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I Swear I Was There: Sex Pistols, Manchester and the Gig that Changed the World
When the Sex Pistols played Manchester in 1976—what the NME named the most important gig of all time—they set off a series of musical detonations that are still being felt today. Despite thousands claiming they were in attendance, only a handful of people were actually there—but those that were went on to form bands including The Smiths, Buzzcocks, Joy Division, New Order, and The Fall. They kick-started the Manchester music scene, created Factory Records, and laid the foundations for the world-famous Hacienda nightclub. Forty years on, music journalist David Nolan tells the true story of that legendary gig, plus the Pistols’ follow up performance and the band’s first ever TV appearance at Manchester’s Granada TV a few weeks later. The question has truly become one of rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest mysteries: Who really saw the Sex Pistols at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in 1976? So how does David Nolan finally solve it? By trying to track down the whole audience! In an updated edition comprised of extensive interviews with key players and audience members, and featuring previously unpublished photos, I Swear I Was There is the true story of the electrifying gig that changed the music scene forever.
275 pages, Paperback
First published May 29, 2001
11 people are currently reading
189 people want to read
About the author
David Nolan
48 books14 followersDavid Nolan is a British award-winning journalist who's authored biographies on subjects ranging from Simon Cowell to the Sex Pistols. He's also written for newspapers, magazines, radio and television.
Librarians note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Librarians note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
July 8, 2018
Rock & Roll Time Machine – you have one opportunity to go back into history to see a show – what will the choice be? I’m a baby boomer but my love of music starts with the Ramones and not the Beatles so all of the 60s moments like Monterrey and Woodstock are definitely out. An intriguing choice is the MC5 or that Stooges at the Grande in 1970 or so, but I’ll pass. A much more obvious choice would be CBGBs in 1975 or so where the Ramones, Television or Blondie would be sharing the stage. But it’s tough to pick a single night when everything just changed unless you jump ahead to June 4th, 1976 and go to Manchester, England to the Lesser Free Trade Hall. On that evening two students, soon to be known as Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto, with assistance from a clothing shop proprietor and manager Malcolm McLaren brought in a band from London to play a gig. Of course, the band was the Sex Pistols and that show changed everything!
In this book, subtitled “Sex Pistols, Manchester and the Gig that Changed the World”, author David Nolan takes us back to that fateful day and explains how a show with an official attendance of 28 people really did change the world. The significance of the show is not that the Sex Pistols played in Manchester, but that the audience (or supposed audience) went out and created bands like the Buzzcocks, Smiths, Joy Division, New Order and the Fall. David Nolan mostly lets the people that were actually there like Shelley, Devoto, Glen Matlock, Malcolm McLaren, Tony Wilson and others do the talking and fills in needed info to keep the narrative going. Another highlight is getting feedback from people who just went to the show and see how punk impacted their life. I was very impressed that these people were identified simply as “audience members” rather than by the idiotic American term “scenester”.
A good part of the book is taken up by the discussion of who was actually at that show; within a few years half of Manchester was claiming to have seen the Pistols that night. Some people still had their tickets, lovingly misprinted as June 4th, 1076, but the rest of the story depends on people’s memories about who they may have seen or talked to that night. In those days our iconic punk bar in Detroit was Bookie’s and there may have been a couple of hundred people in the whole area that actually came to that place. Yet, years later I still hear from so many people that claim to have been there that it seems that Bookie’s must have been as large as Cobo Hall.
The book goes on to cover three major events in Manchester in 1976 involving the Pistols: the 1st show, a second show six weeks later that also introduced the Buzzcocks to the world and the first appearance by the Pistols on TV. I love how David Nolan manages to convey the atmosphere when things were changing so quickly. Punk seemed to spring out of nowhere and was supposed to have been dead within a couple of years, yet here we are 40 years later and punk still lives on.
This is a wonderful book and I agree with the title of the book – this was the gig that changed the world !!!!!
In this book, subtitled “Sex Pistols, Manchester and the Gig that Changed the World”, author David Nolan takes us back to that fateful day and explains how a show with an official attendance of 28 people really did change the world. The significance of the show is not that the Sex Pistols played in Manchester, but that the audience (or supposed audience) went out and created bands like the Buzzcocks, Smiths, Joy Division, New Order and the Fall. David Nolan mostly lets the people that were actually there like Shelley, Devoto, Glen Matlock, Malcolm McLaren, Tony Wilson and others do the talking and fills in needed info to keep the narrative going. Another highlight is getting feedback from people who just went to the show and see how punk impacted their life. I was very impressed that these people were identified simply as “audience members” rather than by the idiotic American term “scenester”.
A good part of the book is taken up by the discussion of who was actually at that show; within a few years half of Manchester was claiming to have seen the Pistols that night. Some people still had their tickets, lovingly misprinted as June 4th, 1076, but the rest of the story depends on people’s memories about who they may have seen or talked to that night. In those days our iconic punk bar in Detroit was Bookie’s and there may have been a couple of hundred people in the whole area that actually came to that place. Yet, years later I still hear from so many people that claim to have been there that it seems that Bookie’s must have been as large as Cobo Hall.
The book goes on to cover three major events in Manchester in 1976 involving the Pistols: the 1st show, a second show six weeks later that also introduced the Buzzcocks to the world and the first appearance by the Pistols on TV. I love how David Nolan manages to convey the atmosphere when things were changing so quickly. Punk seemed to spring out of nowhere and was supposed to have been dead within a couple of years, yet here we are 40 years later and punk still lives on.
This is a wonderful book and I agree with the title of the book – this was the gig that changed the world !!!!!
August 20, 2018
A really fascinating series of eye witness accounts of what the NME termed the most important gig in music history - when Sex Pistols played the Less Free Trade Hall in Manchester in April 1976. The book also covers the second, much larger gig and their first TV appearance on Tony Wilson's So It Goes.
Very well written and pulled together with statements from the famous to the audience members, pre-dating the gig and the aftermath of all the events.
Good reading for anyone interested in this period of music. The only downside was some of the text was repetitive, we heard several times from the same person what their views or feelings were. It may be because the version I read was the enlarged, updated edition. Either way, good stuff.
Very well written and pulled together with statements from the famous to the audience members, pre-dating the gig and the aftermath of all the events.
Good reading for anyone interested in this period of music. The only downside was some of the text was repetitive, we heard several times from the same person what their views or feelings were. It may be because the version I read was the enlarged, updated edition. Either way, good stuff.
January 7, 2019
This excellent little book examines who was at each of the Sex Pistols Manchester concerts in 1976 - pivotal performances which have affected rock music right up to the present day.
Being in attendance, particularly at the very sparsely attended first concert at the Lesser Free Trade Hall on June 4th, is something thousands of people claim but only a handful of people, all sitting, most seperately, really did. It´s said that those few went on to form bands - like Joy Division, The Fall, The Smiths and Buzzcocks, who in turn influenced coming generations.
The book is written in soundbites by the leading characters and is fascinating. There is no definitive list of who was and who wasn´t there mainly because there´s no way to prove it - even first person accounts vary. But this also makes the book, and the concerts, even more fascinating. Only a small circle of people were there and they didn´t know what to expect. What is common to all accounts is the sheer shock of seeing the Sex Pistols. Shorter hair, aggression, Rotten´s attitude, the noise of the band - this was a game changer for everyone in the audience, even if they didn´t know exactly how.
Well recommended!
Being in attendance, particularly at the very sparsely attended first concert at the Lesser Free Trade Hall on June 4th, is something thousands of people claim but only a handful of people, all sitting, most seperately, really did. It´s said that those few went on to form bands - like Joy Division, The Fall, The Smiths and Buzzcocks, who in turn influenced coming generations.
The book is written in soundbites by the leading characters and is fascinating. There is no definitive list of who was and who wasn´t there mainly because there´s no way to prove it - even first person accounts vary. But this also makes the book, and the concerts, even more fascinating. Only a small circle of people were there and they didn´t know what to expect. What is common to all accounts is the sheer shock of seeing the Sex Pistols. Shorter hair, aggression, Rotten´s attitude, the noise of the band - this was a game changer for everyone in the audience, even if they didn´t know exactly how.
Well recommended!
October 29, 2022
A sign post Plotting a new direction for music, The sex pistols at Manchester lesser free trade hall.
The sound was terrible, Audience small and insulted, Lead singer with cutting poise, It shrank the distance between audience and band forever. The possibility of doing it, Whatever it might be now became temptingly close.
Without the Manchester gig without that audience. No Buzzcocks, No New order, Joy division. No Fall, Smiths, The Hacienda and it's Happy Monday DJ revolution Factory records, Then no Oasis. Think of the ripples of inspiration and it's completely possible to consider no Nirvana. Green day, Stone Roses, no prodigy. No wonder NME deemed it the most important gig of all time.
The sound was terrible, Audience small and insulted, Lead singer with cutting poise, It shrank the distance between audience and band forever. The possibility of doing it, Whatever it might be now became temptingly close.
Without the Manchester gig without that audience. No Buzzcocks, No New order, Joy division. No Fall, Smiths, The Hacienda and it's Happy Monday DJ revolution Factory records, Then no Oasis. Think of the ripples of inspiration and it's completely possible to consider no Nirvana. Green day, Stone Roses, no prodigy. No wonder NME deemed it the most important gig of all time.
January 16, 2023
I swear I wasn't there.
November 23, 2017
An interesting look into how one seemingly innocuous event can have a knock-on effect and change a whole generation. In this case,how a poorly-attended gig in Manchester was the catalyst that created the Manchester scene, independant record labels and some of the most loved bands of the 70's and 80's.
A must-read for people interested in the history of modern rock music, the Manchester scene from 1976 to the 1990's, and a look at how an event can be romantisised by time and retellings.
A must-read for people interested in the history of modern rock music, the Manchester scene from 1976 to the 1990's, and a look at how an event can be romantisised by time and retellings.
January 30, 2014
I love this format of interview segments edited together to tell a narrative. My boner for Shelley and DeVoto has grown. Great to have their significance acknowledged.
July 3, 2025
June 4, Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester: I wasn't there but oddly enough I was in England, staying with friends near Blandford, Dorset, having just turned 12 (a drizzly picnic at Stourhead, Wilts.), getting ready to celebrate my mother's 50th birthday June 5. There is an amazing about of debate, very much along the lines of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, as to who exactly was there that night. We know The Sex Pistols, Jordan and Malcolm McLaren were there, we know Howard DeVoto, Pete Shelley, and Steve Diggle were there, we know Hooky and Barney were there. We know 15 year old Morrissey was there: he sent a letter to NME which began, "I pen this epistle after witnessing the infamous Sex Pistols 'in concert' at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall. The bumptious Pistols in jumble sale attire had those few that attended dancing in the aisles despite their discordant music and barely audible audacious lyrics, and they were called back for two encores." (I guess it's reassuring to know that Morrissey didn't just become a twat, but that he has always been a twat.) We know that the members of naff prog-rock band Solstice ("one of the the three biggest bands in Bolton at the time") were there with several of their fans, because they were the opening act. Paul Morley, who went on to become the scribe of the Manchester music scene, was there: his long hair occasioned much derisive commentary amongst the people who were definitely on the spot. And we know, because everybody mentions the fact, that Jon the Postman was there.
After that, it's pretty much anyone's guess. According to records (which appear to have been written in pencil) from Manchester City Council, we know that 28 people paid 50 pence each to get into the venue; the same record shows that 121 people paid one quid each to see The Sex Pistols' return engagement six weeks later.
Among those (aside from me and the author) who definitely weren't there: Mark E. Smith, Ian Curtis, and Martin Hannett. Where it gets tricky (not surprisingly) is the case of Tony Wilson. While many of those interviewed place him at the second gig, when Wilson firmly states he was out of Manchester on vacation, only one witness claims to have seen him at the June 4 gig: Alan Hempsall, who would go on to become lead singer of the band Crispy Ambulance, which feels a bit like two men establishing each other’s alibis. Another ambiguous case is that of Mick "Ginger Nut" Hucknall, who vehemently stated in an interview in 2003 that he wasn't there, and seven years later waxed rhapsodic on television about having been there.
All in all, one hell of a fun bit of reading.
After that, it's pretty much anyone's guess. According to records (which appear to have been written in pencil) from Manchester City Council, we know that 28 people paid 50 pence each to get into the venue; the same record shows that 121 people paid one quid each to see The Sex Pistols' return engagement six weeks later.
Among those (aside from me and the author) who definitely weren't there: Mark E. Smith, Ian Curtis, and Martin Hannett. Where it gets tricky (not surprisingly) is the case of Tony Wilson. While many of those interviewed place him at the second gig, when Wilson firmly states he was out of Manchester on vacation, only one witness claims to have seen him at the June 4 gig: Alan Hempsall, who would go on to become lead singer of the band Crispy Ambulance, which feels a bit like two men establishing each other’s alibis. Another ambiguous case is that of Mick "Ginger Nut" Hucknall, who vehemently stated in an interview in 2003 that he wasn't there, and seven years later waxed rhapsodic on television about having been there.
All in all, one hell of a fun bit of reading.
December 26, 2022
This could be a 3-star or a 5-stare review. Comprising mostly interviews and potted summaries of various periods and people around the said events, it is prone to fill and the last 20% is a somewhat uneccesary "where are they now". Anyone who has the vaguest interest in band music knows that some musos continue on thru a raft of projects and collaborations, so that was a flat conclusion. (Rock family trees anyone?)
However what makes this 5-stars is:
A. That it's an excellent fact based study in collective memory and the well-meaning porky pies that embed themselves in culture.
Rock event myths and legends are not exactly revisionist but like any good Wikipedia article are the product of many perspectives and inventions. The 1st event under the microscope is a punk version of Woodstock in many people's minds and it would be easy to accept the entertaining and digestible version of "Twenty four hour party people" as a documentary. The book proves it is not, the most tantalising surfacing misrememberment of Tony Wilson and Mick Huknall. Fun stuff.
B. It's also a great empirical study of how movements get started. What are the ingredients, what is the catalyst and what is the legacy. The key players willingly contributed to the book and the personal sometimes conflicting retellings are at times very entertaining. There is no real high drama as it's clear everyone was just super energized that "something" was happening.
C. As a 14/15 year old Iatched on to the Buzzcocks as "my band". Others chose Stranglers, Ramones etc. Hearing "Boredom" was a suburban schoolkids intro to poetry. The book enlightened me to the fact that Howard and Pete were really mild mannered accidental activists - powered more by curiosity rather than anti-thatcher rage, their perfect combination of weirdness, intellect, organisational skills and human WILL made 2 events happen - with lasting impact.
D. Human positivity and creative spirit. This point is just B+C added together equals infinite. You can't beat that magic when it all just works.
E. Peter Hook quotes. Life is just better when you hear from him, I saw him a few weeks ago at the Enmore and he's a dude living his dharma.
However what makes this 5-stars is:
A. That it's an excellent fact based study in collective memory and the well-meaning porky pies that embed themselves in culture.
Rock event myths and legends are not exactly revisionist but like any good Wikipedia article are the product of many perspectives and inventions. The 1st event under the microscope is a punk version of Woodstock in many people's minds and it would be easy to accept the entertaining and digestible version of "Twenty four hour party people" as a documentary. The book proves it is not, the most tantalising surfacing misrememberment of Tony Wilson and Mick Huknall. Fun stuff.
B. It's also a great empirical study of how movements get started. What are the ingredients, what is the catalyst and what is the legacy. The key players willingly contributed to the book and the personal sometimes conflicting retellings are at times very entertaining. There is no real high drama as it's clear everyone was just super energized that "something" was happening.
C. As a 14/15 year old Iatched on to the Buzzcocks as "my band". Others chose Stranglers, Ramones etc. Hearing "Boredom" was a suburban schoolkids intro to poetry. The book enlightened me to the fact that Howard and Pete were really mild mannered accidental activists - powered more by curiosity rather than anti-thatcher rage, their perfect combination of weirdness, intellect, organisational skills and human WILL made 2 events happen - with lasting impact.
D. Human positivity and creative spirit. This point is just B+C added together equals infinite. You can't beat that magic when it all just works.
E. Peter Hook quotes. Life is just better when you hear from him, I saw him a few weeks ago at the Enmore and he's a dude living his dharma.
December 14, 2016
I wasn't there but neither were most of those who have claimed to have been in attendance. This is a fascinating look back at punk history in 1976, with the initial focus being the Sex Pistols first gig in Manchester. It is also about the influence on young lads at that gig who went on to form their own bands. The likes of the Buzzcocks, Slaughter and the Dogs, the Fall, the Drones and Joy Division would further influence other Mancunians and those from outwith Manchester to form bands. None of this x factor nonsense. Proper music.
Now, in this fine book, Glen Matlock claims that the Rich Kids influenced the Skids. Not a chance. The Skids were superior to the Rich Kids both live and in the studio. My first gig was on the 24th October 1977. The Clash at the Kinema Ballroom in Dunfermline, supported by Richard Hell and the Void-oids, plus the Lous. A local band also blagged an appearance on stage. The aforementioned Skids.
Ray Smillie
Now, in this fine book, Glen Matlock claims that the Rich Kids influenced the Skids. Not a chance. The Skids were superior to the Rich Kids both live and in the studio. My first gig was on the 24th October 1977. The Clash at the Kinema Ballroom in Dunfermline, supported by Richard Hell and the Void-oids, plus the Lous. A local band also blagged an appearance on stage. The aforementioned Skids.
Ray Smillie
May 1, 2018
A quicker read than the last two books on Manchester postpunk I've read this year, and lighter on the details, but that makes sense as it focuses more on a single event than a place or a band, and has a lot more ground to cover as it traces the players as they move out from that event.
The Sex Pistols in Manchester is an interesting moment in music history, and the interview format with people who were there is a fun angle from which to approach it, I enjoyed this a lot, if you're looking to learn more about the birth and development of Punk as a genre, this is a fun angle from which to approach it...
The Sex Pistols in Manchester is an interesting moment in music history, and the interview format with people who were there is a fun angle from which to approach it, I enjoyed this a lot, if you're looking to learn more about the birth and development of Punk as a genre, this is a fun angle from which to approach it...
April 18, 2020
My new favourite book about the Manchester music scene in the mid - 70s and the affect 2 gigs had on music culture for the next 30 years.
This is good oral history giving great insights into the players of the time and confirms my opinions of Smith, Hook, Morrissey and Wilson et al. Does it clear the confusion and myth building around the gigs, to an extent. Is it an easy and excellent read, yes.
PS I'd just like to say I detest both the Sex Pistols and McLaren.
This is good oral history giving great insights into the players of the time and confirms my opinions of Smith, Hook, Morrissey and Wilson et al. Does it clear the confusion and myth building around the gigs, to an extent. Is it an easy and excellent read, yes.
PS I'd just like to say I detest both the Sex Pistols and McLaren.
May 8, 2020
I randomly got this book from HPB and it was so good! I love books that have an element of oral history to them. Not only am I so much happier knowing that a band called Crispy Ambulance existed, I also learned a lot from this short book. Though it’s about punk and the Sex Pistols and the Manchester music scene, it’s really about how people edit their personal histories so they can be a part of an instigating moment. Also, this author is kinda funny. I snorted at a lot of his comments.
May 14, 2021
I wasn’t there
A really interesting, comprehensive look at The Sex Pistols’ two Manchester gigs in 1976 and the effects on the Mancunian music scene. Jam-packed with quotes from famous and not-so-famous people, highlighting the ambiguity of who was, wasn’t, said they were and might have been at the gigs.
A fascinating insight into music and pop culture in a time of transition.
A really interesting, comprehensive look at The Sex Pistols’ two Manchester gigs in 1976 and the effects on the Mancunian music scene. Jam-packed with quotes from famous and not-so-famous people, highlighting the ambiguity of who was, wasn’t, said they were and might have been at the gigs.
A fascinating insight into music and pop culture in a time of transition.
May 18, 2019
I Swear I was There is a cracking read for anyone interested in the music and culture of the time and like all cracking yarns it’s choc a block full of great characters- Pete Shelley, Tony Wilson, Jordan Mooney, Howard Trafford, John The Postman, Slaughter and The Dogs and many more. Great stuff
February 10, 2019
More like 3.5 stars. Interesting read for music nerds, but hardly essential.
March 1, 2021
Really fun oral history, though by its nature a bit repetitive.
Read
December 14, 2024So much fun, so much pleasure, so exciting, if you're into that scene, which I am.
December 3, 2016
It is probable that more books have been written and more films released on Tony Wilson, Joy Division and Hacienda than about the whole of World War II so it was with a slightly heavy heart that I borrowed this in the wake of the Sounding Bored podcast's episode about the Manchester music scene. The premise is that the Sex Pistols' first Lesser Free Trade Hall gig in June 1976 kicked off the extraordinary run of musical brilliance the city came up with over the following 15 years (yes, not including Oasis) in that many of the future movers and shakers claim to have been present and decided to form bands - when accounts from the day indicate approximately 14 people paid to get in.
So it's an entertaining enough trawl through tales of the event and its aftermath but might have worked better as the basis for a biography of Buzzcocks and Magazine - the chief purveyors thereof were fundamental to bringing about such cultural earthquakes.
So it's an entertaining enough trawl through tales of the event and its aftermath but might have worked better as the basis for a biography of Buzzcocks and Magazine - the chief purveyors thereof were fundamental to bringing about such cultural earthquakes.
May 17, 2025
What a great premise, that the ticket sales record in Manchester Council archives shows the number of tickets sold at the two Sex Pistols Lesser Free Trade Hall gigs in 1976. I was anticipating a list of every individual who'd bought the 28 tickets for the first show, but fascinating as that would have been, it couldn't have been possible. Instead we get a story told in interviews and the author's observations of the contradictory accounts of what happened, its significance, and how it has been mythologised.
March 26, 2009
I like these kind of books. There is plenty about the Sex Pistols in other books but this one focuses on the Gig That Changed The World. I did like how the only Pistol they secured an interview for was Matlock, I enjoyed hearing how the audience, who was the star of the book, reacted. Short and sweet and to the point.
December 22, 2013
An interesting subject addressed in a slightly lazy way - would be improved by lopping about 20% off. Still, entertaining if you're into this kind of stuff.
May 6, 2016
A great read on the personal reflection of over discussed concerts.
July 9, 2025
I wasn't there because I was only 13, I was in Sunderland & it was a school night.
April 14, 2017
Errr well yes this was fairly inconsequential in my opinion.
Lets be honest here I have never liked the Sex Pistols or understood the furore around them. They have always struck me as loud rude and sweary with little talent. I have thought they are very overrated and I expected this book to change my opinion and............it didnt.
I get that they are perceived as groundbreaking and certainly they were different. But this book was about who was at the first significant concert they gave. The contributors to the story even state it was underwhelming and completely disorganised and yet it is lauded as a landmark in British music???
I don't get the book. I don't like the Sex Pistols and I never will.
Lets be honest here I have never liked the Sex Pistols or understood the furore around them. They have always struck me as loud rude and sweary with little talent. I have thought they are very overrated and I expected this book to change my opinion and............it didnt.
I get that they are perceived as groundbreaking and certainly they were different. But this book was about who was at the first significant concert they gave. The contributors to the story even state it was underwhelming and completely disorganised and yet it is lauded as a landmark in British music???
I don't get the book. I don't like the Sex Pistols and I never will.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews