Boomtown Rats vs Skrewdriver

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The Boomtown Rats had seemingly landed out of nowhere from Ireland complete with major record company. Ensign, and a very vocal loudmouth frontman Bob Geldof seemingly dissing punk while riding its coattails for publicity and sales.

And so it was that one of the first gigs they did when they came over to the UK was to headline in July 1977 the Music Machine with two more hardcore punk acts at the time 999 and Skrewdriver in support and TV cameras to capture the event.

However it was violence not music that would make the music weeklies about this gig.

Bottom of the bill bands always get a raw deal. You know the score. No lights, you've got no stage because all the other bands gear has been set up in front of you and always for some reason you're sound is crappier than the main bands because they don't want you blowing them off stage. In some cases you will have paid the main band for the privilege of the above!

And so Skrewdriver who had moved down from Blackpool in early 1977 and were playing a more hardcore style of punk. In June they had played gigs with Sham 69 at the famous Punk Club the Roxy and were attracting some of the hardcore Skinhead and football hooligan element that were starting to follow that band.

So already miffed at having paid £5 towards the PA then told to pay £10 at the last minute leaving them £5 in payment for the gig found them selves onstage with an atrocious sound. They were not happy and neither were some of their fans.

What happened next and next and by who is unclear as accounts differ. 999's set went without incident but the Boomtown Rats didn't as the sound miraculously improved and Geldof and the boys switched into action. There was already tension in the air and the song 'Kicks' is the cue for some frenzied dancing and from out of nowhere a pint glass was thrown.

Kevin McKay (Skrewdriver) We went on and our sound was crap so our fans were really pissed off. 999's was pretty good and then the Rats came on and theirs was fabulous. We had a fan called Vince (Boots) who was a bad lad and it was rumoured he was later put inside. He got a pint pot the old type with the handle and threw it as hard as he could at Bob Geldof. It missed him, hit the front of the stage and smashed. If it had hit him it would have killed him and there would have been no Live Aid or anything!

Picture Denis O'Regan

Grinny & Ian

What happened next though was even more unbelievable. Some report a fan, others a hardcore punk wandering on stage unhindered by bouncers and committing an unprovoked attack on Geldof leaving him bleeding.

So he walks through all the bouncers up the steps onto the stage gets hold of Bob Geldof and kicks the shit out of him. He’s got hold of him at the front of the stage and he's hitting him in the face and all the bouncers are just too astonished to do anything. Then he throws him on the floor and walks back to us then goes off to get a beer.

Within minutes we are surrounded by bouncers, taken downstairs through the front, into the lobby. We walk up the stairs because we don’t want anything to do with it and then suddenly the bouncers produce coshes and start beating the shit out of some of our poor fans and Ian and Grinny. Last thing I see is Ian is outside and he’s trying to pick up a bike to throw it but its chained to some railings and the bouncers are coshing him over the head. He went to hospital I think with Grinny and some fans.

The music papers reported the assailant as Doc Rat, a friend of the band, and they quote him.

I hit him. Why? Because they were crap, that's why. I enjoyed it.

For the Boomtown Rats it was a small hiccup in their rise and soon forgotten. For Punk rock, at that time constantly in the papers with Punk & Ted battles and members of the Sex Pistols being attacked it was more unwanted publicity about punk violence. For Skrewdriver it helped attract more of the violent element to their gigs that would give them an audience but would also ensure that following more violence their gigs were cancelled amidst fears of violence and cause the band to head back North and eventually spilt up.

Violence isn't big and it's not clever.