Good Saturday afternoon/evening depending where you are. Congratulations to Gillingham on a 5-0 tonking of Swindon to start their season and the real stuff starts in a few days! That however is not why I write but I should add that Swindon needs a salute for producing XTC – what a band!

Sheffield is where we bring our focus, the home of the first ‘official’ Clash concert back in 1976 in an unlikely little venue in the city centre – The Black Swan. Part one of the story is right here if you want to check that first.

I’m still hoping to learn more about the history of the pub/club as I can’t timeline what year it became the building that you see today as opposed to the little corner pub it was in the 60′s. If you’re in Sheffield and know please write in. Based on my research the Black Swan was a known spot for live music as early as the mid 60′s and by the following decade many large names in glam rock (Mud, Sweet) and household mid seventies names (Cockney Rebel, Curved Air). I must confess to having a certain fascination with music venues and when I move to a new city (as I seem to do often) I make it a point to visit most for a show and find out more about the venue.

CREDIT: ALLAN BALLARD/SCOPEFEATURES.COM

So it was that the Sex Pistols headed North on July 4, 1976 to play a show supported by The Clash. At this stage The Clash were barely past the point of rehearsing and most songs were either in incomplete stages or Mick Jones songs were being reworked (and retitled) by Joe Strummer. Fascinatingly Mick Jones recalls that at that point they’d hardly even rehearsed. DIY ethics on full display! By October The Clash would be creating a buzz and the scene was in the press (if at first lightly) but in July they were just another band. The Pistols were the catalyst for awareness and those who attended that night (attendance unknown) were not their to see The Clash. The Sex Pistols had only been playing live regularly since February – and it was only 4 weeks since the famed show at Manchester’s  Lesser Free Trade Hall. It’s possible that word of mouth may have brought limited attention to the fact the former 101′ers vocalist was in a new band but I’d hazard a guess that was unlikely too.

At this early date all the legends about Paul Simonon being short of even novice ability on the bass are true. He recalls Mick needing to tune his instrument during the short set. This was the Clash Mark I with Keith Levene plus Terry Chimes on drums making for a 5 piece. Short of recollections by the band not much can be gleamed about the appearance as there was no press present as far as I know. Unofficially only 4 tracks were played and the Clash wouldn’t set foot on a stage for another public gig until late August.

Just short of 7 years later The Clash effectively finished when Mick played his last concert with the band at the US Festival. Many miles were covered during those years but it all started in good old Sheffield. If you are interested the map below will help – it’s where the green icon is!

Talk soon, off to play football in the park with Jack, despite my knee injury yesterday.

Link to the venue’s site – now The Boardwalk

Tim