All you punks and all you teds
National Front and Natti dreds
Mods, rockers, hippies and skinheads
Keep on fighting ’till you’re dead
Talking to Come Here To Me!, Garry O’Neill (editor of Dublin street fashion photography book Where Were You?) summed up the violent mood that he felt growing up in Dublin in the mid-1970s:
To me, at that time, Dublin seemed a violent place. It was a social problem that existed before the punk explosion and the skinhead/mod revivals of the late 70s. Growing up in the city centre in the mid 70s there seemed to be a very tribal and territorial element to the violence that occurred. The city’s cold and grey complexion compounded the fear of walking through certain areas where you might be visiting a new girlfriend or friend, meaning that unless you took a bus, you had to safely navigate a way out of said area and through one or two more before finally reaching your home patch, thus avoiding some of the bootboy gangs and odd individuals that seemed to exist purely to take exception to the fact that “You’re not from around here” before meeting out a well placed box or boot to send you on your way.
In regard to its Punk and local live music scene, artist Garret Phelan has signalled out Dublin as being different to other cities in the South of Ireland:
It was bonkers (in Dublin). I would be shitting my pants going to some of these gigs. I was talking to a mate of mine who grew up very much within the music scene in Cork, and he never experienced the fear factor that you would experience in going to gigs here. Going to gigs here, you took your life into your hands.
At Ireland’s first punk festival (25 June 1977) in the canteen on UCD’s Belfield campus, a young fan from Cabra was stabbed twice after a short fracas broke during the gig involving eight or nine people. He later died of his injuries in a hospital in the early hours of the morning. Gavin Friday, lead singer with The Virgin Prunes, believes that it could have been ‘the first murder at a rock gig in the British Isles.
Garry O’Neill, whose eldest brother was at the gig, recalled:
It was the first time I’d heard of violence at a gig. The only other incident I knew about was the Bay City Rollers gig at the Star Cinema in Crumlin in 1974. When into the gig went gangs of girls from all over the city, leaving their gangs of boyfriends outside to run amok amongst themselves.
As the punk scene in Dublin grew in popularity and began to attract fans from all over the city, incidents of faction fighting and recreational violence grew. Some noticeable violence occurred at the following gigs:
– 12 November 1977: The Stranglers (who didn’t show up), The Radio Stars and The Vipers in the Tivoli Theatre, Francis Street. Original guitarist for The Vipers Ray Ellis recalled:
There was a riot going on when we arrived – seats being ripped up (and) general mayhem. We got into it and the place went wild. While I was playing, a guy in the crowd pointed at my shoe and my lace was open … I gave him a nod and put my foot over to have him tie my lace. He grabbed my foot (and) started to pull me off the stage. The bouncers at the side curtain saw me disappearing but could not see why and thought … it was part of the act till they saw my face so they grabbed my head. There was a tug of was between them and the crowd. Happily they won and I was kept on stage and finished the set.
– 12 October 1978: The Virgin Prunes were bottled off stage while supporting The Clash at the Top Hat, Dun Laoghaire. It was their second gig. Gavin Friday remembers:
We came on (with) Guggi wearing a tiny skirt and I had a plastic suit made out of raincoats, no jocks underneath, and pair of Docs. We’d only played two little gigs before that. Steve Averill from The Radiators From Space played synthesizer with us. The crowd just went apeshit. They thought Guggi was a chick. The adrenaline of all these people pogoing kicked in and I started jumping around, the next thing this plastic suit that me ma had made me split completely. I was standing there totally bollock naked, except for a pair of Doc Martins. I turned around and Guggi’s skirt had come off and you could see that he was a bloke. All hell broke loose, there were bottles flying, they were setting the curtains on fire. We were reefed off the stage by The Clash’s tour manager and fucked out the door. We had no money and had to walk with all out gear, back from Dun Laoghaire to Ballymun.
– 20 October 1978: Violence again at The Top Hat with The Jam.
– May 1979: Black Catholics trouble at a U2 gig (supporting Patrick Fitzgerald) in the Project Arts Centre. The late great Bill Graham of Hot Press wrote at the time:
Last weekend at the Project, U2, who were supporting Patrick Fitzgerald were targets of an unprovoked assault. As our man on the move Ross Fitzsimons reports a group arrived down & began taunting the band but the verbal displeasure escalated to direct and seemingly drunken action as critics jumped on stage, threw cider about & in one instance kicked U2 bassist Adam Clayton. After two numbers, the band quit the stage & the situation became so unruly that two Gardai had to called to escort the disruptors from the premises. That was Friday night but the following evening, the vendetta continued. One troublesome patron was speedily ejected by U2 manager Paul McGuinness but after McGuinness returned to the auditorium, a bruising skirmish ensued in the foyer & outside.
– 17 November 1979: Trouble at the Squeeze gig in Belfield, UCD.
– 1979: Brawls at a fundraiser gig for the UCD Student Union with DC Nein and The Threat at the Student Bar in Belfield. Maurice Foley, guitarist and the lead vocalist of The Threat, remembers:
I remember one time we played with DC Nien in Belfield… and there was a bit of trouble there… Whatever it was, someone from Hot Press came out to ask me about something… we had this old van that kept running out of water and all the lads were waiting to get in the back after the gig and then this car came in really close beside us and it nearly knocked a few of the lads over, they had to jump out of the way… and it pulled up outside the Students Union Bar… then they got out and they were all loud, they’d had a few drinks and the car could have been stolen ‘cos they were driving all over the grass and stuff… so our lads thought they’d go down and have a word with them in the car… so they ended up smashing all the windows in the car… some chains came out and that… so they drove off and went into the students bar and the students all came out with them and they started attacking… there wasn’t a large crowd of us either… so everybody crowded into the back of the van and we started the van to get it going, but it wouldn’t start… they all came close and started firing rocks, and the lads had to get out to chase them off again.
– December 1979: Fighting at The Members gig supported by Stiff Little Fingers in the Olympic Ballroom, Pleasant Street.
– 2 March 1980: 49 people were injured in the crowd trouble at The Boomtown Rats and The Atrix concert at Leixlip Castle.
– May 1980: Aggro at The Rezillos, The Tourists and The Epidemix gig in Liberty Hall.
– 27 July 1980: Bottle throwing at The Police gig at Leixlip Castle.
– 6 October 1980: A hammer attack at a 4″ Be 2″‘s gig in Trinity College. The band featured John Lydon’s younger brother Jimmy. Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) was arrested that evening for assault after a melee in the Horse & Tram pub, Eden Quay, Dublin, he was sentenced to three months in jail for disorderly conduct but was eventually acquitted on appeal.
– 8 October 1980: Four people were stabbed after The Ramones gig at Grand Cinema, Quarry Road, Cabra.
– 15 January 1981: Hectic scenes at The Specials and The Beat concert at The Stardust, Artane. Gang violence between the “Edenmore Dragons” from Raheny and the “Coolock Boot Boys” from Coolock marred the legendary gig. Edna on Brand New Retro described it as a ‘ bloodbath of a gig’ while Festeron on the TheSpecials2.com forum recalled ‘The gig .. was ruined by fighting between 2 rival Dublin gangs … They used the dance floor as a battleground that night despite Terrys best efforts to make peace. “‘
– 1981: The Outcasts gig in McGonagles saw the bar being raided by punters and fighting occurring inside and outside the gig.
As Post-Punk, Two-Tone, Mod Revival, Oi!, Hardcore and other styles continued to broaden the musical landscape in the early 1980s, violence was still a factor at concerts. Reggae gigs, synonymous with slow, heavy bass and dope smoking, were not free from trouble either. Garry O’Neill of Where Were You? told us that:
There was trouble at some reggae gigs I attended, although not on the scale as the above mentioned ones, it happened none the less. I recall seeing fighting inside and outside the TV Club around 1983/84 at gigs by Steel Pulse, Aswad, and Dennis Bovell & the Dub Band, plus a particularly violent attack outside a UB40 concert at the National Stadium around 1982, when a large vodka bottle floored a guy trying to protect his girlfriend from some bloke’s unwanted attention.
The TV Club was also the scene of an infamous violent gig on 11 August 1984 from English hardcore punk band Anti Nowhere League, supported by surf rockers The Barracudas and local acts The Golden Horde and The Commotion at The TV Club. Punks and skins from Cabra stormed the stage during the headliner’s set and ran off with stolen equipment.
Artist Garret Phelan remembered that night:
The Golden Horde did their set, which was wonderful, and they got off unscathed. Then The Barracudas came on and they were just showered in spit. They actually stopped the gig. The manager came out and said, ‘Look, we’d love to continue.’ All the skinheads from Cabra were there and were saying, ‘It’s cool, we won’t do it again.’ They came back on again, and they spat all over them. This happened about three times, so it was getting out of hand. When the Anti-Nowhere League came out — this is really interesting — hardcore punk bands at that time never got the massive media coverage that you get today, so you didn’t know what these guys looked like. They walked out on stage, you know, ‘The Russians are coming’, really hardcore stuff, and the lead singer looked like he was out of Twisted Sister. He had this huge blonde perm right down to his arse. Every skinhead in the place jumped up and beat the shit out of the band and they stole all the equipment, and went running down Harcourt Street with it. The irony of that is that the TV Club was sited beside the Harcourt Street Police Station, and the police just locked their doors and let them get on with it.
John Sutton, who worked as manager of the SFX Theatre from 1982 to 1987, was witness to a particularly chaotic St. Patrick’s Day gig in 1985 which saw two police motorbikes set on fire.
It was the maddest of all the nights. The College of Marketing and Design in Cathal Brugha street held a Saint Patrick Day multi-media event in 1985 maybe. It was fancy dress, there was everything on the programme, screening movies, rock bands, theatre pieces, poetry readings – over 20 acts. The day before they had sold only 50 tickets. This was a venue that held 1,500 people; it was going to be a disaster (financially) so we took some steps to save on costs. We reduced the amount of security form 30 to 6. On the night however 1,400 people turned up. We were completely overwhelmed by the crowd.
Two-third of them in fancy dress including a group of 10 in full Nazi uniform, one man painted completely black and white, great outfits. But there was bedlam at the door. People were quite frustrated because we were slow getting them in off the street, so there wasn’t what you would call an orderly queue. Two passing guards on motorbikes saw what was going on, got off and waded into the crowd to try and restore order. Just as they got to the front door someone set fire to one of their bikes which blew up, than the second one blew up and fell against a car that went on fire. Luckily it belonged to my father who was working for me on the night. There were still about 500 people trying to get in and with the bikes on fire in a matter of 5 minutes we had 40 policemen around the SFX. Order was restored in minutes. After the event ended at 2.30am we set about cleaning the street. Our goal was to make sure that the first mass goers at 7am would see nothing amiss. We succeeded in that and although the Jesuits had heard the music all right they had no sense of the fire and the drama so we got away with that one. My job was saved.
By the second half of the 1980s, fighting at gigs became more sporadic. Garry O’Neill remembers:
… fights at gigs by the Blades and visiting US ska/mod band the Untouchables in the TV Club around 1985. Plus post gig fighting after a Housemartins’ gig in the Olympic Ballroom in Oct 1987, sparked by a bit of psychobilly slagging. Open air gigs had their fair amount of scraps and disruptions too, such as the U2 gig in Phoenix Park in 1983 and later gigs like the Lark in the Park in Blackrock, and a gig in Stephen’s Green around 1987 which I think featured Thompson Twins/Those Handsome Devils. The last major ruckus I saw was at a Bad Manners gig in McGonagles in Nov 1988, if the cold and wet night wasn’t depressing enough, some serious skinhead fighting during the gig made it a night to forget.
The next generation of music fans, coming of age in the late 1980s and early 1990s, embraced acid house and the loved-up rave scene. Some of the city’s slightly older punks, skins, mods and rockers also got involved in the last great youth cultural explosion.
Garry O’Neill summed up these times when gigs were generally safer:
Out went alcohol fueled nights at gigs with the proverbial rival punch up or random unprovoked attack, to be replaced by an E’d up night on the dancefloor of Sides, the Olympic Ballroom or the Columbia Mills. The rave scene wasn’t totally devoid of violence, an incident involving the slashing of a few punters at a dance gig in the Point Depot in the mid 90s comes to mind and the occasional rival drug gang melee, but for the most part it was fine.
What are your memories from any of the gigs mentioned? Have we missed out on any other infamous violent concerts?
(Special thanks to Garry O’Neill for quotes, dates and general help for this piece)
I had knives pulled on me at the Housemartins gig. I inadvertently stepped on a skinhead while being dragged over and back by the crowd. I tried to help him up but got on the wrong side of his mates. A couple of them drew knives but some very quick thinking and smart talking from my friend Ciaran saved me. I probably would have said the wrong thing.
The U2 gig in the Phoenix Park was another pretty violent one, with thousands breaking through the barriers and helicopters being stoned when they tried to collect people to take them to hospital. A bloodied guy with a knife almost stabbed me as he chased another guy through the crowd who was also bleeding badly.
I think I was at most of the shows you mention, but, although I would agree with Garrett that there was an undertone of fear to almost every gig you went to, it’s not the first thing you think of – which I guess means we just took it for granted. To contextualise slightly; I went to a lot of gigs in London as well through the ’80s and saw equally scary things; though perhaps not as invariably as in Dublin. And don’t forget, football violence was much more frequent then…. really, youth culture in general revolved around gang violence in a way that’s nearly unimaginable now – despite what the Herald would have you think, Dublin is a much safer place to be young in now.
Phew! What an article. Brilliant stuff. And kinda glad now I wasn’t born till 1982, as I’d have surely gotten my head kicked in at one of these gigs, seeing as I love pretty much every band mentioned!!
I can’t remember what years these gigs were but am I right in thinking that there was trouble at some of the free gigs in Blackrock Park? I think the gigs were stopped after a lot of trouble one year….
The Phoenix Park gig with U2, Big Country, etc., etc. was another gig I remember there being quite a lot of trouble at.
Hi John, yes, I was susprised Blackrock Park didn’t get a mention. I was there, and although the memory’s a bit faded, it kicked off with someone setting fire to Vatican flags during the Thin Lizzy spot, to which the neanderthals from the Noggin reacted as if they were paid up members of the Spanish Foreign Legion. I believe it was a southside punk and his mate who started it, but to this day we’ll never know….way ahead of their time, those two were.
I know exactly who started it! They were four lads who went on to terrorize Bondi Beach for a bit in the early 80’s before the Aussies kicked them back to Ireland. The Gards came down, rounded up the wrong guys, also mates of mine, and beat them around the head with telephone books until three in the morning.
Great piece,remember quite a lot of it,each era had its gang trouble, only recently up in Belfast at a Hardwell gig,it was chaotic,not to mention the infamous PhoenixPark gig with the Swedish House Mafia,thats just what comes to mind,lm sure if you put your mind to it,you could find so much more…xx
I remember a particular DC Nein gig in the Mansion House around 1980 or 81. There was an undercurrent of violence associated with particular individuals who would assess the possibilities of mayhem and one could watch and wait. I waited and they provided their own alternative entertainment. I was in the Mod-ls doing Ska/Mod stuff and there were a few nights in the Crofton that trouble flared. We played Kevin St late night and spent the latter part of the gig dodging bottles and assorted missiles. I attended a lot of the gigs mentioned and if you were a regular you knew who to avoid and when there was trouble brewing. The point has been raised that football violence in those days was more serious and dealt with less effectively in those days. John Sutton’s comments are relevant insofar as gigs were not managed that well at times and it was lucky that there were not more serious injuries. The Specials in the Stardust was the most anarchic I ever saw. Horace Panter’s biography singles it out as one of their worst experiences. However for all of the violent undercurrents I would not have missed it for the world.
Stiff Little Fingers 1979 Olympic Ballroom gig, the best and scariest gig I was ever at , when the power went out there was a skinhead stage invasion and several fights at the stage front then you heard the drums and Johnny Was and the lights came on and blood everywhere. P.j Teahan.
Bob Dylan at Slane 1984 – http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/bob-dylan-i-predict-a-riot-slane-1984-26736940.html
@checian – you’re worser than the Daily Mail, pal! There was a bit of bother the night before, contained by the guards and absolutely no trouble at all the following day, not even when eejits tried swimming the river to get into the gig. I was there, and left me motorbike (locked) outside, no bother. Even blagged me way in free, don’t think you’d get away with that these days….
I was there too. It was mental in Slane the night before Bob Dylan. The Gardai arrested a biker for being drunk and disorderly. Stupid mistake. His mates laid siege to the Garda station. It was set on fire twice. Cars were overturned and set on fire. It was a full scale riot. Things eventually did calm down and true there was no major trouble the next day. The odd fight but that wasn’t unusual at Slane with so many pissed out of their heads.
there were other gigs that had plenty aggro-Liberty hall hosted a gig that had a no of bands including girl band the boy scoutz which descended into mayhem when rival skinhead gangs from coolock,dun laoighre and ballymun clashed and a fire extinguisher was let off and then tossed around like a fishfinger.a big punk gig in the mansion house which i think slf might have been at turned into a running battle outside,i witnessed a bloke being lifted onto a car bonnet and another fellah getting kiked and thumped as he ran for his trouble and strife.was it the boomtown rats at the stella rathmines-that was anoother mass brawl.even complete chaos’s gig at marian college in ballsbridge-devo and joe morris from the band went thereto school like me-turned into a punk hunt by ringsend’s TEDS,that was about 1978.the infamous anti nowhere league,barracudas and some other bands played in the TV club.Animal started to insult the crowd,suddenly full scale melee and band equipment and my members attacked.
saw other attacks by these fkin assholes and 6 v 1 toughs during the early years.it was bad enough dealing with the teds,bootboys and soulboys but when you had to put up with black catholics,feet first,f troop,future slaves,acab bros etc etc
by the way that phoenix park gig.check the papers of the day you’ll see skinheads dangling off the landing bars of a helicopter during the riots.think might be the indo but had big picture.january 20th 1980 sticks in my mind.huge headlines in the morning dailies about aggro between punks and skins and I think mods.again think it was the indo.Angus gets a mention.
I remember some of those gigs, specifically the Thompson Twins in Stephen’s Green. Strangely, the violence seemed to come in waves across the crowd that day but a lot of the time you couldn’t tell if it was just a mosh by the stage or something more serious. At the time (late 80s) Dublin was deep into recession and the drug epidemic that scourged the city. As a result, a whole generation of young people spent most of their time just hanging around and drinking flagons if they could afford it. Glue sniffing was tremendously popular. So, free gigs were like a magnet.
It was also an interesting time as how you dressed very much marked you out. There were mods (parkas, badgers), rockers, skins, skas, punks, cureheads, tail end of new romantics and a raft of kids like me who were probably wearing high top trainers and some class of Miami Vice style linen jackets from Penny’s. As a result, violence could and was meted out quite arbitrarily.
The Thompson Twins (a moderately successful group in the mid – 80’s) were on their uppers at this point. So far as I recall, they had a paying gig scheduled but had to be cancelled due to lack of sales. They looked properly panicked by the violence and the reception they received – the one unifying factor on the day was the sea of single digits that greeted them. All of this between 2 and 5 in the afternoon.
It hadn’t really occurred to me prior to reading this but violence at gigs back then was accepted as an occupational hazard. In fact, just getting to gigs (SFX, Wexford Inn, Olympic) could be tasty in it’s own right.
What a bunch of soft ..oks
The outcasts played a venue on burgh quay in 78 I think. The place was destroyed. Bar staff legged it. Huge ornate mirror used to snort speed off. The outcasts in the magnet bar. Same story. Violence then music. 1980.
I was at a couple of the gigs mentioned above. The Specials at the Stardust was pretty full on. A stage invasion stopped the gig during The Specials set. I remember Brummy trying to act as mediator to no avail.
I was also at the U2 gig in Phoenix Park in 1983 but the only trouble I saw was during the Eurythmics set. A few projectiles were fired at the stage but I think Annie Lennox gave the trouble makers a piece of her mind and they managed to finish their set.
The Jam at the Top Hat was a great gig, didn’t see too much trouble at that one and I was right down the front at one stage.
I don’t remember the hammer attack at the 4be2 gig but do remember being in the dressing room afterwards and seeing John Lydon sitting in the corner of the room singing PiL songs to himself…!
[…] Violence and the Dublin Live Music Scene […]
Too Much Fighting On The Dance Floor – BBC Radio 4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b068xrkt A look at what was happening in the UK at the same time.
One which was particularly rough was SLF in the TV club, they walked off stage because some heads started chanting P.I, P.I, P.I.R.A and sporadic fighting broke out all over the venue, myself and my mate were targeted by a skinhead gang from another area and we had to leg it through the city centre to escape. Linton Kwesi Johnson in the SFX was memorable for Dennis Bovell, who was spat upon, coming down from the stage and punching his attacker. To be honest though it was always more dangerous getting to and from the gig, than the gig itself.
The Jesus And Mary Chain in the Top Hat, 1989. Never seen anything like it before or since. There was a good mix of subcultures there, goths, punks, metallers. The common denominator: fighting.
I was at a few of the gigs mentioned above. I remember the burning Garda bikes at the SFX, that was a crazy night. The maddest gig I was at was SLF in the Mansion house, September 1980. The Black Catholics were causing mayhem in the crowd. The support band, Ruefrex, were getting a hard time. and the lead singer took off his studded belt and started swinging at the crowd. I think he was shouting “Give me a Belfast crowd any day” as he swung the belt at people’s heads. After the gig there was a large group of skins and mods outside. A few of us made our “escape” and headed towards the Green and down Grafton Street. We walked right into a gang of mods. The lad in front got a smack of a bicycle chain over his head. Luckily I knew one of the mods, Bren from Finglas. He told us move on and get out of town. A mad night..
[…] of cordite, both on-stage and off. By way of more detailed background, an excellent long-read on Come Here to Me documents the history of violence around live music in Dublin during the late 1970s and early […]
No two ways about, Dublin was a rough town back then. You could freely buy flick knives, knuckle dusters etc in certain shops around. Punks, Mods, Rockers, Hippies, Goths/ Cureheads, Skins, Casuals/Scobies, Teds etc everywhere, made for an uneasy, volatile atmosphere in the capital. This was strange as I remember a very anti English attitude to anything English, be it fashion or music. I was a twelve year old mod, when I got a head butt for wearing a red, white and blue The Chords button badge, on my oversized parka. I obviously wasn’t alone, as Irish target button badges soon appeared for sale from the street vendors.
I was at both the Housemartins gigs in Dublin. I don’t remember any crowd trouble at the SFX, except for some lady threatening to stab me unless I got off with her little sister, which, eh, I did, but I do remember the aggro at the second one on Camden Street, where The Proclaimers, who were the support act, got gobbed off stage, allegedly because some rumour went around that they supported Glasgow Rangers (they actually support the oldest side with Irish connections, Hibs). One of the the brothers got flemed so much, he couldn’t see through his glasses. I was also at the riot at the lark in the park in Blackrock, that was like the Wild West. Stones, bottles etc., flying in every direction. Total mayhem. I remember me and my girl taking refuge in the back of Conway’s Bar on the Main Street, pleading with the Bar man not to through us out (we were both underage) until things cooled down outside. Rare old times indeed.
Was at Beat and Specials concert in Stardust. Was a bit of handbags in front of stage. Not much. Certainly not what has passed into folklore.
The Beat were better than the Specials on the night.
I think John Sutton is mistaken with the year or conflating 2 events was it noit Paint it Red in late 1983 that the cop bikes were burned or is it I who mistake the two events?
Paint it Red was murderous Rush and Balbriuggan Skins v mohawks and punks.
Let’s talk about The Black Catholics.
Members supporting Stiff Little Fingers. Some of the crowd chanting Brits Out and removing monitors from the stage. Lovely people..
Billy Bragg,TV.Club 1984,S||KINheads(again)
The rave gig where the stabbings happened was Faithless at the Point in 96.
Was at Bad Manners in McGonagles. Skinheads throwing steel bins across the street into the que. Bloodvessel walked down South Anne’s street with about 20 skinheads.
Bar was selling glass bottles of cheap wine.
A skinhead girl was photographing the gangs of hard men beating anyone up. Didn’t go to the toilet on my own.
Was at Thompson Twins in Stephen’s Green. Strange sunny Saturday with the usual idiots fighting to 80s pop.
The Blades last gig (Except Mountjoy) in the Olympic Ballroom was the usual. Started about 11.30 for some reason and ended about 3. Fools with too much drink.
There was usually a bad atmosphere around town in those days. And then you had to walk back to Crumlin.
T he ere was indeed a very threatening atmosphere in Dublin in those days ( nights) , young people these days don’t seem to feel the need to be fighting. I remember trying to talk my way out of fights I was ( mostly) successful, Twas tough and not in a glamorous way either
A friend and I travelled from Drogheda by train for the Anti Nowhere League gig at the TV Club we had just turned 17 yrs of age at the time this was a big adventure going to a late night gig in Dublin. On the way to the gig we ran into a group of about 5 Dublin punks, after asking them for directions to the TV Club it was realised that we were all heading in the same direction. I remember being a bit wary of them as they were more loutish than the kind of Punks we were in Drogheda but thought maybe that’s the difference in Dublin Punks. As we proceeded up Talbot Street one of the Dublin punks was being obnoxious to the women passing, shouting “Licker out”, I remember his name was “Woppie”. Those Dublin Punks we met had a gang mentality and were doing their best to intimidate everyone along the way, shouting abusive remarks at everyone and anyone. One of them I remember was of mixed race and he was even shouting racist remarks to black people we passed. Very fucking odd indeed.
We arrived at the TV Club venue and noticed that a lot of Punks etc, were hanging around outside. A good number of them had been ejected from the venue by door staff/bouncers, actually there’s a scene in the Clash Movie Rude Boy where the Clash are playing in Glasgow and the bouncers are constantly throwing people out of the venue, thta’s what the entrance of the TV Club resembled on that ANWL gig night. Inside the doors the floor had a lot of blood splatter and it all felt dangerous especially for two 17 yr old kids from Drogheda at a Dublin Punk rock gig.
We arrived in time to see the Golden Horde (who were great) and then the Barracudas who we were enjoying until the crowd starting spitting at the band. The Barracudas rightly walked off stage someone came on and asked the crowd to stop spitting and let the band play, the band came back on the spitting resumed and the band left the stage again. The crowd starting chanting “we want the league” contrary to what has been said in the above article by Artist Garret Phelan the ANWL music and image were well known at that time. The bands image were regular front page feature on the music papers of the day Sounds, Melody Maker and NME etc so everyone knew that the ANWL looked like a bunch of crazed Hells Angel Bikers covered in tatoos leather and studs. Lead singer Animal always looked very tall well built, tough mean and moody and tough as shit. It is this very tough looking image that attracted a certain small minded mentality of the crowd to “come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough”
I remember when the band took to the stage lead singer Animal wasn’t wearing his trademark wrap around dark glasses and instead had very heavy dark make up replacing where the glasses would’ve been, (maybe he sensed trouble and wanted to keep an eye on things) A few songs into their set the very same Punk we had met earlier “Woppie” unprovoked, had climbed up onto the stage to confront singer Animal. He swung a punch and a kick but didn’t connect, Animal grabbed “Whoppie” threw him onto the stage floor and with the microphone still in his right hand punched “Whoppie” in the face a couple of times, the sound of this thumping could be heard through the PA sound system. When “Whoppie” was thrown off the stage that’s when all his mates got involved as can be seen in the picture above. “Whoppie is the guy with the short bleached blond hair, Denim Jacket and Leather trousers reaching towards singer Animal who is wearing Leather Trousers , studded belt and topless. For all those who were at that gig and wondered who ruined a great night that’s him right there folks.
After the gig my friend and I sneaked into Connoly Train Station and slept the night there, well we didn’t get any sleep as I was too scared that we might end up getting stabbed or worse.
Robbie Caffrey (Trenchtown Bass Player)
Wow I was just watching an old grey whistle test there and I got brought down memory lane – I attended lots of the gigs mentioned and was one of the unfortunate people to be stabbed ( lived to tell the tale ) at the Ramones concert in Cabra in 1980 – Dublin was a tough aul place then and it was very territorial and once you left your area you had to be very careful —- great times though – chalkywhite cabra
Agreed Kieran. Luckily/unluckily I missed the Ramones gig, but usually the maddest part, as you correctly pointed out, was getting to the gig itself in one piece. Missing the last bus home could quickly turn into a nightmare situation, if there were only a couple of you. Great days though and an even greater learning curve in street savvy.