Opening acts

I seem to recall, but may not be 100% sure on this, the opening act(s) on some of the nights were Gang Green and/or Jerry's Kids - both Boston hardcore bands at the time. 007 also supported one of the gigs, as your site mentions. I remember the shows being on fire! Loud, fast, and everyone was dancing!

Elvis Costello did indeed play with the Attractions at South Yarmouth, MA, Cape Cod Coliseum on the 22nd.

Link

I went to them all

I was looking, recently, at the summer 1982 listings for Cape Cod Coliseum (Aug 20th, etal)...

I attended all the shows. I was working a summer college job, and it was just about the end of the summer, as Labor Day was closing in fast.

There were 4 Clash shows in all, but recollection is they only took one night off (shows were Friday, Saturday, Monday - 20th, 21st, 23rd). In between, Elvis Costello brought his Imperial Bedroom tour through.... I seem to recall being at the venue 4 straight nights - no breaks.

Everyone at the concert was amped-up

swealtering, crushing crowd up front

Ed: I stumbled across your site looking for info on the 1982 Orpheum show, which I had no recollection of.

I went (one of) the Cape Cod show(s) [I didn't remember that there was more than one], and saw the Elvis Costello show the following night [22nd August]. I was 23, and my road trip was slightly more adult than yours.

I had just gotten married on August 1, and a couple of people from work were interested in making the trip, including a girl who promised that we could all stay at a friend of hers house in Dennis.

There were friends of friends, and I brought my wife, so when we all met up in the parking lot, most of us didn't know each other. One guy was wearing a camouflage t-shirt.

When we entered the Coliseum, we were faced with the choice of the swealtering, crushing crowd up front or the complete lack of sight and sound down back. I looked up and saw what appeared to be a press box or something (for hockey games?) with very few people up there, and started scheming for a way to get up there. It turned out that the bouncers/security guys were all wearing camouflage t-shirts, so I convinced the guy with one in our party to try to lead us up.

I told him to just bluff his way past anyone with "Vinny says it's okay for these folks to go up". The first security guy we encountered told him something like "who cares what Vinny say; if Peter didn't approve it, no way".

My guy was ready to give up, but I told him he was nuts; let's just go another way and drop Peter's name, which worked like a charm.

The 5 or 6 of us had plenty of space and air and a good view. The sound still sucked, but probably not as much as down on the floor.

I remember that standing next to me was Crass, the personality from Y102 FM (WLYN which later became WFNX 101.7).

On another occasion, I got her to get me into an English Beat show at the Channel---I don't remember if that was before or after The Clash; do you?

Edward Onessimo - Milton, MA < >

hitchhiked down that afternoon

The Clash | Cape Cod Coliseum, South Yarmouth, Massachusetts. August 1982 | Instagram

Waynon13 - Holy goddamn shit, I was at this show! Won tickets from a radio station and hitchhiked down that afternoon. @this.is.radio.clash camo netting and caution tape, front row! Spent the night in (long gone) HoJo’s drinking coffee waiting for the bus home. Thanks for the memories.

One of the worst places on earth to see a band

Liam 65 - Was at that show. 17. Walking back to a friend’s house with my pals we got followed. ‘What we wear is dangerous gear - it’ll get you picked on anywhere.’ For sure in Cape Cod in 1982 there were fellas who didn’t want ‘punkers’ in their neighborhood.

The Cape Cod Coliseum was a hell hole and one of the worst places on earth to see a band. Great show though!

A concrete arena that most often sounded like you were in a cement mixer

Punk Rock Graveyard | Facebook

“This is at the Cape Cod Colisuem, a concrete arena that most often sounded like you were in a cement mixer. I rode to the show with WBCN Program Director Oedipus, so we were ushered backstage right away. It was the third time I’d been backstage with the Clash, so the vibe was intimate, as you can see by this shot of Mick Jones and his then girlfriend.”~ Michael Grecco

Gary Tice - I saw them at the Cape cod coliseum. Warm up act Banana Rama

Bill Weidacher - I was there as well! Definitely 1982. Elvis Costello played the night before or the night after. Can’t recall the order

Scott J Gagnon - I was at that show. Sweltering hot box cinder block palace of a deafening concert. Loved every minute of it