Penetration
Chancellor Hall · 13 May 1979
Archive record
A surviving pink Chancellor Hall ticket is printed for Sunday, 13 May and names Penetration plus support. The ticket itself does not print a year.
A contemporary Record Mirror advertisement dated 21 April 1979 lists Penetration at Chancellor Hall, Chelmsford on 13 May, with Cowboys International as special guests. This is especially useful because it is contemporary tour advertising rather than a later gig database entry.
The surviving Chancellor Hall source sheet labels the ticket “Penetration Ticket 1978”, but that catalogue caption conflicts with the calendar date and independent venue evidence. The Chancellor Hall venue listing at 45cat records Penetration at Chancellor Hall on 13 May 1979, with Cowboys International. A separate independent concert listing also places Cowboys International at Chancellor Hall on Sunday 13 May 1979 and identifies Penetration in the line-up.
For Chelmsford Rocks, 13 May 1979 is therefore the current archive date for this ticketed appearance. The older “1978” catalogue label is retained as provenance, not as the event date.
Calendar check
The surviving ticket says Sunday, 13 May but not the year. Between 1977 and 1980, 13 May falls on Sunday only in 1979. That makes 1979 the calendar-compatible year, and the contemporary Record Mirror advertisement independently confirms the appearance.
Penetration — current archive position
The surviving ticket is for Sunday 13 May, and the contemporary Record Mirror advertisement confirms the Chelmsford date as 13 May 1979. This is the only Penetration appearance currently treated as confirmed in the Chelmsford Rocks archive.
Other later gigographies list Penetration at Chancellor Hall on 12 January 1978, 5 March 1978 and 12 November 1978. Those records are being retained as research leads rather than additional appearances. They are not backed by the surviving ticket in our archive, and no additional primary Chelmsford artefact has yet been matched to them.
This distinction matters: the existence of several online listings does not outweigh the archive owner’s recollection that Penetration played Chancellor Hall only once. Until stronger primary evidence emerges, the working event count remains one confirmed Penetration appearance — 13 May 1979.