Sex Pistols Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall Concert

On June 4th 1976, English punk band the Sex Pistols played a concert at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England which influenced the formation of bands such as The Fall and Joy Division as well as musicians such as Morrissey. Despite the concert's low attendance of around 40 people^[1], the concert has been retrospectively viewed as one of the most influential events in the development of the British punk and post-punk movements.

Background

The Sex Pistols formed in 1975 and soon became the fore-runners in the London punk scene, forming a cult following within the city's youth; however, the British punk subculture had left little mark outside of Greater London by the summer of '76. In June 1976, they would play Manchester for the first time.

The Concert

The concert was organised by Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley, who would go on to form punk band the Buzzcocks, and admission tickets were 50p each. The concert was advertised in the small print of the Manchester Evening News^[2]. After an opening act by rock band Solstice, the Sex Pistols set contained 13 songs, including early versions of their original material as well as covers of songs by Dave Berry, Paul Revere & the Raiders, Small Faces, The Who and The Stooges^[3].

In attendance were Stephen Morrissey, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Tony Wilson and Martin Hannet (future co-founders of Factory Records), Mark E. Smith and Mick Hucknall^[4] however many others have claimed to have attended the concert.

The concert was attended by only 40 people; according to Morrissey, "the audience was very slim. It was a front parlour affair". However the Sex Pistols would later perform at the same venue 3 weeks later on July 20th to a full audience.

Aftermath & Influence

The performance has been labelled as a defining point in the development of British punk and post-punk music, having directly influenced the formation of many early alternative Manchester bands.

Childhood friends Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook reunited at the gig and decided that night to form the band which would become Joy Division. The day after the concert, they would buy their first guitars and begin learning the instruments. They also placed an advert shortly after looking for a singer, which would be answered by Ian Curtis, who would attend the second concert on July 20th. As Peter Hook states in his autobiography:

"I was thinking two things. Two things that I suppose you'd have to say came together to create my future - my whole life from then on. The first was: I could do that."^[5]

Organisers of the event, Howard Devoto and Pete Shelley, intended to play with their new band Buzzcocks as the opener for the June 4th concert however they backed out. They would play as the opening act for the July 20th concert.

Tony Wilson, who was in attendance, described the event as "nothing short of an epiphany". The concert influenced his music show, So It Goes, which he subsequently invited the Sex Pistols to perform on. This would also influence his founding of music label Factory Records who would go on to sign post-punk acts such as Joy Division as well as Madchester bands such as New Order and Happy Mondays.

Mark E. Smith was in attendance of both the June 4th and July 20th concerts, the latter of which inspired him to form post-punk band The Fall. The concert was an inspiration for Mick Hucknall, of Frantic Elevators and later Simply Red.

In Popular Culture

Recreations of the concert are featured in the Tony Wilson biopic 24 Hour Party People (2002) as well as Ian Curtis biopic Control (2007).

A documentary surrounding the concert and its impact was made in 2001, titled I Swear I Was There^[6], to coincide with the book of the same name.

References