Clash on Parole Tour
Supported by The Specials & Suicide & The Skids

Skids lead singer Richard Jobson waxes lyrical about this gig whenever he talks about it.

Last updated March 2007

Rude Boy Promo cass - Sound 5 - 3min - 1gen - 1 track
complete song audio only - more info

Rude Boy DVD - Quality 5 - 6min - 2 tracks - includes a bonus track on the DVD

Recent DVD Release

The recent DVD release includes the track White Riot as a bonus, probably excluded as White Riot was included from Glasgow and Victoria Park already.

With a mass stage invasion the band are no longer able to continue and the gig comes to an end.

Punk Riot...

The Dunfermaline Kinema White Riot footage was originally shown in edited form on Scottish TV (as a ‘punk riot’ story) as the gig erupted to a premature end. This song doesn't feature on the films promo cassette, possibly with White Riot on to many times and the Prisoner was used solely for the Glasgow mayhem follow up?

"The gig was definately played on Thursday, 6th July 1978. Suicide were the support band (and boy did they get it that night, almost got murdered) and the crowd were among the most violent ever witnessed in my long career of gigs throughout the years.

This was due to a large part of the crowd being the "Sham Army" who were out to kick in as many Clash fans as they could. So by the time the Clash took to the stage, fights were breaking out all over the place, and the bouncers had pissed off out of the road as they couldn't control it.

The Clash were continually interupted trying to stop the fighting, but eventually just played through the bedlam as there was nothing much they could do.

As the concert came to it's climax "White Riot" the whole place seemed to go absolutely mental as the crowd, at first one or two getting up on the stage and trying to sing with Strummer, then eventually the rest stormed it, Strummer disappearing under a mass of bodies, the band stopped playing, Simonon swinging his bass at anything near him, Topper buggered off through the backdrop and if I remember rightly Jonesy just walking off the side looking more than a bit peeved.

Needless to say they didn't appear again as the house lights went up, the local Fife Police came in, and it became a free for all.

During the set me and my two friends had stood up on the seats at the side of the dance hall where we had a great view. Two guys, one with a huge camera on his shoulder and another carrying some kind of case attached to it, asked to come up beside us to film the band. Me and one of my mates held this big case up so the cameraman could manovere better and I asked the other one what it was for.

He replied it was for a documentary on the band. Yes, It was "Rude Boy"! After a while a couple of bouncers came up to us (doing nothing but helping out by the way while half the bloody crowd were murdering each other) and told us to get down off the seats. For crying out loud, the place had been trashed!!!!!!!!! Anyway, we all had to get down, the two guys thanked us and moved closer to the stage.

I noticed the film is out now on DVD, and one of the extras is "White Riot". I remember after the show (probably within a week) the local TV showed a clip of the end of the gig when the crowd all started invading the stage but this was not on the original film or video.

1
2

Tommy Gun
White Riot

Sounds 3 June
Clash on Parole - Tour Dates

Sounds 10th June
Clash Off - cancellled dates

Sounds - Early July
Clash to Be City Rockers after all
- finalised tour dates

A3 Tour Ad

NME On Parole Letters

Any further info / reviews appreciated

??? The Manticore Theatre, Fulham [Secret Gig]
in an interview in the NME 15 July 78, two xtra late dates were played, Rafters in Manchester and Fulham.

"Looking through your site yesterday i noticed a mention of a 'secret' gig somewhere, but no mention of the show at (I think) The Manticore Theatre in Fulham sometime in late 1978. It was the same night as a 'secret' show by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers at the Marquee ( I went to The Clash, the girlfriend went to Tom Petty). This show was inevitably broken up by the police after 30/40 mins but no real problem"
Jun 28

Friars, Aylesbury
Jun 29 Queens Hall, Leeds
Jun 30 Top Rank, Sheffield
Jul 1 Granby Hall, Leicester
Poster Ticket De Montfort Hall was one of the best venues in Britain with amazing acoustics, easy to enter or leave and had a decent bar the whole length of one side. Granby Halls was a temporary tin hut of a cattle shed, decades passed its sell by date and acoustically hell on earth (but held 4,500) - Bob Geldolf once spent a whole concert apologising for playing there and the Boomtown Rats did two nights at De Montfort the next tour "rather than ever play Granby Halls ever again".

Coventry Specials - did not spot them then as what became one of my favourite bands of the next decade.
 
Suicide - loved by the older, art school types at the back (I went out and bought the album) but hated by the skinheads and younger fans at the front. Half the front were lighting boxes of matches and throwing them onto the stage to set fire to the band, fortunately(?) the other half were pissing into the plastic glasses and throwing them at the band thereby putting out the fires. Joe Strummer had to come on to ask the crowd to let them play as he wanted to see them.
 
Clash - the improved PA was lost on the appalling sound quality of the hall, at the front it was all fuzz and at the back as tinny as hell. Nigel
Jul 2 Apollo, Manchester
Jul 3 Rafters Club, Manchester
A Riot of Our Own mentions a gig at the Apollo going down well and Joe asked for another Manchester date on their day off. Green found a small venue but had difficulty putting up Pauls bomber plane backdrop. A Riot of Our Own pg 61.
Jul 4 Apollo, Glasgow, Scotland
Another extensively chronicled night in Johnny Greens book. The bouncers beating up the fans was re-enacted for the film Rude Boy. See A Riot of Our Own pg89+
Jul 5 Music Hall, Aberdeen, Scotland
See A Riot of Our Own pg89
Jul 6 Dunfermline Kinema, Scotland
Correct info from a late tour poster. Johnney Green also refers to this as a venue on p89. End of White Riot appeared on Scottish TV the day after...
Jul 7 Deeside Leisure Centre, Chester
resheduled from the 6th? An audience recording was made.
Jul 8 Sports Centre, Crawley
Johnny Green says he trapped Micks fingers here and that after a trip top the hospital they all headed for the next venue which was Southampton. A Riot of Our Own p96.

.. after the gig we started towards Three Bridges Rail station, we'd heard we could get a train back to London from there. After ten minutes walk we encountered a group of punks walking back towards Crawley; a large group of skinheads had collected at Three Bridges station waiting for *us*. We walked back with them and hung around near the gig - after awhile the sounds of trouble and sure enough the skins had gotten tired of waiting and were now back in Crawley causing problems. My mate and I managed to get to the venue where the crew were loading out. We expalined what was happening and asked them for a lift back to London [with Johnney Green & Co]; we were dropped off on Streatham High Rd and walked home to Balham." Steve

Confirm story re skinheads (from Croydon). Me and my friends ran across railway sidings at 3 Bridges to escape. Specilas were then known as the Coventry Specials. This is the gig where the skin jumped on stage and lamped Alan Vega from Suicide. Colin
Jul 9 Locarno, Bristol
another confirmed performance in A Riot of our Own and dated the 9th on tour posters and later prom adverts and dates given to music press. However Green states Southamton followed Crawley - he needs to check BMC a botmore oftne?!.

Bristol followed Crawley not Southampton. I have door stub.
Set list: Complete Control, T Gun, Cheapskates, Jail Guitar Doors, Drug Stabbing Times, Clash CR, Riot, Stay Free, Capital Radio, Police and Thieves segueing into Blitzkrieg Bop, English Civil War, Safe European, What's My Nmae, London Buring, Garageland encores Bored USA, Janine Jones, White Riot. Colin
Jul 9 Southampton
Jul 10 Town Hall, Torquay
Jul 11 Top Rank, Cardiff, Wales
Jul 12 Top Rank, Birmingham
Suicide, Coventry Automatics (later Specials) and Spizz 77 were supporting.

Steve Jones came on for an encore of 'Pretty Vacant'
Jul 13 Liverpool Empire
Cancelled due to the venue getting cold feet. Reararranged from the Empite to Erics a week later. Also Bob Gruens book pg39
Jul 13 King Georges Hall, Blackburn
Blackburn was a late addition to the Tour. Liverpool was cancelled due to the venue getting cold feet. See below. Refered extensively (p84) to in A Riot of Our Own where Mick got busted by Blacburn CID for possession. The motel he refers to is the Moat House. This is the date bacause it gets a late mention in the NME of the previous week. Steve Jones came on for the encores though the noise and atmosphere was incredible. For the afternoon soundcheck the band performed Desmond Deckers 'The Israleites' (which was about 4.30 for statisticians).
Jul 14 Corn Exchange, Bury St Edmunds
a late addition to the tour and the last night according to johnny Greens A Riot of our Own pg99
Jul 15 Picketts Lock Sports Centre, Edmonton
gig cancelled due to local residents complaints. the Clash also banned from Newcastle.
Jul 21 Liverpool Eric's - Friday evening
They also played an extra show on Friday July 21st at Eric's in Liverpool with the Specials in support. This was in response to the cancellation of the Empire concert and the large demand.
Jul 22 Liverpool Eric's - matinee for under 16's
Jul 22 Liverpool Eric's - evening
the Liverpool show on the 13th - the Empire show was cancelled due to the venue getting cold feet.  They re-scheduled Liverpool to Saturday 22nd July and played two shows at Liverpool Eric's - an afternoon matinee show for under 16's and an evening one.  It was so fucking hot... Paul Simonon mentions the 'ceiling raining' at Eric's on page 39 of the Bob Gruen book - that was the time he meant. 
Jul 24 Music Machine, London
Jul 25 Music Machine, London
Jul 26 Music Machine, London
Jul 27 Music Machine, London