Clash on Parole Tour
Supported by The Specials & Suicide

updated 12 Feb 2012 - new recording surfaced
updated Dec 2023 added mindless violence letter
updated Feb 2024 addd comments

Audio

A new recording has surfaced - details to follow.

Soundcheck -
04 Train Kept A-Rollin - (Johnny Burnette & the Rock & Roll Trio)

Set - 02 Tommy Gun

Sound quality

...a new tape has surfaced, complete set of the Clash show at Crawley leisure centre where Alan Vega got a punch in the face etc.. Skinheads rioted etc.......

it also includes part of the soundcheck including a complete version of "all night long" the Chuck Berry/T Bone Walker tune (i think) and the Jimmy Pursy rant at the end at the skins..... a very good recording.......fairly standard set list for the tour but really interesting for all the reasons stated.

Johnny Green says he trapped Micks fingers here

Johnny Green says he trapped Micks fingers here and that after a trip to the hospital they all headed for the next venue which was Southampton. A Riot of Our Own p96. (This must be the Crawley date as it is a full days ride from Dunfermaline).

Ticket

one of the scariest experiences of my life

mretrain - Re: Crawley July 1978

I was actually at this gig, and it was one of the scariest experiences of my life. I'd been at the Glasgow Apollo show a few days beforehand - probably the best I ever saw them play - & was hitchhiking down to Brighton to see some friends when the band (in Bernie's car with the CLA5H numberplate) passed me in a service station just outside Birmingham. Looked up where they were playing that night, saw it was Crawley which is kind of on the way to Brighton & made a detour.

It seemed to be the first time that skinheads made a major reappareance & there were little groups of them wandering through the hall all night randomly attacking people they didn't like the look of. Managed to avoid that at the gig & afterwards but having sneaked back to the station after the show was confronted by a large group of Teddy Boys also looking for a fight. Happy days..

Alan Vega was actually attacked on stage with a chain & had his nose broken; memory tells me that the ever-charming Jimmy Pursey hopped on stage & ranted to the effect of "He might be fucking shit but you don't have to break his fucking nose" but the tape may tell me different!

Blinding version of Police & Thieves/Blitzkreig Bop too...

'It was like going into the trenches': how Suicide rioted against plastic punk."

Punk | The Guardian

Howard Thompson, who recorded many of these shows and was Suicide's band UK label rep; “The Clash tour was pretty tough. Their fans mostly hated Suicide. A lot of them were plastic punks who just thought punk rock was guitars, safety pins and bin bags.

Every night, Alan’s shiny purple suit would be so stained and covered with gobs of spit that it appeared black by the end of their set. Vega prowled the stage and got as close to the audience as he could.

He wasn’t scared of anything.

Everything that wasn’t nailed down got thrown at them: coins, shoes, beer glasses, ashtrays”.

Apparently even an axe made its way whizzing past Vega’s head in Glasgow, while a member of the National Front broke Vega’s nose in Crawley.

Problems with skinheads

Colin - A Riot of Our Own p96. .. after the gig we started towards Three Bridges Rail station, we'd heard we could get a train back to London from there.

After ten minutes walk we encountered a group of punks walking back towards Crawley; a large group of skinheads had collected at Three Bridges station waiting for *us*. We walked back with them and hung around near the gig - after a while the sounds of trouble and sure enough the skins had gotten tired of waiting and were now back in Crawley causing problems. My mate and I managed to get to the venue where the crew were loading out. We expalined what was happening and asked them for a lift back to London [with Johnney Green & Co]; we were dropped off on Streatham High Rd and walked home to Balham." Steve

Confirm story re skinheads (from Croydon). Me and my friends ran across railway sidings at 3 Bridges to escape. The Specials were then known as the Coventry Specials. This is the gig where the skin jumped on stage and lamped Alan Vega from Suicide.

NME - T'zers
Trouble at Crawley gig

8 July 1978

Link

Record Mirror CRAWLEY LETTER VIOLENCE

22 July 1978

Link

Jimmy Pursey of all people standing in the centre of the stage pleading for peace

THE CLASH ON PAROLE | Facebook

this story i found...wow;...from a fan ///

"I saw them a few times in London in 1978, some good, some bad, but I was at the infamous Crawley gig that same year, which Jerry Dammers later claimed inspired him to write "Ghost Town". I think I read that in an interview in Mojo or somewhere.

Croydon skinheads had arrived en masse to take on the Crawley skinheads; god only knows why. Suicide opened the show. After a few songs one of the skinheads climbed on stage and battered Alan Vega to the floor. I seem to remember a bicycle chain being involved, but I might be wrong on that one....it was a very long time ago.

That was the end of Suicide's set. Next up, and clearly terrified, were the Coventry Automatics, who went on to change their name to The Specials.They played their set as fast as possible and got offstage as quickly as they could.

Finally, The Clash arrived and the place erupted into a seething mass. Later in the show, I moved to the back and was standing at the top of what Americans call bleachers, opposite the stage.

Suddenly, in what felt like a slow-motion sequence I can still see in my head, the crowd parted like the Red Sea and a lone skinhead ran across the room, from left to right, followed by about twenty more. The first guy slipped and fell and the others were on him in a second. I remember seeing him get kicked in the head, blood spurting out all over the floor before he was dragged outside screaming by the mob. I was nearly sick.

The band was aware of a problem about the whole evening, and had watched this particular event take place in front of them. It put them off a bit, but they got back on track eventually.

Things seemed to settle down and they finished the set as normal. Waiting for the encore, things turned ugly again with mass brawls in the middle of the room, security trying to keep people off the stage, glasses flying everywhere and lots of frightened people around the edges.

Finally, just when it looked like an actual riot might break out, they came back on but with Jimmy Pursey of all people standing in the centre of the stage pleading for peace. He was just about the worst choice for a peacekeeping mission at that time (he was widely viewed as a dickhead and very much 'second division') and it seemed to get worse.

They played White Riot, with Pursey singing badly, at about 100 mph and ran offstage. The house lights came on immediately, the doors were opened and the police arrived in numbers.

There were skinheads everywhere that night, so getting home was scary, but memorable. We got home by climbing over fences and through people's back gardens. Those were the days, eh?"

After the gig there was a fight outside with some Hells Angels same skinheads

Alexis Korner - Saw them on that tour at Crawley. Suicide was the support band, for some reason they (suicide) weren’t appreciated by the crowd & a riot kicked off.

They were all skinheads. I was on the train with them going back to London. The railway police were waiting as they ripped the train apart. They lined everyone up on the platform, searched everyone. Those with weapons were arrested & anyone not arrested had their bootlaces from their Doc Martens confiscated. LOL!!

From what I remember, after the gig there was a fight outside with some Hells Angels & then the same skinheads battered a bunch of Teds/Rockabillies in the tunnel on the way to the station. I thought it was all pretty exciting & just part of the package. I guess having been to about 20 odd Sham 69 gigs I was kinda numb to things kicking off.

I seem to spend the whole of that night running, very scary times indeed

Martyn Bizat The incident where the guy got chased out was due to him knocking a skin taking photos was right infront of me I had white ish jeans on they got covered in blood I didn't get touched the skins took care of me as I was only 15

Robin Tate I just remember I seem to spend the whole of that night running, very scary times indeed

Barry Rutter I was there too and it's a great description. Bloody scary night.

got attacked outside the Clash's Hotel

Roddy Byers Yep then we got attacked outside the Clash's Hotel by Rock,a,Billies! Heavy Gig!

Graham Andrews Great line up.remember pursey coming on for white riot and I think Steve jones played too.the people I was with were given a wide berth by the boneheads.

Vegas got punched in the face after the 1st number

Tim Rylah The bloke from suicide got punched in the face after the 1st number!

Andrew Lambirth - I saw them at Crawley Sports Centre. Suicide were not appreciated by many in the audience…everyone loved the Coventry Specials

Extremely violent gig

Dave Ralf Extremely violent gig but wouldn't have missed it for anything. 14 years old and my 2nd Clash gig.

I taped it

Russell Keeley - I was there it’s was my 16 th and taped it full of grief with croydon skins

A gig I won’t forget great music, and a lot of fighting

Keith Osborn - Clash on Parole

A gig I won’t forget great music, and a lot of fighting, managed to survive it by getting backstage. Anyone have any photos from that night

Clash on Parole Tonight is the 44th Anniversary of the Clash playing Crawley Sports Centre on this the 8th of July 1978 on the Clash on Parole Tour, Thanks to Adey Read for sharing his photo of his ticket. This gig was marred with loads of violence from the start to finish, Skinheads wanting to kick everybody's head in & our lot doing lots of running.

The gig that inspired ‘Ghost Town’

Clash on Parole This a ticket for The Clash for the infamous Crawley Sportscentre gig. Suicide were support, and it is the concert at which chains were thrown at Alan Vega the singer of Suicide. Also of note was the first band on, called The Coventry Automatics, who became The Specials. This apparently was the gig that inspired ‘Ghost Town’

A bit lively to say the least !

Steve Palmer - I was at the Crawley gig, it was a bit lively to say the least ! ( skins ).

Andrew Lambirth - I saw them at Crawley Sports Centre. Suicide were not appreciated by many in the audience but everyone loved the Coventry Specials.

mired in violence, inequality and poverty

Gram Hullét - The first 'big gig' i saw was The Clash at Crawley Leisure Centre in 78 with Suicide and The Special AKA. I shall never forget that night for many reasons but The Specials at that time reflected beautifully a country mired in violence, inequality and poverty. It sounds as fresh today as it did then, thanks for the cheeky genius Terry, safe journey! Gram Hullét | Facebook

Prince Brandon - Yes, I remember Suicide being attacked, a great gig, but the atmosphere at many events was charged with tension.

the Clash were amazing

Mick Peek - ”Heavy Night in Crawley” For Mick Jones birthday I’m going back to seeing The Clash in Crawley Sports Centre in July 1978.

Sadly, I don’t have ticket but I do have my Better Badges Clash badge. The gig was memorable for a number of reasons… first band on was The Coventry Specials… who were managed by Bernie Rhodes at that time before changing their name to The Specials.

Then the main support was Suicide and the NYC avant-garde electro rock n roll wasn’t appreciated by the local meatheads so mid set a skinhead got up onstage and punched Alan Vega in the face. A few years back NME did a cover feature retrospective on Suicide and AV described it as the worst night of the bands career!!!

Needless to say the Clash were amazing but it was a charged atmosphere all night as captured in the comments by the guys in “The Clash – Before & After”… the excellent Pennie Smith photography book from 1980.

“Trying to stop some ruckers” Joe Strummer, “Heavy night in Crawley” Mick Jones

Skins vs punks, so many factions

Rory Clarke - Went to this and skins and punks Croydon and Brighton so many factions and we nearly copped it outside afterwards by a group of smoothies/disco boy

Andy Roscoe - The Clash played Crawley leisure centre twice, both as I recall were charged atmospheres. On the 16 tons tour I saw them a few days earlier at Brighton Top Rank, which I have to say was far more enjoyable.

Paul Jones - The other Clash gig was really violent. I remember that Alan Vega incident. The skinheads ruined a lot of gigs back then. A group of Chelsea fans I knew from Tunbridge wells were there. One of them got attacked by a bunch of skinheads and they all got involved. There were skinheads against skinheads/ football supporters/punks/locals. I remember Jimmy Pursey coming on to broker the peace. Which didn't have much affect.

Skinhead got up and head butted Alan Vega

Chris Window - Memorable gig & still got that book somewhere!

chriswheeler49 - I was at Crawley sports centre, when a rather large skinhead got up and head butted Alan Vega. My second ever gig age 14. The Clash | Instagram

Alexis Korner - Saw them on that tour at Crawley. Suicide was the support band, for some reason they (suicide) weren’t appreciated by the crowd & a riot kicked off.

Book: Walls come tumbling down ...

the music and politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge, 1976-1992 - Rachel, Daniel, author

On Crawley .... (lots more Clash references in the book)

Page 242 - HORACE PANTER The Clash tour was incredible. Those three weeks really formed us. The Clash set the benchmark for a Specials performance. They were just full on. The reaction they got from the crowd scared the shit out of me. We started the tour as civilians but ended as a combat unit. It was our rock ’n’ roll boot camp. We played this infamous gig at Crawley Sports Centre where there were loads of skinheads with Nazi badges and tattoos. The atmosphere was horrible. You could palpably sense this kind of

Page 242 - JERRY DAMMERS Skinheads took over the stage at the Crawley gig and attacked Alan Vega from the other support band, Suicide. It was the night the 2 Tone concept was really born. It was obvious there was going to be a skinhead revival and I wanted us to become part of the scene and change it, so it didn’t become affiliated to the far right.

it was just a huge riot

Lol Tolhurst talks to Anthony Strutt about The Cure ... Crawley

His memoir ‘Cured’ and his long-standing friendship with Robert Smith | THE CURE

PBM: When the punk scene came along, did you find that you wasn’t really exposed to it as much as you would have been in London because you were based there?

LT: We had to go and find it a bit. Some bands did, however, come to Crawley. I remember the Clash came to play, and it was just a huge riot. Suicide were opening for them. I always remember this skinhead getting up and trying to do something to Suicide, and Joe Strummer came out and said, “Stop doing this. You are being really stupid. Let them play!” That’s when I noticed you had the power to do something good, rather then something stupid with music.

Trouble / violence at gigs ... Crawley

North Stand Chat - Brighton & Hove Albion Fan Site and Forum

Bob! -  The there was the Clash at Crawley Leisure Centre in '78, Suicide supporting, Coventry Automatics (later to become The Specials) 3rd on the bill. For some reason Jimmy Pursey was there amd did the vocals on White Riot during the encore.

Suicide lasted about 2 numbers before the skins got on stage and proceed to wrap the singers microphone lead round his neck!

Return of the Rev - buzzcocks was a riot and the clash at Crawley with suicide was funny "your all gonna die" then the skin jumped up! Seem to recall Croydon v Brighton skins v punks and then we just swerved the crawley smoothies outside after the gig! Great night!

Gwylan - The Clash at Crawley, August 1978. Bunch of skins invaded the place. A couple of them got on stage and gave the support act, Suicide, a going-over.

They created mayhem in the audience, a bloke next to me, who was just minding his own business, got a head-butt for his troubles and there were fights breaking out everywhere.

Walking through Crawley is edgy at the best of times, but I was glad to make it back to the station in one piece that night.

As London Calling says, a lot of gigs in the late 70s and early 80s were punctuated by violence. I remember The Jam playing the Embassy cinema and a riot breaking out; the band played on while the old bill turned up and started beating shit out of people.

I remember the Specials concert that LC mentioned, that was hairy. Sham 69 were a band who always seemed to attract trouble, a mate of mine ended up in hospital after a Bradford gig.

It's strange to think now how concert-going was so dangerous back then. Scariest moment at GIGS | North Stand Chat - Brighton & Hove Albion Fan Site and Forum

Absolute f***ing mayhem

Hiney - When I read the title of this thread I thought about the Specials gig at the Top Rank - I think they were also on with Madness and The Selecter. Absolute f***ing mayhem. Vowed never to go again, only to witness similar scenes when The Clash played there. (Not so) marvellous scenes!!!

Harold robbins - I remember the Clash gig at Crawley. One of the first appearances of The Specials (second support band ) who were superb.Two memories of that night:-

1. Someone had the great idea that the best way of calming the skinheads down was to bring on stage their idol, Jimmy Pursey, to sing with the Clash.I think he was there as a guest.Right person perhaps.....but White Riot was definitely the wrong song!.

2. I went with a mate from school. Amongst a mob of very violent and right wing skins I am accompanied by the only West Indian in the hall...scary stuff!

Blackmarketclash | Leave a comment

Setlist

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Soundcheck Strummer speaking into mic Complete Control Tommy Gun Train Kept a Rollin Set List Complete Control Tommy Gun Cheapskates Jail Guitar Doors Drug Stabbing Time Clash City Rockers White Man Capital Radio Police and Thieves / Blitzkreig Bop English Civil War Safe European Home What's My Name London's Burning Garageland I'm so Bored with the USA Janie Jones White Riot Jimmy Pursey ranting at the crowd