Going one further than Dave Nolan’s I Swear I Was There account of the Pistols’ two 1976 gigs at Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall, Banned narrows in on a single show. With the group all but outlawed from playing in the UK (according to McLaren, anyway), and various band members and their entourage being assaulted, a tour of Scandinavia was arranged, including two gigs in Norway. The first, at Oslo’s tiny Pingvin Club on 20 July 1976, is our concern.
This beautiful book would be worth buying for the visual candy alone, which include press cuttings, tickets, autographs and even the promoter’s contract, not to mention 47 previously unpublished photos. The text mostly comprises of quotes from people who were present, or involved in the event. Though such accounts are always fascinating, the author’s lengthy treatise on “punk from a sociological perspective and as a social diagnosis” is rather less enthralling. Once back on track, Mathiesen paints a vivid picture of what proved to be yet another Pistols show that inspired many of its audience to go out and form bands of their own.
