Читать книгу Buzzcocks - The Complete History - Tony McGartland - Страница 76

Buzzcocks play support to the Sex Pistols at the Screen on the Green, Islington, north London, partly as a return gesture by McLaren. Paul Clegg drives the van south. The Clash also play their debut gig tonight on the same bill. They actually debuted on 13 August, but that was a closed performance at their manager’s rehearsal studio in Chalk Farm for the press only. This Islington gig is their first public appearance. However, the London bands fail to enter into the spirit of punk solidarity and exclude the Northerners from most of the proceedings. Buzzcocks play ‘Breakdown’, ‘Friends of Mine’, ‘Time’s Up’, ‘Orgasm Addict’, ‘Peking Hooligan’, ‘Lester Sands’, ‘Oh Shit!’, ‘You Tear Me Up’, ‘Love Battery’ and ‘I Can’t Control Myself’. The set contains Shelley-Devoto compositions, which remain firm live favourites throughout Buzzcocks’ career.

John Maher remembers the atmosphere in London: ‘We set off for Islington and parked up outside the front door of the Screen on the Green to load in our equipment. There were already hordes of people milling around on the pavement. I’d never seen anything like it. It was a strange sight for a sixteen-year-old kid enjoying the last few days of the summer holidays. Three days later I’d be back at school for the first term of the new school year, studying maths, physics and chemistry.’

An audience recording of this Buzzcocks performance includes a very early Devoto composition called ‘Peking Hooligan’. Devoto wrote the song after reading an article in the Guardian about the rise of juvenile delinquency in China. On the same tape, a strong Mancunian voice can be heard saying, ‘Has yours got sugar in it?’

Cindy Stern photographs the band on stage.

Sounds columnist Giovanni Dadamo reviews the Buzzcocks’ performance as ‘rougher than a bear’s ass!’