‘I Swear I Was There’: The myth of Manchester’s most famous gig
A Sex Pistols performance in 1976 has gone down in folklore as the “gig that changed the world”. Everyone claims to have been there. But the truth is more complicated than that...
One Saturday morning, during an ad break on his Radio Manchester chat show, Tony Wilson leaned over his microphone and whispered into his guest’s ear.
“You know what you said about me not being at that Sex Pistols gig? That was fucking snide!”
Wilson sneered the words and loomed for a moment, before sliding back into his chair and welcoming listeners with his velvety broadcasting voice like nothing had happened.
The studio guest that day was David Nolan – a local journalist who had investigated the illustrious Lesser Free Trade Hall gig on 4 June 1976 and concluded Wilson had probably not been in attendance.
This was a big problem for Wilson. It didn’t fit his legend.
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That Sex Pistols performance has gone down in folklore as the “gig that changed the world” – a tiny rock concert that proved to be compost for the Madchester movement. Members of the crowd were said to be so inspired by what happened on stage, they would go on to launch a revolutionary movement – becoming the headline artists, writers, and creatives of a sensational new scene. It’s the gig credited with creating The Smiths, Joy Division, Buzzcocks and The Fall. Why wouldn’t Wilson – the man who co-launched the city’s behemothic Factory Records and Hacienda nightclub – be there?
But after creating a documentary and penning a best-selling book on that famous punk rock performance, Nolan deduced – against the tide of popular opinion – that ‘Mr Manchester’ Tony Wilson was likely elsewhere on the night the city’s music scene was born.
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Naturally, Wilson didn’t like it. But 20 years since Nolan published I Swear I Was There (which has been lauded by fellow scene-setters Peter Hook and Paul Morley – two men who were at the gig) he’s yet to be proven wrong.
Regardless of whether Wilson was in the room that night or not, his influence at the dawn of Madchester remains undeniable. As Nolan points out, the presenter hosted another event a few weeks after the Pistols gig that might have played an even bigger role in launching the music scene that would reverberate around the world.
“Three things actually happened in Manchester that summer,” Nolan explains.
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“There was the first Sex Pistols gig in June, a second Sex Pistols gig in July, and then later in September [the band] appeared on So It Goes on television. That performance was organised by Tony Wilson. Hundreds of thousands of people will have watched it. It could have even been more influential [than the Lesser Free Trade Hall shows].”
Nonetheless, it’s that first Sex Pistols gig on June 4 that still serves as the setting for the fable. Everyone still wants to be part of it; Wilson wasn’t the only one.
Indeed, over the past 45 years, hundreds insist they paid their 50p and watched history in the making that night. They swear they were there.
Ticket sales show that about 40 people were actually in attendance – which suggests the past four decades have been full of fibbing. But Nolan says it’s more complicated than that.
“Remember, there were two Sex Pistols gigs that summer,” he explains.
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“When we did the original documentary programme, we devised a test and questionnaire for people to fill in.
“What we found out was that some people were at the second gig, but thought they were at the first. Some were at neither. But 99% of time people were genuinely convinced they had been there.
“Both the documentary and book are full of contradictory stories from people – that’s the notion of memory. People misremember things.
“Plus – it’s a flipping long time ago!”
Originally published in 2001, Nolan’s book was the first real piece of research-led work into the Sex Pistols gig – with much of the previous literature being muddled, confused or lacking in clarity.
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“Music writers from that period weren’t necessarily massive fact-checkers,” Nolan states.
“It was all done in the pub. Stories were just passed on by word of mouth. So, I started [the book] as a brand new story and ignored what was written before.
“I was already a journalist who just ended up writing about music – I approached it a bit like a court case or crime scene. I was focused on getting every single detail right.”
Nolan spoke to everyone he could in an attempt to build the first truthful picture of the gig since it went through mythologisation. He interviewed everyone from gig organisers and performers to regular folks who’d just hopped on a bus from Denton after spotting an ad for the show in the Manchester Evening News.
He even achieved what no one else had done before and successfully tracked down the supporting band who played before the Pistols that evening – a Bolton group called Solstice.
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“That’s where the gold was; people who hadn’t told the story a thousand times before,” Nolan grins.
Nolan wasn’t at the Free Trade Hall in June ‘76 (he was 12 at the time) – but the famous gig still changed his life.
Working as a young journalist in Altrincham in the 1980s, Nolan had got chatting to fellow writer called Pete Oldham – who claimed to have been at both Sex Pistols gigs. The hyperbolic status of these shows was already set in stone even then – and Oldham had to show off his ticket stubs to convince Nolan he’d actually gone. But the whole conversation raised the idea of creating a documentary – a piece of television that would determine who was actually there, and who wasn’t.
Later at Granada Studios Nolan began working on that very concept – and was pulled away mid-production to produce a book to go alongside the TV programme.
He was given nine weeks to write it – a rollercoaster-like process involving lots of late nights in which “he almost went mad” – but got it over the line. Holding his copy aloft was a proud moment, and when he spotted a display dedicated to the book in Waterstones it almost made him “pass out”.
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The first edition of I Swear I Was There received a solitary review, calling it “tedious beyond belief”. In 2006 it was re-released with a new cover and five-star acclaim across the board – including a description by GQ as ”one of the greatest rock stories ever told”.
Nolan’s been a published author ever since – with 15 books under his belt (including the riveting Manc Noir thrillers Black Moss and The Mermaid’s Pool). But what makes I Swear I Was There quite so special is the fact that it’s still causing conversation today.
“This kind of thing just won’t happen again,” Nolan explains.
“The whole thing would be recorded on people’s phones and uploaded to social media.
“It’s like the fly in Jurassic Park – perfectly preserved in amber. That’s the beauty of it.”
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David Nolan’s book ‘I Swear I Was There’ / Image: Amazon
Every few years, some new information about that first Sex Pistols gig comes to light. A fresh anecdote. A forgotten image. A long-lost tiny relic. But still no definitive evidence that Wilson was in attendance.
“There were 40-odd people in the audience that night… and Tony was incredibly famous,” Nolan states.
“For people not to notice he was there… I’m not sure. Pete Shelley from Buzzcocks who took the money on the door doesn’t remember Tony being there. Howard Devoto who organised the gig doesn’t remember Tony being there.
“But who knows. In another five years I could have found a photograph of Tony Wilson stood next to the Sex Pistols at the gig and I’ll have to make an apology.
“Or we may never know. It’s all part of the fun. That’s the great thing about this story – new stuff is happening all the time. Even now.
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“You just never know what will happen next.”
‘I Swear I Was There’ is available online from Amazon.
David Nolan is hosting an official author evening titled ‘Murder, music and Manc Noir’ later this month live on Zoom. Tickets are free and can be booked online here.
Feature
Inside the new Hive Stores as beloved antiques shop adds a beautiful new cafe and bar
Daisy Jackson
It’s not every day that Greater Manchester gets a new business quite as beautiful as the new bar at Hive Stores.
This fantastic local business is now operating partly as an antiques store, partly as a cafe, also selling everyday essentials, quality produce, bakery bits from Half Dozen Other, cheeseboards, and cocktails.
The new addition is a real looker, all dark wood and marble with so much character it feels like it’s been here for 100 years.
Over the years, this little building in Altrincham has been everything from a greengrocers to a bakery to an antiques shop – and now, fittingly, it’s sort of all three of those things at once.
When Steven Sherratt and Gareth Wilkins took the space over, it was with a vision to restore it back to how it would’ve looked in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as offering all the convenience it would have done in its former life but with their own personal style added in.
That means you can pick up some eggs and have an espresso martini at the same time, and the old-fashioned shelving is stocked with Italian brands as well as local produce.
They’re also hoping to bring back the traditional relationship between shopkeeper and customer, which seems to be working – everyone who comes through the door greets them by name.
Hive Stores started life in Altrincham Market as an antiques stall almost a decade ago.
But when Covid hit, Gareth and Steven shifted all their stock over to a space on Grosvenor Road.
Initially, the ramshackle building out the back was all that Hive Stores consisted of, an Aladdin’s cave jam-packed with beautiful antiques and other items from local craftsmen.
Then they added a coffee cart in the courtyard, which became a ‘haven for locals to escape the same four walls’ during lockdown.
Then several years later, the small building at the front of this plot of land became available, and Hive Stores added cafe and bar to its bow.
Following a successful Crowdfunder, they spent more than a year carefully restoring the space, adding in their favourite antiques from their collection like a wall of hand mirrors and silver plates.
Gareth said: “We’ve got antique furniture as the bar, quirky antiques adorning the walls in the dining space, and it’s kind of created that really good mix between modern and vintage.
“We wanted to create something that was timeless, so in years to come, regardless of how we change the decor in terms of mirrors or pictures or anything like that, the building itself will always be timeless.
“We’re very happy with how it’s turned out.”
Gareth continued: “We’ve got loads of people who have followed us literally since day dot in the market.
“So the regulars have been fantastic sticking with us and how we’ve transitioned our business over to what it is now. And so many new faces now too, it’s brilliant, and everyone’s been so complimentary and kind.”
Steven added: “As well as the Crowdfunder, where we raised about £13,000 from the public, we wouldn’t have been able to even start the renovations without the help of Atlantic Timber and Cheshire Marble and CTC tiles, which are all local businesses who were just so generous and supportive.”
Gareth said: “There’s no way it would’ve happened without the help of both the public and other businesses here, we’re forever in their debt.”
The new-look Hive Stores is now open in Altrincham.
Manchester’s most exclusive restaurant, serving omakase sushi to just four customers a week
Daisy Jackson
At a time when sushi restaurants are opening in Manchester more often than I open my fridge, it’s becoming difficult to stand out from the crowd.
But boy oh boy have we found a newcomer that will change all of that, and a new favourite Japanese spot has entered the region.
Sushi Pod is quite possibly the most exclusive restaurant experience in the entire country, seating just four guests per week.
Those lucky few who manage to secure a table (and at the time of writing, you can still book in for dinner in the coming weeks) will be whisked through a whopping 20 courses in a full omakase experience.
Omakase loosely translates to ‘I’ll leave it up to you’ – you just pull up a seat and watch the chef work their magic on the finest quality seafood available.
At Sushi Pod, tucked upstairs above the brilliant Grape to Grain wine bar on Bury New Road, you sit mere inches away from chef Artur Wacewicz.
You have a true front-row seat as he delicately slices tuna, deftly rolls sushi rice into nori sheets, and blow-torches sugar onto exotic fruit.
Artur Wacewicz working his magic at a Sushi Pod omakase nightSushi Pod are serving above Grape to Grain in Prestwich, Greater ManchesterArtur Wacewicz
Artur has teamed up with Grape to Grain founder Tom Sneesby for the Sushi Pod omakase nights – while one is plating up perfect bites of world-class fish, the other is topping up your glass with perfectly-paired wines from downstairs.
And while the experience truly is world-class, it’s not remotely stuffy or formal.
Can’t use chopsticks? Don’t even worry about it – Artur will make you up his special ‘baby chopsticks’, wrapping a napkin around one end so they basically turn into a giant pair of tweezers.
Never eaten uni before (it’s literally the gonads of a sea urchin…)? Again, Artur will talk you through every ingredient, even happily whipping out his phone and flicking through his pictures to show you exactly what part of the animal you’re eating.
This is a man who has worked alongside the legendary Terry Huang, of former Umezushi fame, which was considered to be one of the best sushi restaurants not just in Manchester but in all of Europe.
Uni (sea urchin) tamakiSalmon nigiriMackerel nigiriThe day’s catchA small sample of the 20-course menu
Artur also works with Out of the Blue fishmongers in Chorlton, rising before the crack of dawn to make sure he has the freshest, best-quality seafood ingredients possible.
And because of this ‘what-have-you-got-today’ approach, the omakase menu from Sushi Pod changes all the time.
For our visit, we had (to name but a few) sweet scallops, bluefin tuna, mackerel, eel, different cuts of salmon, caviar, prawn, and so much more.
The first dishes are presented as sashimi, with Artur simply slicing off pieces of fish and placing them in front of you beside a wedge of lime and a scoop of wasabi so that you can tweak each bite to your own tastes.
Then comes the nigiri portion, where expertly-prepared sushi rice spiked with vinegar is rolled up, dotted with wasabi or a soy sauce reduction or lime zest, then topped with different seafood ingredients.
ScallopsThe omakase wine flight menu
And finally comes the tamaki section, when Artur literally hands each course over to you neatly tucked into sheets of nori – no plate.
To go alongside this wonderful sushi journey, there are a few different menus of wine or sake pairings, usually kicking off with a champagne before touring some of the world’s finest white wines.
And again, Tom is on hand to explain exactly what is in your glass and why it’s the perfect match, with no stuffy wine lingo chucked in.
At £90 per person, it’s a darn sight more accessible than a lot of other Omakase menus in town, but with no compromise on quality.
You can book in for Sushi Pod’s Omakaze Night at Grape to Grain here – but be quick, this one’ll book up fast.
And if you DO miss out, you can always order yourself a grab-and-go sushi selection to collect from either Grape to Grain in Prestwich or Out of the Blue in Chorlton.