 When
PiL announced the Christmas 1978 concerts I couldn’t get tickets
fast enough. This was what it was all supposed to be about. The Pistols
were over, punk was over, long live the new flesh. Who wanted to be
associated with people with mohicans and ‘The Clash’ written
on their biker jackets? Not me, strictly pegs and shirts, the new way...
A band playing
a gig on Xmas day (and Boxing Day) was a big thing back then, no
one ever played gigs at Xmas, there was never anything to do, I
knew it was going to be special, the fact that it was PiL’s
first UK gig and that Lydon hadn’t played London for so long
added to the event as well. PiL, along with punk chancer (and later
Pistols cash-in merchant) Jock McDonald, decided to promote the gig
themselves which was another unusual step at the time. One thing
was for sure, PiL were going to be different, this was the new way...
The Rainbow in
Finsbury Park was normally seated, but if I remember rightly there
had been trouble at a Clash gig a few weeks before so they decided
to take the seats out and also brought in loads of extra security,
in all I reckon it held about 1,000 people that night. There was
no public transport , but me and my mate G-Man had sorted transport
out. We loaded up with lager and copious amounts of illegal substances
and off we went, leaving South London to travel to the wilds of Finsbury
Park. By the time we got there we were half pissed. We polished the
other half off, chatting to the various faces outside, then it was
in...
Don Letts had
a DJ box towards the back of the stalls and was belting out some earth
moving Dub, so far so good... We sorted out a vantage point and waited.
An early incarnation of Basement 5 without Dennis Morris were supporting,
and I thought I remembered The Slits playing too, but apparently it
was another all girl group called The Lous, I can’t remember them
at all. Linton Johnstone also did some poetry, and all in all it was
a good package, though I think it was lost on most of the senile animals
who had turned up to see Johnny Rotten...
 Eventually
the place went black, Wobble’s bass shook the earth and the band
launched into ‘Theme’ . They were on, and that’s when
the shit really happened! Out strode Rotten/Lydon lagered up, fights
started almost on cue. One side of the stage were Arsenal Skins, the
other side West Ham, and in the middle the punks. Football chants were
heard, the skins kicked fuck out of the punks, then each other. There
were waves of people just steaming into each other. Rotten got involved
verbally, then people started gobbing and canning stage.
All I can really
remember was that the whole stage was decked out in green and black
and that PiL looked fucking great. Wobble sitting on a chair throughout,
dressed all in black with his bandit hat. Levene wired(?) for sound.
Rotten in his checked suit strutting about the stage, slagging the
punks off, but at the same time handing out beer. The band had to
stop several times while all the mayhem erupted over and over again;
it was getting scary.
They played fucking
brilliant, I thought it was better than the album, which I loved
anyway (and still do). They played the whole album, minus ‘Fodderstompf’.
I remember that they never played any Sex Pistols songs, but that
said, I know they played ‘Belsen’ the next night, so I
could be wrong. I think not playing Pistols songs helped all the
trouble erupt, lots of punks kept asking for them. Rotten slagged
them for it, then they got battered by the thugs (Merry Xmas!).
One quote from
Lydon I definitely remember while all the rucks were going off was,
“You always use your fists in the wrong direction, you should take
them down to parliament”. I’m not sure if he meant the group
or the place (only joking). We didn’t go back for the Boxing Day
show, but I’ve heard the bootleg and I reckon it was basically
the same set, though it certainly seemed a lot less eventful. Rotten
eventually left the stage but the band still played on, he came back
on and they encored with ‘Public Image’, then it was all over...
The fights continued
on the way out and outside. I bumped into a mate who’d had his
nose broken and was covered in blood. He wanted revenge, I just wanted
to go home, he got his pals together and went off looking for vengeance.
Me and my mate got a lift home from his big brother...
It was the best
fucking Christmas I ever had!
George X |
With reference to the
first UK PiL concert at the Rainbow, Finsbury Park, London; I can
add the full set list, and in order of play…
Soundcheck: Public Image
/ The Cowboy Song
Gig: Theme / Religion / Annalisa / Attack / Low Life / Belsen Was
A Gas / Public Image
The review that you
have on your site by George X mentioned
mass brawling at this gig; this was not the case. I'm not calling
George a liar but I believe he may have been somewhat 'inebriated'
at the time (well, he mentions this himself); and therefore I think
he has exaggerated the truth. The reality was there were a couple of
very minor scuffles during 'Attack' and 'Belsen' but that
was it.
There were only a handful
of skinheads and they certainly did not, as George puts it, "kick
the shit out of the punks!" Simply
not true, punks outnumbered skinheads. And as the gig was sold-out
weeks before, and no tickets were available on the door, it was a pretty
much a 'leather jacket and patchouli oil' affair!
It really was quite a peaceful
affair. It was a really long day, we were there in the afternoon,
and there was a lot of sitting around and smoking. The soundsystem
was playing mainly heavy dub; and of course the classic at the time
'Handsworth Revolution' the Steel Pulse masterpiece. I remember we
sat next to a couple of punks from Switzerland who were over just
for the gig. I remember them well as I had never seen anyone use
pink rizzla's before!
We were there early and saw the soundcheck. We were just hanging around
upstairs at the Rainbow, they only did two numbers at the soundcheck,
'Public Image' and the b-side of that single 'The Cowboy Song'!
First band on were The Lous
very much in the vein of the Slits/Raincoats… Then a
very long gap before the quite brilliant Basement 5 came on, who
cut a blinding set! Dennis Morris was not with the 5 at the time.
I'm not sure who was on vocals I reckon it was the guitarist JR,
but I'm not sure.
Linton Kwesi Johnstone did
his usual set. LKJ was a prolific performer, just like John Cooper
Clarke; they turned up everywhere! I think I saw those two more than
anyone else; they were always on the bill as support for someone! Good
stuff though…
More long waiting and loads
more heavy dub – Don Letts was the
evening's DJ – before PiL took the stage
quite late, about 11ish. Lydon made a typical Lydon remark at the very
end saying, "That's all folks don't want you lot to miss your
last bus…" It may have been Christmas Day, but there
were a few buses running, we got there and back from Richmond,
Surrey.
It was a great concert, I
remember it well, I was 16 and I was sober! I think you remember
the best gigs from your youth with great clarity, and not too
much as you get older!
Paul M |