977. We had known each other for a number of years, having gone to the same school and hung with the same people. We were pretty much unaware of the whole punk thing until we went to a gig at Lanchester Polytechnic in the students union there in 1976.

Sex Pistols misfire at the Poly

Coventry Evening Telegraph
Wednesday 24th November 1976

Link

THE "punk" rock group, the Sex Pistols, known for an aggressive stage act, ran into some aggro themselves at the Lanchester Polytechnic.

For they left the polytechnic in Coventry without payment after students had complained that their act had included fascist and racist references.

The students' union have adopted a policy of not inviting anyone who puts racist or fascist views.

While the group were on stage, a hastily-arranged meeting of union officers at the concert discussed the complaints and decided not to pay the group.

The Sex are acknowledged as the British leaders of punk rock, a movement rooted in anti-culture and anti-etablishment feeling. Their act includes the use of foul language and obscenities.

They have just released their first single, called "Anarchy in the UK," and their lead goes under the name of Johnny Rotten.

Diabolical

The group, and another punk outfit called The Clash, had been booked for £475.

The students paid the groups' management £50, and are now seeking legal advice about their rights on further payment.

Mr Geoff Mason, the unions social secretary, who booked the group, said: "We knew that they weren't supposed to be very good, but they were even worse than we thought. It was diabolical.

The union president, Mr Phil Dunn. that he would be telling the NationalUnion of Students' entertainments office in London about the group and the type of act they presented.

The NUS have a national policy recommending colleges not to invite people known racist or fascist views to campuses.

Do you know anything about this gig?
Did you go?

All help appreciated. Info, articles, reviews, comments or photos welcome.

Please email blackmarketclash

Blackmarketclash | Leave a comment

33 Revolutions Per Minute Book

By Dorian Lynskey

Link

During that summer in London the scene was so far under the radar that punks were able to throw all these wild half understood ideas into the air and let them fall where they may not feeling the consequences. Nothing was fixed anything was possible at least for a short while. Ironically one victim of punks flirtation with fascist iconography was the most passionately anti racist of all the bands. The Clash played Lanchester Polytechnic in November the student union misunderstanding one particular lyric refused to pay them the offending song was called White Riot ...

CLASSIC GIGS

FILTHY LUCRE 20th anniversary tour

Sex Pistols and The Clash
Lanchester Polytechnic, Coventry
29th November 1976
Memories by David Parker

I had moved to Coventry in the summer of 1976 to study Industrial Design at Lanchester Polytechnic, it was my first move away from home and to my 18 year old self the experience was new and rather daunting.

Music was a major feature in my life. For the previous year I'd been playing in a splendidly ramshackle band of friends back home in Basingstoke, and it was a real jolt to have to leave that music-making behind. One of the biggest frustrations was that it seemed impossible to get anywhere in a musical career without some kind of major backing, or being Pink Floyd or Yes or someone similar.

The largely rubbish nature of the contemporary music scene in 1974-75 meant that I'd taken refuge in the music of the 1960s, digging up records in local junk shops by bands like the Yardbirds, The Beatles and a whole raft of obscure and fiercely unfashionable psychedelic groups like The Smoke, Dantalion's Chariot (wish I'd kept that one!) and The Creation. I was reading the New Musical Express (or 'The NME' as it truncated itself) every week, and the same discontent with contemporary music meant that they were reporting a revival of interest in US 'punk' bands from the 1960s like The MC5, The Flamin' Groovies, The Stooges and The 13th Floor Elevators.

After the relatively backwater nature of Basingstoke, Coventry seemed like the big city life to me. For one of a musical mind there were gigs aplenty to see, and although I cannot remember who they were exactly, the first band I saw at Lanchester was someone like the Welsh group Man (Deke Leonard in West Coast mode) or Renaissance (the bass player wore an embroidered cape). The pre-show DJ played Pink Floyd's 'Echoes' in its entirety, and the audience filed in quietly and sat on the floor in neatly ordered rows.

There was something else happening musically though. There were US bands emerging like the Ramones and Television (then playing without a drummer, but more importantly wearing ripped T-shirts.) who were influenced by the old punk bands and creating a buzz of their own. Acts performing at a US club called CBGBs were getting a lot of mentions in the NME; and back home in the UK the magazine were beginning to report on a 'new wave' of bands influenced by these US punk groups. These reports centred on a place in London called the 100 Club, and a band beginning to make a name for itself as part of the 'new wave' scene - the Sex Pistols.

Things moved quickly and by November 1976 there was a definite change in the music world. 'New wave' or 'punk rock' as it was variously tagged at the time was starting to emerge beyond the London scene - and it was with some interest that I spotted a poster for a gig by the Sex Pistols and The Clash at Lanchester.

The Student Union flyers for the gig were rather natty. About 18" long x 6" high, they featured a blurry black and white photograph of a couple of girls wearing bath hats in a shower (not as dodgy as it sounds!) with the Sex Pistol's name in large Letraset characters. I presume The Clash were listed as well, as I seem to remember knowing they would be the support act.

I was eager to see what all of the fuss was about, and it was with a mix of curiosity and excitement that I and a handful of friends headed for the Student Union hall where the gig was to take place.

I was quite early and after a quick drink in the upstairs bar I headed down to buy my ticket (I think it was 75p). Halfway down the stairs I passed by a chap with spiky hair who was wearing a white tee-shirt. He seemed to be in a hurry to get upstairs and looked like he might be a roadie or suchlike for one of the bands. "Do you know what time the gig's due to start?" I asked him. "About half seven," he said. I couldn't think what else to say. "Great!" I said, "I'm really looking forward to it!" He smiled briefly back at me as he continued on his way.

They weren't around when I was there, but I was told later that the Sex Pistols spent a respectable amount of time before the gig drinking and creating a bit of a riot in the Student Union bar.

Come half-seven or so and I trooped into the half-empty venue. I can't remember a great sense of occasion, or a great deal of atmosphere, but joined my friends (there were four of us) somewhere near the middle of the hall waiting to see what would happen.

Unfortunately I don't have much of a recollection of The Clash. I knew nothing of their material (they had yet to release any recordings), so have no idea what numbers they played; although I am pretty sure they played 'White Riot' because I thought I recognized the song when I heard it on the radio some time after.

Other than that I have a hazy memory of the four of them manically bobbing about on stage playing short, frantic (and loud) pieces of buzz-saw energy, and a feeling at the time that they were strongly influenced by the Ramones. I vaguely recognised the lead singer Joe Strummer because I used to have the single 'Keys to Your Heart' by his old band the 101ers, which had a picture of him playing guitar (and wearing a teddy boy outfit!) on the front of the sleeve.

The Clash finished their set, and I have no memory whatsoever of what, if any, audience reaction they got. There was then a pause whilst the stage was rearranged, during which The Clash's lead guitarist wandered out and stood not far from me near the back of the hall. I recognized his spiked black hair from on stage, and remember that he was wearing a dark (blue or black) boiler suit with something (possibly the band's name) splurged on the back in white paint.

The Sex Pistols eventually emerged, and I was somewhat surprised to see my spiky-haired informant from earlier on the stairs now standing centre stage with the microphone. He'd changed into a dark top (I think it was a tee-shirt) with dark trousers for the show. Glen Matlock was standing stage left, wearing a sleeveless T-shirt and jeans, whilst Steve Jones stood stage right dressed in black shirt and trousers.

There was a bit of fiddling about with guitars, but I cannot recall any kind of introduction, they simply launched into what I'm sure was 'Anarchy in the UK' (I recognized the 'wall of noise' opening when I bought the single not long after). Their sound was MASSIVE! I've had my ears fried by a lot of loud bands over the years, but when the Sex Pistols fired up I almost fell over. It was like standing in a hurricane of sound. And they were good too.

By this point in the evening I had moved to the stage right side of the hall (I think I stood on a table to get a better view) and I can remember the physical power of the volume and thinking they sounded absolutely amazing. There was something about the huge noise and the three man line-up across the stage that gave the Sex Pistols a strong stage presence that The Clash had rather lacked.

The only numbers I can definitely recall them playing were the covers (The Monkees' '(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone' and The Who's 'Substitute'). As with The Clash, the Sex Pistols had not released any recordings at this point in time, so there was nothing to compare the set to. Steve Jones scraped his pick along the strings of his guitar (ssscrauuunch!) after pretty much every song, and after their no-holds-barred, block-chord arrangement of 'Substitute' he quietly played through the 'proper' opening chord sequence, as if to say "I could play it this way if I wanted to."

Part 3 - God Save the Sex Pistols

I am almost certain they both opened and closed their set with the same number (as I said before, probably 'Anarchy in the UK'). Even odder than the fact that they played the same number twice was the fact that I am pretty certain the second version was much slower; although that could simply be the faulty result of my aging memory.

Of the audience my recollection is that there were only about a couple of dozen people watching (perhaps 30 or 40 at the very most), including one rugby club chap who had obviously fuelled up at the bar beforehand and who, from his general demeanour and occasional chanting, seemed not to be enjoying the music. There were two slightly self-conscious girls standing at the edge of the audience to stage left who stood out a mile because they were the only punks in attendance. My impression was that most people there were like me - they had come along to see what this new-fangled 'new wave' music was about rather than being fans of either band - the punk craze didn't really arrive (in Coventry anyway) until the following year.

I don't recall the Sex Pistols getting any strong reaction from the crowd (aside from our rugby club friend), and have no recollection of any of the band talking to the audience at any point. Looking back I get an impression that they simply blasted their way through a dozen or so numbers in a tightly-knit and professional manner - much in contrast to the lurid tales of fights and gobbing on the audience that had started to emerge from the London scene.

I came away from the gig highly impressed and with my ears ringing. The Sex Pistols were great! I loved their energy, the daft wall-of-noise cover versions (which were somewhat untrendy at the time), and there were obviously good songs in there too. I can recall being particularly impressed by the quality of the drummer Paul Cook, although Steve Jones's guitar playing struck me as a bit 'workmanlike' in a 'I know these chords and I'm going to stick to them' kind of way.

The NME later reported in rather po-faced terms about the Student Union waiting until the bands had finished playing before deciding not to pay them. This struck me as a shrewd attempt at cost-saving at the time - although the story emerged that the SU had refused to pay the bands because they did not like the lyrics! This seemed a bit odd to me because I cannot recall anything about either band's lyrics striking me as particularly outrageous at the time.

I bought the 'Anarchy in the UK' single which I remember as being around a week or so after the Lanchester gig. The chap at the record store made a witty joke about how the record would spit at me when I took it out of its plain black sleeve. I can remember listening to it very loudly through headphones on a friend's hi-fi, and the feeling of excitement I felt at the fact there was a genuine new music movement forming.

Not long after the Sex Pistols/Clash show (a few weeks I think), I spotted an A4 gig poster taped to a window at Lanchester. It was advertising a gig at Warwick University by a band "from London" called The Jam. In a witty play on the band name the poster featured a hand-drawn picture of a jar of jam.

It was a bit of a trek to Warwick in my pre-driving days, but having been so impressed by the Sex Pistols I thought maybe The Jam might be worth a try as well.

I think this ticket may have cost me 50p, and in time-honoured fashion I hit the bar for a small pre-show beer. As I sat cautiously sipping my drink, attempting to make a half-pint last an hour, I noticed what I guessed must be the band sitting in an alcove at the side of the bar; I can only assume they did not have a dressing room to wait in. I can remember thinking they looked a bit out of place because they were all dressed in grey suits in the style of The Beatles - were they a covers band? An older chap, who looked like he may have been their manager, was standing wearing a brown leather jacket and talking to them in a serious-looking way. One of the band was sat with his head in his hands looking at the floor and seemingly a bit nervous. I was particularly struck by the fact that he was wearing white socks.

The actual gig was another audience-light affair. As with The Sex Pistols at Lanchester, my recollection is of a couple of dozen people watching at most; there was a lot of space around and the audience failed to even half-fill what was a small hall. I was pleased to notice that the two Coventry punks were in attendance though.

There was a banner hung at the back of the cramped stage with 'The Jam' spray-painted onto it. The band strolled out, and the chap wearing the white socks turned out to be the lead guitarist. He clocked the two girls, and said something about it being "good to see the Coventry punks here," then blasted into a choppily chorded number that I did not know the title of.

They made my hair stand on end. They didn't have the huge sound of The Sex Pistols, but they had a high-powered, punchy, driving quality that was as exciting in its different way. Again the only numbers I can definitely recall were the covers; Bruce Foxton making a bit of a mess of singing The Who's 'The Good's Gone', and they played their speeded up version of 'The Batman Theme' near the end of their set (I have a feeling they may have played 'Slow Down' a la The Beatles as well).

It was another great gig. A friend of mine still has a letter I wrote to him afterwards where I raved about the band, and noted that "the guitar player can play solos," which was something of a novelty for a punk band at the time!

In retrospect I think I saw the Sex Pistols close to their high water mark. The year after the Lanchester show saw them buried under a welter of bad publicity and cancelled gigs; and they never seemed the same after the departure of Glen Matlock (the rumour at the time was that he had written all of their decent songs). I saw the advert for their low-profile gig at Mr Georges in Coventry in 1977 - there was a hand-written sign stood on the pavement outside the front door. I can't remember why I didn't go, although I have a feeling it may have sold out by the time I spotted the sign.

I bought their LP on the day it was released, and like many who wrote into the NME letters page shortly after I was a bit cheesed off to find that five of the eleven tracks had already been issued as singles (including the 'it won't be on the LP' 'God Save the Queen'). To add insult to injury I was annoyed to find that the Virgin record store in Coventry didn't have any of the bonus 7" singles of 'Submission' that the NME had said would be included with initial copies of the album. Ho, hum.

I can remember loads of great gigs in Coventry and Birmingham from then on, with Ian Dury and The Blockheads, The Buzzcocks and The Jam (making a high profile 'after several hit records' return) at the Coventry Theatre; The Stranglers (supported by the punk reggae of Steel Pulse) somewhere around there - and later on at New Bingly Hall there were the B-52's, The Human League (the original line-up) and even Joe Jackson (who played two sets because the support act didn't turn up, a real gent!).

Punk had not taken over completely though - Lanchester still hosted gigs by the likes of The Gordan Giltrap Band, Horslips and Bernie Tormey (who was pretending to be a punk Jimi Hendrix at the time). Then there was the Stiff Records tour at Warwick University with Lena Lovitch, who came back the following year to do a gig on her own. I can also remember a great gig by the decidedly not-punk Caravan at Warwick, and even Mud did a show (and went down a storm, encoring with a belting version of 'Tiger Feet').

Generation X played Lanchester 22nd February 1979, although by then punk was becoming a bit of a parody of itself. Billy Idol played an acoustic guitar at one point, and managed to look cool and sharp; at the same time dodging beer cans (some of them full!) being hurled at him from the audience.

It was around this time that the 2-Tone Ska sound came to dominate the Coventry music scene. The local Musicians Union organised a 'Battle of the Bands' competition at Lanchester, and it was a curious mixture of old and new styles. There was a local band called The Machine who played like a strange punk version of Can or Kraftwerk, and another group, whose name I've sadly forgotten, who played short and furious but melodic numbers (I think one of their songs was titled 'Loraine') who were obviously much influenced by The Buzzcocks. Scattered amongst the punky musical types were a sprinkling of the 'new wave' heavy metal bands then emerging, alongside a determinedly old-school heavy metal group who filled the stage with what seemed like a dozen members, and whose lavishly bearded lead singer sang with great intensity, and much in the way of facial contortions, about life on the road (or rather "liiiiiiiiiife on the raaaaaaaaaaaawd!"). However, it was with a strong sense of the inevitable that the prize that night went to a Ska band called The Swinging Cats (whose short set included 'Never on Sunday').

My last Sex Pistols-related memory from Lanchester was around late 1978. I was back in the SU bar, as ever attempting to stretch a half-pint of lager to its ultimate limit. They had the local radio station playing over the PA, and as I lifted my glass to take my 243rd miniscule sip of the evening, I was stopped dead in my tracks by the sound of a bass and guitar riff that was like nothing else I'd ever heard before. It was the first single by Public Image Ltd, and by crikey it was brilliant! I'll never forget hearing it - I thought the newly renamed John Lydon and his band really were going to reinvent popular music single-handedly. It didn't happen (not for me anyway), but I'll never forget that moment.

After I left Lanchester my friends and I reformed our band in a newly inspired vein. The Sex Pistols were gone (let's just gloss over the Steve Jones/Paul Cook duo shall we) but the punk rock movement they had spearheaded had stirred up the music business to a point where it now felt like anything was possible. Adopting the name 'The Walking Floors' we got ourselves together and recorded and released our own single called 'No Next Time'. It didn't sell many copies, but John Peel played it once - what a great day that was, one of my best ever!"

The Sex Pistols arrived, imploded and evaporated in what seems a ridiculously short period of time. For a band whose entire back catalogue comprises barely more than a dozen numbers their influence was huge. Sat here in a 21st Century of wall-to-wall music channels, instant mp3 downloads and multi-track computer home recording it's almost impossible to convey the sense of excitement and change that they engendered into the music business back in 1976.

It still astonishes me sometimes to think that I was there that night at Lanchester. I saw the Sex Pistols. Life was never the same afterwards.

Written by David Parker
Photographs by Ben Browton (originally published on the excellent online zine www.trakmarx.com)

Click for more Classic Gig Memories

David is the author of Random Precision: Recording the Music of Syd Barrett, 1965-1974

My impression was that most people there were like me - they'd come along to see what this new-fangled ‘Punk Rock'

Gigs remembered - Lanchester 76
Dave Parker, p.pickup[a]btopenworld.com

Final version for God Save the Sex Pistols
Online or achive PDF (Aug18)

Dave's notes to Blackmarketclash

There was definitely only the one Sex Pistols/Clash gig at Lanchester (and neither band returned to the Polytechnic later) - as far as I can recall the NME only picked up on the gig after the story emerged about the SU refusing to pay the bands because they didn't like the lyrics! Which is odd, because I can't recall anything about either band's lyrics striking me as particularly outrageous on that evening.

I can't remember the Clash returning to Coventry, but I remember seeing the Pistols gig at Mr Georges being advertised - they'd stuck a small hand-written sign outside the front door:-) I can't remember why I didn't go to the latter - although I have a feeling it may have sold out by the time I'd spotted the sign.

The somewhat silly ‘annoyed from Widnes' Telegraph reader tone of my original letter was down to that fact that I had a suspicion (completely wrong I'm sure) that the chap from the Coventry band quoted at length in the article hadn't actually been at the gig. As I said in my letter - the only punks I can recall being in the audience were the two girls stood by the side of the stage, who stood out a mile simply for being punks at that time. It is a long time ago now (33 years, crikey!), but I really can't remember many people being there (the hall was half full at best), and the description seemed to imply a lot more action (and interest) from the audience than I can recall; that plus the chap's ability to remember the titles of songs that hadn't been recorded (and in the case of ‘Bodies' not actually written either:-) at that point (I bought ‘Anarchy in the UK' the day it was released, which was actually a week or two after the Lanchester gig). My impression was that most people there were like me - they'd come along to see what this new-fangled ‘Punk Rock' was about rather than being fans of either band - the punk craze didn't really arrive (in Coventry anyway) until the following year.

Unfortunately I don't have that much of a recollection of the Clash beyond a hazy memory of short, frantic (and loud) pieces of buzz-saw energy on stage. That and Mick Jones in his boiler suit standing at the back of the crowd watching the Sex Pistols (it was him I'm sure - I remember the spiky black hair). I vaguely recognised Joe Strummer because I used to have that single (Keys to Your Heart) by the 101ers, which had a picture of him (wearing a Teddy Boy outfit:-) on the front of the sleeve. I regret to say that my recollection is that the Sex Pistols had a lot more stage presence - but then the Clash in 1976 weren't the band they were to become only a couple of years later, by which time the Sex Pistols had evaporated without really progressing much further.

I'm currently rewriting my recollections for the ‘God Save the Sex Pistols' website - I'll send you a copy too if you'd like.

One thing I'm interested in is where the photographs of the Lanchester gig came from - were there any taken of the Sex Pistols?

Part 2
Clash, a bit like the Ramones played extremely short songs at very high speed

I wasn't a punk, but I was at the gig, and was fascinated to read the accounts given, although they don't exactly tally with my recollections:-)

I can't remember a great deal about the Clash, beyond the fact that I thought they were a bit like the Ramones in playing extremely short songs at very high speed. I think they must have played 'White Riot' because I recognized the song when I heard it on the radio not long after. After they'd played their set Mick Jones wandered out and stood at the back of the hall to watch the Sex Pistols, I seem to recall that he had on a rather natty boiler suit with something (I think it said 'The Clash':-) written on the back in white paint - at least I think it was Mick Jones; looking at the photographs in your article it may have been Joe Strummer, although my recollection is that it was the lead guitar player with spiky black hair.

The only Sex Pistols numbers I can definitely recall were the covers (The Monkees' '(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone' and The Who's 'Substitute') although I'm almost certain they both opened and closed their set with 'Anarchy in the UK' - I recognized the 'wall of sound' opening when I bought the single not long after (which may even have been the day after the Lanchester show). Even odder than the fact that they played the same number twice was the fact that I'm pretty sure the second version was much slower, although why that should be I haven't a clue. I can't recall any other titles because:

a. Neither band had released any records at that point in time, so there was nothing to compare the sets with. b. The Sex Pistols made virtually no comment at any point during their set - my memory is that they simply worked their way through a dozen or so numbers without saying anything to the audience - a bit of a contrast to the lurid stories of gobbing on fans and loud-mouthed heckling of audiences in general that had filtered out of the London scene.

I was surprised to read that the Sex Pistols played 'Bodies' as my recollection is that that particular number was written in the studio a few months later whilst the band were recording their album - I would also dispute the implication that the place was packed with Coventry punks frantically pogoing to the music - my recollection is that there were only something like a couple of dozen people watching, including one rugby club chap who'd obviously fuelled up at the bar beforehand and from his general demeanour seemed not to be enjoying the music. There were two slightly self-conscious girls standing at the edge of the audience who stood out a mile because they were the only punks there, and they were also the only punks at a gig by the Jam at Warwick University not long after - there Paul Weller said something to them from the stage about it being "good to see the Coventry punks here".

I can remember the NME reporting in po-faced terms about the Student Union waiting until the bands had played before deciding not to pay them - which struck me as a shrewd attempt at cost-saving at the time:-) The SU posters for the gig were quite natty (I wish I still had the one I pinched off the SU bar notice board!) with a blurry black and white photograph of a couple of girls wearing bath hats in a shower (not as dodgy as it sounds:-) and the Sex Pistol's name Letrasetted on (I can't remember seeing the Clash written on there).

At the time the Clash didn't particularly impress me (they weren't bad, but there was nothing particular about them or their music that stood out), but I thought the Sex Pistols were amazing - I loved the energy, the daft wall-of-noise cover versions (which were somewhat untrendy at the time), and there were obviously some good songs in there too. I can recall being particularly impressed by the quality of the drummer Paul Cook, although Steve Jones's guitar playing struck me as 'workmanlike' at best in a 'I know these chords and I'm going to stick to them' kind of way - and they were *incredibly* loud, the ear-splitting effect being accentuated by the lack of an audience to soak up the volume.

The Jam's gig at Warwick University was another audience-light affair (again my recollection is of a couple of dozen people at most + the two Coventy punks). It wasn't long after the Sex Pistols/Clash show (a few weeks I think), and I can remember the gig poster featured a hand-drawn picture of a jar of jam - high-powered media stuff:-) I can remember the band sitting in a corner of the bar before the show (I got the impression they didn't have a dressing room to wait in) and Paul Weller sitting with his head in his hands looking a bit nervous.

The only numbers I can definitely recall were the covers (Bruce Foxton singing The Who's 'The Good's Gone', and their version of 'The Batman Theme'), again because they hadn't released any records at that point. They had a stage set (a banner with 'The Jam' spray-painted on) and suits - which put them several leagues ahead of the Pistols in presentation terms (that plus the fact that Paul Weller could play guitar solos, no mean feat for a punk guitarist at that time:-)

It's important to remember that the punk scene was pretty much a London-only affair at the time - I'd started at Lanchester that September, and the first gig I went to was someone like the Welsh band Man, who were playing lengthy West-Coast inspired material - the DJ before that set played the whole of Pink Floyd's 'Echoes', and the audience filed in and sat down in neat cross-legged rows to hear the music. Bands like The Sex Pistols and The Jam were a breath of fresh air on the music scene, and I can still remember the excitement of feeling that there was a new type of music movement developing.

I enjoyed the article - I hope the above is of some interest.

Best Wishes - David Parker - dp.pickup[a]btopenworld.com

hazy memory of the four of them manically bobbing about on stage playing short, frantic (and loud) pieces of buzz-saw energy,

Fans perspective from God Save the Sex Pistols

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Photos of The Clash / The Sex Pistols

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Playing at Lanchester Polytechnic in Coventry on November 6th 1976. Photographs by Ben Browton, a.k.a. Seymour Bybuss of The Shapes.

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Ignore Alian Orders

StrummerCaster | facebook.com / StrummerCaster

"I can pin down the date that the [famous Ignore Alian Orders] sticker appeared. It wasn't there on [11th November '76 Lady Lacy] gig and it was there the [on the 22nd at the] Lanchester Poly gig.... all shiny and new! It was starting to curl over by early May 77 at The Rainbow And was worse by July at Mont de Marsan. By October 81 the whole top edge was gone and the bottom right was going.