White Riot Tour with the Jam, Buzzcocks, Slits and Subway Sect.
cdr – quite good - Sound 4 - 47min - low gen - tracks 16
This is the first night of The White Riot Tour which would establish the band nationally alongside the Pistols as THE major bands of the punk movement. It was almost certainly Topper’s first major gig and was also a tour which would lose £28,000 due to smashed seats, a huge retinue of hangers on and general excess.
With the release of White Riot and The Clash album plus all the media coverage (both music press and national), the band were now met with packed audiences eager to experience the new punk phenomena. This transition from playing small clubs with largely disinterested audiences happened so quickly that Joe starts this gig with a totally superfluous for those who don’t know we’re The Clash”
Clash Ad 16 April 1977
This a low generation audience tape has some bass distortion, but which perversely captures the excitement, power and intensity of the live experience as you can feel the amps overpowered. (some might not like this on their recording!) There is a good range of sound with Mick’s guitar and Toppers drums quite clear amount of.
This like all the White Riot shows is fast and furious and very intense. The performances build in energy culminating in terrific encore versions of White Riot through to 1977.
The band opens with a pause before lurching into Londons Burning. A steady 1977 and I’m so bored follow as the band in this opening date find their feet. Things start to crank up through a confident Pressure Drop where the bass really reverberates… Mick introduces Hate and War quietly as the the enthusiastic audience bellow out requests. Tentatively Joe suggests for those wanting to know the songs/words “this is Cheat”. Toppers drums drive the performance with Mick solidly playing guitar.
As the audiences’ enthusiasm builds up Joe suggests Police and Thieves “is for all you reggae fans”, the sound coming across well, including Paul’s bass. Before Capital Radio Joe refers to the shortages of the NME flexi-disc; “you’re supposed to get this for nothing, although I haven't got one , John Peel has”. (The band addressed the black market situation by re-releaseing the track on 1979’s Cost of Living EP). Deny is f/b a tape turnover but does not affect either track.
Echoing the lyrics of the song, Remote Control is introduced by “this is the Civic Hall right”. The sound improves slightly with White Riot “the song that ain’t No.1” with the vocals less distant which ends the set. These last 4 songs are the highlights of this pretty good recording as the band seem to have settled down, a confidence expressed by Joe, “right we’re gonna give you Garageland”.The recording cuts off straight after the last words of a rousing 1977 (…1984)
my first experience of the Clash was Sunday May 1st 1977on the White Riot tour in Guildford.Jimmy Pursey and Billy Idol were in the audience, no-one had heard of them at that time. My life was never the same after.
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White Riot full page ad
with dates
The Jam quit White Riot Tour
Melody Maker Mid May 77
Oct 77 - Unknown Fanzine
page 1 page 2 page 3
Greatness from Garageland
Peter Silverton, Trouser Press, February 1978
UNANNOUNCED, TO SAY the least, a kid in boots, suspenders and short-cropped hair clambers through the photographers' pit and up onto the stage of London's Rainbow Theatre. Benignly ignored by band, stage crew and security alike...
Clash Landing
Search and Destroy Fanzine
Clash Interviewed by Annette Weatherman and Vermilion Sands
A lengthy interview with Joe, Mick & Paul in 1977. It was published in Search & Destroy mag out of San Francisco. It was the first word of the Clash in print in the U.S. Birmingham Rag Marktt & Sweden gigs referenced.
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Rascals, Chester |
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Barbarella, Birmingham |
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Affair, Swindon |
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Erics, Liverpool |
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University, Aberdeen |
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Playhouse, Edinburgh |
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Electric Circus, Manchester |
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Rainbow, London |
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| infamous riot gig - often mis-cited as the 7th. See 7th gig at Edinburgh with Edinburgh Ticket | ||
| Town Hall, Kidderminster |
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| Following an injury to his hand, Mick Jones of the Clash is forced to cancel the gig booked for Kidderminster Town Hall. | ||
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Palais, Nottingham |
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Polytechnic, Leicester |
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Brakke Grond Amsterdam |
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Fiesta, Plymouth |
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University, Swansea |
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Polytechnic, Leeds |
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Rock Garden, Middlesborough |
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University, Newcastle |
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City Hall, St. Albans |
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| Skindles, Maidenhead cancelled | ||
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Wolverhampton Civic Hall | |
| The Clash played a replacement gig at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall on May 22 1977. This gig was played literally days after The Jam departed the tour. Rumour had it there was a dispute about the use of lighting on the tour. Buzzcocks, Slits and Subway Sect supported. The ticket stub did not have the bands name printed on, but had a "complimentary" stamp across it and the price written on. It was however an official Civic Hall ticket. | ||
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Top Of The World, Stafford |
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Top Rank, Cardiff, Wales |
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| White Riot 1977 was Clash at their superlative best – from Cardiff’s Top Rank balcony the front of stage appeared a pogoing and spitting frenzy. Against the Notting Hill Riot backdrop, Joe’s eye’s burning and neck pulsing, his lyrics spat out with such white heat intensity - I wondered if he could survive another year! Dave Smitham | ||
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University of Sussex, Brighton |
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| Video exists | ||
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Colston, Bristol |
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Pavilion, West Runton |
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Odeon, Canterbury |
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| probably didn't happen... | ||
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De Montfort Hall, Leicester |
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| date listed in NME... | ||
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Chancellor Hall, Chelmsford |
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California Ballroom, Dunstable |
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