City Rock ’77 · oral-history leads
Poster scan and community memories
A Flickr image by Maurice Hyde combines a City Rock Festival poster scan with a set of Chelmsford gig memories and a later correction by another contributor.
Flickr image
About City Rock ’77
The existing event record places City Rock ’77 at Chelmsford City Football Stadium on Saturday 17 September 1977, based on a separate surviving poster and contemporary press advertisement. This Flickr image is an additional source object; any small-print or date variation in the scan should be compared with that documentary record rather than silently reconciled.
Open the City Rock ’77 event record → · Open Maurice Hyde’s festival recollection →
Memories shared by Mark
The Flickr text is signed “Mark”. The following are summaries of his recollections, not independently verified event entries:
- College Sports Hall, probably 1977: his first Chelmsford gig was Joe Cool at a sports hall near the railway station. He also remembers Sux there, describing the band as a punk spoof act with promoter Bob Marden on drums. He was unsure of the college’s name at the time.
- City Tavern, around 1977–78: he recalls reggae bands Black Slate and Invasion playing there.
- Jerry the Ferret, around 1978: he remembers a City Tavern show on the night an Adverts appearance at Chancellor Hall was cancelled. In his account, punk fans turned up anyway, dancing became chaotic, equipment was damaged, and punks were temporarily banned from the Tavern.
- Caroline Road, mid-1980s: he remembers CBS-signed Terraplane at a show there and notes that the band’s core later formed Thunder.
- Chancellor Hall, 1977: he remembers The Clash and The Slits, and says he still had his ticket and copies of the fanzines 48 Thrills and Chemsford’s Dead.
- City Rock ’77: Mark had not attended the festival. He wondered whether a band photograph might show The Gents, whose Jim Butcher he knew from school.
Later correction by Crispin
A follow-up on the same Flickr page says The Gents did not play the Chelmsford punk festival. Crispin identifies Solid Waste as the local band on the bill, while distinguishing Eddie and the Hot Rods from that local-band count. This correction is kept alongside Mark’s explicitly tentative suggestion; the event record remains linked to its poster and press evidence.
Research use
These memories offer leads about the College Sports Hall, City Tavern, Chancellor Hall and Caroline Road, but several dates are approximate and venue identities are not fully specified. They are preserved as oral history rather than promoted to confirmed gig listings.
Browse People’s Memories → · Previous City Rock Flickr source record →