It's My First Time
There’s a moment in the film Good Vibrations, about the beginnings of that Northern Irish record label, where Terri Hooley discovers punk for the first time. The cinematography and Richard Dormer’s acting perfectly capture that special moment, where you have your mind blown and you know that things will never be quite the same again. It’s a single moment in time but you just know it’s THE moment. I know this because I have felt that feeling twice. One was in the spring of 1977 when I first heard punk rock and “Pretty Vacant” sounded like the best song ever.The second time was going to my first gig, or concert as I guess it was, being in what is now the Mayflower Theatre.
November 28th 1980 is a date I’ll always remember, a date I had been looking forward to from the moment I first heard that Adam & The Ants were going to be playing at the Gaumont in Southampton. I didn’t own any of their records at that point, but I’d been aware of the Ants for a little while; however they had just started come to the attention of the wider world after appearing on Top Of The Pops playing ‘Dog Eat Dog”. That appearance on national TV meant I got the piss taken out of me at school, most people hated it, laughed at it and me, but although it wasn’t the quirky punk of their earlier songs, it still sounded great to me.
The numbers of punks at school were dwindling by 1980, but I still had my good friend and punk brother, Gaz. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to go to the gig, he had to look after his sister that night, and his parents were not budging on insisting he stayed home. I didn’t want to miss the gig but I was nervous about going on my own. As it was, two school mates decided they wanted to go with me. I have no idea why, one was into music, but he was never into punk really, and the other wasn’t the sort of person you’d have expected to go to see a live band, let alone a punk band. Anyway, I wasn’t arguing, and got us tickets.
My dad took us; I was wearing my (fake) leather jacket, which had SLF on the back in masking tape. I don’t remember which t-shirt I had on, but I assume it was a Sex Pistols shirt. I was also wearing jeans and Doc Martins, my usual punk rock uniform. We picked the other two up on the way to town, I’m not sure they were as stupidly excited as me. It had been three years since I first heard Punk, and two years since I bought my first records, now I was going to see my first punk rock concert.
Dad dropped us outside the Gaumont, and I’d never seen so many punk rockers in one place at the same time; the pavement and foyer were crawling with black clad punks. I was in awe and also terrified all at the same time, feeling very small, but also like I belonged.
The support band were called Gods Toys, I remember not liking the singer’s rock star poses, but I cannot remember what they were like musically, I guess they weren’t very good or they would have left more of a mark in my memory. After they finished, people left their seats and surged to the front, there was chanting and jostling, but we hung back, and I took the chance to look at all the band names painted on the back of the hundreds of leather jackets.
The lights dimmed and my excitement levels rose even more. I don’t remember if there was any intro music, all I remember is the huge cheers, the lights shining out from the drum riser and then thunder as the two drum kits seemed to explode; I felt it in my chest. That was another of those moments, this was where I was supposed to be. This felt like it was the greatest moment in history. I was at the back of the pogoing mass, jumping up and down, lost in the music.
I am ashamed to say that I have no idea where my mates were, or if they were enjoying themselves, I was selfishly in my moment, at one with the music and the occasion. There were songs from the new ‘Kings Of The Wild Frontier’ album, plus older, more punk songs, it was perfect; the new songs meant those two drum kits were hammered hard, and the older ones showed they were still punk; I loved it all.
After the encores, I did eventually find my friends, they may have been with me all along, I have no idea. We went to the merch table where I bought a Kings Of The Wild Frontier poster, and then we emerged out into the cold November night, I was soaked in sweat and my ears were ringing, but I was in heaven. I couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off my face.
My two companions were still my friends, so I couldn’t have treated them too badly, maybe they’d also have a similar experience, I don’t know, I didn’t ask.
Within a few months, Adam & The Ants became very popular, and the piss taking I had received was forgotten about and now there was something like awe that I had been to see them. They were my favourite band for a little while longer; the poster went on my ceiling and I played their two albums all the time.
I did buy their next three singles on the day of release, getting the limited edition sleeves (thanks to a friend’s mum who worked in a record shop), but their third album stretched my love for them and the next year, when they came back to Southampton, I didn’t go (a mate of mine did and said it was full of screaming girls rather than scary punks), by 1981 I was going to see bands like Stiff Little Fingers (this time with Gaz, his first gig), Siouxsie & The Banshees and Bauhaus instead.
I still love those early Adam & The Ants songs, and I will never forget that feeling when the Ants’ drums lifted the roof off the old building and my love of live music began.
November 28th 1980 is a date I’ll always remember, a date I had been looking forward to from the moment I first heard that Adam & The Ants were going to be playing at the Gaumont in Southampton. I didn’t own any of their records at that point, but I’d been aware of the Ants for a little while; however they had just started come to the attention of the wider world after appearing on Top Of The Pops playing ‘Dog Eat Dog”. That appearance on national TV meant I got the piss taken out of me at school, most people hated it, laughed at it and me, but although it wasn’t the quirky punk of their earlier songs, it still sounded great to me.
The numbers of punks at school were dwindling by 1980, but I still had my good friend and punk brother, Gaz. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to go to the gig, he had to look after his sister that night, and his parents were not budging on insisting he stayed home. I didn’t want to miss the gig but I was nervous about going on my own. As it was, two school mates decided they wanted to go with me. I have no idea why, one was into music, but he was never into punk really, and the other wasn’t the sort of person you’d have expected to go to see a live band, let alone a punk band. Anyway, I wasn’t arguing, and got us tickets.
My dad took us; I was wearing my (fake) leather jacket, which had SLF on the back in masking tape. I don’t remember which t-shirt I had on, but I assume it was a Sex Pistols shirt. I was also wearing jeans and Doc Martins, my usual punk rock uniform. We picked the other two up on the way to town, I’m not sure they were as stupidly excited as me. It had been three years since I first heard Punk, and two years since I bought my first records, now I was going to see my first punk rock concert.
Dad dropped us outside the Gaumont, and I’d never seen so many punk rockers in one place at the same time; the pavement and foyer were crawling with black clad punks. I was in awe and also terrified all at the same time, feeling very small, but also like I belonged.
The support band were called Gods Toys, I remember not liking the singer’s rock star poses, but I cannot remember what they were like musically, I guess they weren’t very good or they would have left more of a mark in my memory. After they finished, people left their seats and surged to the front, there was chanting and jostling, but we hung back, and I took the chance to look at all the band names painted on the back of the hundreds of leather jackets.
The lights dimmed and my excitement levels rose even more. I don’t remember if there was any intro music, all I remember is the huge cheers, the lights shining out from the drum riser and then thunder as the two drum kits seemed to explode; I felt it in my chest. That was another of those moments, this was where I was supposed to be. This felt like it was the greatest moment in history. I was at the back of the pogoing mass, jumping up and down, lost in the music.
I am ashamed to say that I have no idea where my mates were, or if they were enjoying themselves, I was selfishly in my moment, at one with the music and the occasion. There were songs from the new ‘Kings Of The Wild Frontier’ album, plus older, more punk songs, it was perfect; the new songs meant those two drum kits were hammered hard, and the older ones showed they were still punk; I loved it all.
After the encores, I did eventually find my friends, they may have been with me all along, I have no idea. We went to the merch table where I bought a Kings Of The Wild Frontier poster, and then we emerged out into the cold November night, I was soaked in sweat and my ears were ringing, but I was in heaven. I couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off my face.
My two companions were still my friends, so I couldn’t have treated them too badly, maybe they’d also have a similar experience, I don’t know, I didn’t ask.
Within a few months, Adam & The Ants became very popular, and the piss taking I had received was forgotten about and now there was something like awe that I had been to see them. They were my favourite band for a little while longer; the poster went on my ceiling and I played their two albums all the time.
I did buy their next three singles on the day of release, getting the limited edition sleeves (thanks to a friend’s mum who worked in a record shop), but their third album stretched my love for them and the next year, when they came back to Southampton, I didn’t go (a mate of mine did and said it was full of screaming girls rather than scary punks), by 1981 I was going to see bands like Stiff Little Fingers (this time with Gaz, his first gig), Siouxsie & The Banshees and Bauhaus instead.
I still love those early Adam & The Ants songs, and I will never forget that feeling when the Ants’ drums lifted the roof off the old building and my love of live music began.