100 Club Punk Festival

Infobox Music genre
name=Punk rock
bgcolor=crimson
color=white
stylistic_origins= Rock and roll - Rockabilly - Garage rock - Frat rock - Psychedelic rock - Pub rock - Glam rock - Protopunk
cultural_origins=mid-1970s United States, United Kingdom, and Australia
instruments=Vocals - Guitar - Bass - drums - occasional use of other instruments
popularity=Topped charts in UK during late 1970s. International commercial success for pop punk and ska punk, mid-1990s–2000s.
derivatives=New Wave - Post-punk - Alternative rock - Emo
subgenrelist=List of punk genres
subgenres=Anarcho-punk - Art punk - Garage punk - Gothic rock - Glam punk - Hardcore - Horror punk - Oi! - Riot Grrrl - Skate punk - Christian punk - Nazi punk
fusiongenres=Anti-folk - Celtic punk - Chicano punk - Cowpunk - Deathrock - Folk punk - Pop punk - Psychobilly - Punk blues - Ska punk - 2 Tone
regional_scenes= Argentina - Australia - Belgium - Brazil - California - France - Germany - Uruguay - Yugoslavia
local_scenes= Brisbane
other_topics= DIY ethic - First wave punk - Queercore - Punk fashion - Punk forerunners - Punk ideologies - Punk movies - Punk fanzines - Punk subculture - Punk timeline - Second wave punk - Straight Edge - List of punk bands - Punk rock subgenresThe 100 Club Punk Festival was a two-day event held at the 100 Club - a typically jazz-oriented venue in Oxford Street, London, England - on September 21 and 22, 1976.cite web
authorlink = http://www.the100club.co.uk/
title =History
publisher =the 100 Club
url =http://www.the100club.co.uk/history.asp#punk
accessdate = 2007-09-04 ] The gig showcased eight punk rock bands, most of which were unsigned. The bands in attendance were each associated with the evolving punk rock music scene and movement of the United Kingdom.cite web
authorlink = http://www.123exp-history.com/
title =100 Club Punk Festival
publisher =History Research Guide
url =http://www.123exp-history.com/t/03764121271/
accessdate = 2007-09-04 ] The concert marked a watershed for the movement, as punk began to move from the "underground" and emerge into the "mainstream" music scene.

Promotion

In early September 1976, concert promoter Ron Watts approached Malcolm McLaren, manager of the punk band, the Sex Pistols, and proposed that the Sex Pistols headline the event. After that, they presented the idea to The Damned and The Clash, both of which quickly agreed to participate. Siouxsie Sioux directly approached Watts and requested to join the lineup as well. McLaren then volunteered the Stinky Toys and a handful of other bands from Manchester.

The enthusiasm for this event was partly due to the very positive and extensive promotion by Melody Maker journalist Caroline Coon.

The Line-Up

Monday, September 21cite web
authorlink = http://www.123exp-history.com/
title =The 100 Club Punk Rock Festival
publisher =Rock's Backpages Library
url =http://www.rocksbackpages.com/article.html?ArticleID=5220
accessdate = 2007-09-04 ]
*Subway Sect
*Siouxsie & the Banshees
*The Clash
*Sex Pistols

Tuesday, September 22
*Stinky Toys
*Chris Spedding & The Vibrators
*The Damned
*Buzzcocks

Performances

The Vibrators were a new group that had only recently begun to write their own music and, at the encouragement of Ron Watts, they decided to back Chris Spedding for the show (who was booked to play the second night but didn't have a band behind him). Spedding taught The Vibrators a few songs in the dressing room immediately prior the actual show, leaving no real time for an actual rehearsal.cite web
authorlink = http://www.punk77.co.uk/
title =Knoxie - The Vibrators Interview... 15.12.99
publisher =Punk 77
url =http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/knoxieinterview.htm
accessdate = 2007-09-05 ]

Siouxsie & the Banshees' set, however, was completely improvisational. They didn't know or play any songs, and their act had a very "performance art" quality. Siouxsie, for instance, recited The Lord's Prayer and similar memorized pieces of text.

None of the shows were rehearsed, says Ron Watts, "It was just people, getting up and trying to do something."

Attendees

A great many people who were later to become involved in the punk scene claimed to have "been there" during the two-day festival, but this is an unlikely claim; the venue had a 600-person capacity. However, amongst the "known" attendees were: Shane MacGowan (later of The Nipple Erectors and The Pogues), Shanne Bradley (of The Nipple Erectors and The Men They Couldn't Hang), Viv Albertine of The Slits, Chrissie Hynde (later of The Pretenders), Vivienne Westwood (McLaren's then partner and co-manager of the Chelsea boutique "SEX"), Gaye Advert and TV Smith (later of The Adverts), as well as members of the Bromley Contingent, the punk fashion "avant-garde".

The event was unfortunately marred by violence when a glass, reputedly thrown by then Banshees drummer and later Sex Pistols bass player Sid Vicious, shattered against a pillar during The Damned's set, blinding a young girl in one eye.cite web
title =Ron Watts Interview Nov 2006
publisher =Punk 77
url =http://www.punk77.co.uk/Books/ronwatts.htm
accessdate = 2007-09-04 ] Vicious also notoriously attacked NME journalist Nick Kent with a bicycle chain at the same event.

References