Ritchie Coliseum, University of Maryland,
College Park, USA, October 31st 1982

Gig Review

Greetings and felicitations. I attended this gig. Ritchie Coliseum was (maybe still is; I think it was renovated in the 1990s) a cavernous and smelly sports arena. Its acoustics were horribly muddy (seeing the Clash there led to deep disillusionment; all I experienced was a vague deafening roar and Strummer spitting in mid-seizure for no apparent reason).

After watching from the safety of the bleachers while the great Minor Threat opened, we went down to the floor for PiL. Lydon sauntered onstage in a lab coat labelled "Bellevue Hospital" on the back. A bank of vertical fluorescent tubes glared at the audience from stagerear. We were blinded much of the time, but amazingly, the sound matched the lighting - crystal clear and piercing.

I still marvel at the sound mixer who achieved that sound in that coliseum. All the instruments were audible, with the bass'n'drums of course being most prominent. Lydon seemed relaxed and affable throughout the concert. He laughed, joked with, and pointed at various audience members. He sat on the edge of the stage to croon us during one number. The band were adequate but somewhat bland. I remember that 'Death Disco' seemed unfunky compared to the original. They seemed to be playing the same song, but it missed something (Wobble!). If you're familiar with 'Live In Japan' you know what I mean. Atkins played with ferocious energy. At one point near the end he seemed to be in such a frenzy that was about to topple off his stool.

During this era, one would come across idiots on the floor who would run/pogo though the audience seeking to bump/topple as many people as possible. Anyway, one of these miscreants came through, ramming into my date and propelling her about 20 feet back through the audience. I was at first alarmed, because she seemed to be a demure yet cool type, but she walked right back to me with only a slightly wide-eyed, amused expression on her face.

Doug Otte