Siouxsie & the Banshees 1976-09-20
100 Club Punk Festival, London, UK
Set 1
The Lord's Prayer > Twist and Shout > Deutschland Uber Alles > Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Set 2
Set 3
Comment
Here's a brief summary of the story behind this gig for anyone who might not know it:
Siouxsie, Steve Severin, and others (including Billy Idol) were huge fans of the Sex Pistols and followed them around to gigs. The music press named then the Bromley Contingent. At the Sex Pistols 'Screen On The Green' gig on 1976.08.29 Siouxsie, Severin and Billy asked Malcolm McLaren (Sex Pistols manager) if they could appear at the upcoming 100 Club Punk Festival, and he agreed.
First they had to think of a name for their band. Severin took insiration from the horror movie 'Cry Of The Banshee' and the name Susie and the Banshees was chosen. (The Siouxsie spelling came later).
Next they had to decide what each of them would to in the band. Severin had never touched any kind of guitar in his life and Sioux had never sung publically. Idol taught Severin to play bass, but then 2 days before the gig Idol decided he couldn't take part as he believed it would harm the reputation of the group he'd recently joined (Chelsea). As a replacement he suggested Marco Pirroni who'd just left Chelsea, and since they still had no drummer McLaren suggested Sid Vicious. Sid agreed, but only if he didn't have to play cymbals or sing.
The day before the gig they had a 2 hour rehearsal at The Clash's rehearsal room in Camden. Much of the rehearsal time was spent discussing what they would do, rather than actual rehearsing. They decided on a continuous wall of noise over which Siouxsie would sing extracts of what she considered the most ridiculous songs ever written while Pirroni would play riffs from cliched rock standards.
Then the gig itself. The plan was they'd keep playing until the audience got bored and they were booed (or thrown) off stage! When they started the audience was aghast, many turning away to get another drink from the bar. Johnny Rotten danced at the front. After 25 minutes the band got bored before the audience did and just stopped, and returned to the audience.
Howard Thompson (Island Records A&R man) was there and said "God it was awful!". Nils Stevenson & Kenny Morris were impressed though, and Nils offered to be their manager and Kenny offered to play drums, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Siouxsie, Steve Severin, and others (including Billy Idol) were huge fans of the Sex Pistols and followed them around to gigs. The music press named then the Bromley Contingent. At the Sex Pistols 'Screen On The Green' gig on 1976.08.29 Siouxsie, Severin and Billy asked Malcolm McLaren (Sex Pistols manager) if they could appear at the upcoming 100 Club Punk Festival, and he agreed.
First they had to think of a name for their band. Severin took insiration from the horror movie 'Cry Of The Banshee' and the name Susie and the Banshees was chosen. (The Siouxsie spelling came later).
Next they had to decide what each of them would to in the band. Severin had never touched any kind of guitar in his life and Sioux had never sung publically. Idol taught Severin to play bass, but then 2 days before the gig Idol decided he couldn't take part as he believed it would harm the reputation of the group he'd recently joined (Chelsea). As a replacement he suggested Marco Pirroni who'd just left Chelsea, and since they still had no drummer McLaren suggested Sid Vicious. Sid agreed, but only if he didn't have to play cymbals or sing.
The day before the gig they had a 2 hour rehearsal at The Clash's rehearsal room in Camden. Much of the rehearsal time was spent discussing what they would do, rather than actual rehearsing. They decided on a continuous wall of noise over which Siouxsie would sing extracts of what she considered the most ridiculous songs ever written while Pirroni would play riffs from cliched rock standards.
Then the gig itself. The plan was they'd keep playing until the audience got bored and they were booed (or thrown) off stage! When they started the audience was aghast, many turning away to get another drink from the bar. Johnny Rotten danced at the front. After 25 minutes the band got bored before the audience did and just stopped, and returned to the audience.
Howard Thompson (Island Records A&R man) was there and said "God it was awful!". Nils Stevenson & Kenny Morris were impressed though, and Nils offered to be their manager and Kenny offered to play drums, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Sources
| SHNID | Date | Venue | City | State | Archive Identifier |
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Created At
Tue Aug 23 2005 08:54:30 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Updated At
Tue Aug 23 2005 08:54:30 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
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