Wire in Middlesborogh, 1978

October 27 1978

Left to right:
Graham Lewis
Bruce Gilbert
Colin Newman
Mike Thorne
Unidentified roadie dealing with some on-stage audience business.

Photographer unknown
Thanks to Paul Rabjohn for the print.

This Wire gig was at the Rock Garden, Middlesborough, in the industrial northeast of England. The club was fairly isolated in a desolate section of decaying dockland, and about 400 warm summer Saturday night celebrants were the audience. Even through struggles with chords and a collapsing keyboard, I remember clearly the flying gob and beer. Perhaps you don't forget those things when they're coming at you. The white spots you see on the print are not photographic faults. They were made in people's throats.

Colin is a singular character who can bumble happily around the world, often completely relaxed in his own dreams, having to be somewhere, and then getting on the bus going the wrong direction. On stage, he was rather different: in control. This Middlesborough crowd, exceptionally aggressive even for the industrial Britain of the 70s, immediately desisted when he pointed out that 'We don't like being spitted at.' Playing my ancient RMI Electrapiano, whose pedal needed constant attention with sticky tape to prevent it disintegrating, had been even more challenging than usual, due to the smooth, slippery layer of beer over all the keys.

The roadies had their work cut out trying to maintain a decent sound while courteously accepting helpful advice from the floor. Half way through the set, we noticed a sudden change in the stage sound. One creative punter in an altered state had stumbled by the mixing desk and with one large hand pulled down all the carefully set graphic equalizer settings to zero. One of the roadies took the piece of lead pipe that lived under the console and went off to discuss further business. The blood on the floor at the back of the club that shone when the lights came up wasn't the roadie's business partner's. But it might have been his, without due precaution.

We didn't feel inclined to do many encores; perhaps we did one. Good Northern beer helps the soul but not the memory. The audience wanted more than the Wire corporate board was inclined to dispense. The dressing room door was at the back of the stage, better that way we thought as the pint beer glasses (empty) smashed against it while we waited out the mood of the diminishing crowd.

- MT June 2001

Wire at the Stereo Society (selected links):
To Wire Central (all links)
To Wire 1977-79 by Kevin Eden

To The Roxy London WC2 (Jan-Apr 77)
To Pink Flag
To Chairs Missing
To 154
To I Am The Fly
To Outdoor Miner
To full text of Robert Gotobed's interview
To the full text of Bruce Gilbert's interview
To Thorne's home page
To a 1978 Wire nite out in Middlesborough
To a the book: Wire, Everybody Loves A History
To the poster for Notre Dame Hall, London, 1979
To Kevin Eden's 1996 interview with Thorne for the Wire newsletter
To Pop Matters' Punk's Silver Jubilee 2001 interview with Thorne
To Wire's concert review in the New York Times