Hello good Clash people and thanks for entering your demographics (without me even asking) over on the Clashblog FB page. Nice to see we range from 16-60 and from every corner of the globe. What a diverse bunch you are ~ I wouldn’t have it any other way! When I wrote on July 4th about the anniversary of the first ‘official’ Clash concert in Sheffield it reminded me how fun the “Clash Landmarks” series had the potential to be. I wanted to write about locations where The Clash played or recorded or somehow had a significant part to play in the history of the band. So I’ll get back to writing the Clash Landmarks series tonight and try and cover a venue every couple of weeks or so. I’ll be the first to confess I don’t know everywhere like the back of my hand so I might need your help with Cleveland and Paris, Vancouver and Bristol. If you want to be part of the circulation of information get in touch….all hands on deck.

The Screen on The Green in modern times

For tonight though let’s look at the venue where The Clash played their third ever concert and second proper gig. It has special significance to me as I’ve been in there a number of times and spent every other Saturday for much of my life less than a mile away at Highbury watching Arsenal play. That part of North London changes dramatically in just a short distance. The area around Finsbury Park is neither glamorous nor down-market, terraced houses sit on congested roads down towards the former home of theold  football club. Beyond Arsenal to the South I spent part of many match days in the Highbury Barn and as you walk slightly uphill toward Islington proper the homes get more stately along with the shopping and dining options. Highbury Park cedes to Highbury Grove and then a short jaunt West finds you at the top of Upper Street, Islington. Halfway down Upper Street sits the Screen on The Green and when I was old enough to know a bit better I couldn’t walk or ride a bus pass without thinking “That’s where The Clash started out”. Back in the summer of 1976 I had no such clue however, the nearest I got was Arsenal’s ground. I had just turned 9 years old and one of my clearest memories from that age was going to see Arsenal at their first home match of the new season. It was a really hot Saturday afternoon and I remember being crushed that we lost 0-1 to newly promoted Bristol City, new signing Malcolm McDonald didn’t score and the Bristol City goalkeeper shared my last name. I felt betrayed and dismayed all at the same time as the high hopes of a 9 year old boy came rudely crashing down in just a few hours. I even found a video with the highlights of the match that day.

The entrance roof above the marquee

Fate was crueler than I even knew at the time as just 8 days later on August 29th The Clash played their first proper London concert just down the street in Islington. If I was but 5 or 6 years older I’d like to think I’d have been amongst that audience, the reality is I probably wouldn’t have been there as The Clash were barely heard of at that time, Joe Strummer still better known for his former outfit the 101′ers than this new collection of punks. The Screen on The Green doesn’t belie it’s title – it was a cinema first and foremost and has now returned to that role but in the 1970′s and beyond it hosted a number of concerts including this significant run out by The Clash. The building itself is not significant but I always found the neon marquee lights on a wet London night to be most enticing. The setting is notable amongst the shops of Upper Street, looking like a small ship has moored off the main street,  the pavement around it beckons you in as I’m sure was the intent when it first opened as the Empress Electric Theatre.

The Empress Electric Theatre opened in October 1913 following a commission by architects Boreham & Gladding. The original design hosted seating capacity for 600 on a single floor. The original name didn’t last and was soon renamed Empress Picture Theatre. After the war a refurbishment lowered seating to 541 and a new name as it became the Rex Cinema in 1951. The Rex closed on 29th June 1970, but was bought by Romaine Hart’s Mainline Pictures Group of Screen Cinemas, who re-opened it on 13th September 1970 as the Screen on the Green – first film was Robert Redford in “Downhill Racer”.

In February 1981 a huge modernization took place adding significant foyer space, something the original lacked. There was a price to pay as capacity shrunk further to 300. Screen Cinemas ran the venue until 2008, when it was then sold to the Everyman Media Group. As you can see by the photos it wasn’t the most glamorous venue in London but the interior has a great barrel ceiling and the exterior borders on an art-deco feel although it predates that style of construction by about a decade. In part two we’ll have a quick look at the gig itself with The Sex Pistols and Buzzcocks. Audio from the night in question is over on the top right of this page. If you ever went to The Screen please add your recollection in the comments….

The famous neon at The Screen on The Green

Thanks for swinging by – Tim