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So this is the first (the next will follow in a few days as I will not have access to my PC for a couple of days) of the recordings that I have from the 100 Club Punk Festival that took place on the 20th and 21st September 1976. As mentioned earlier, the sound is rough, but I think that it is important that you hear this at least once... and maybe even give it a second go given how unusual it is.
People talk endlessly about the DIY ethic of punk, and in the Banshees appearance, here was that ethic in its purest form on show in front of a paying audience. The band just wanted to get up and play and probably more to the point preen up on a stage. The set? Well there was no set as such, other than a 24 minute improvisation of the 'Lord's Prayer' interspersed with bits of 'Twist & Shout' and 'Deutschland Uber Alles'. According to the story, what Camden rehearsal time they did set aside, a bored Sid cut short. The band produced something of cacophony, an experimental jam fully intended to put people's backs up. The interesting bit is that Sid was pinning it all down effectively with a regular drum beat (despite only having one day's familiarity with the instrument). It is fair comment to say that he was a better drummer than he was a bass player!
So whilst NME dropped the ball review-wise with these 100 Club nights, the man with the real inside punk know how, Mark P, was on hand to offer a review in a Festival special issues of his 'Sniffin' Glue' fanzine.
Over to you Mark...
Yes, it’s the 1976 100 Club Punk Festival!
Monday: What a fucking great night, anybody who was anybody was there, it was an occasion not to be missed. A bunch of Discos and ageing hippies popped down to see what was happening as well as the regular punk fans posing and liggering in the fun. There was a bit of a rumble but it wasn’t too violent, it was a great night.
Suzie & The Banshees
After the Sect’s set the buzz was going round about the Pistols follower, Sid, who was gonna play drums with the next band up – Suzie and the Banshies (sic). Everybody was exited and thought that Sid was gonna pull out his chain and madly lash out at the poor drums. When they finally made it onstage, Sid was terrific, he kept a real clear drum tempo going which really lifted the band a cut above a few other punks currently on the scene. The amazing thing was, that Sid had only been playing the drums for one day. I spoke to Sid afterwards and he was really pleased and told me he enjoyed himself.
A few people spotted in the bar after Suzie’s set were, Paul Weller, the Jam’s guitarist and Mike Spencer, the New Yorker who reckons that the London punk scene is very far superior to the scene in New York. Very true.
Artwork: https://we.tl/t-cmZAFfBjbuyige4X
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