[dropcap]The[/dropcap] Sex Pistols June 4th gig at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester was the catalyst for the Manchester Post-Punk movement—and an one of the most pivotal events in music history. Watch above a reenactment of the punk show of legend narrated by Steven Coogan as Tony Wilson in the fantasticf film 24 Hour Party People, and check out the article below from Paul Morley published in The Guardian earlier today:
“The Lesser Free Trade Hall was now full of more knowing fans – already with shorter hair and narrower trousers and an edge more sectarian self-confidence – paying a pound. There was, relatively speaking, someone already famous at this show, passionate local TV personality Tony Wilson, obsessed with Manchester’s pioneering and progressive credentials. Mostly, though, it was still a crowd of unknowns, including the reserved out-of-towner Ian Curtis, meeting people he had something in common with and totally ready to let the ordinary but uncanny Rotten inspire him.
Because, as is obvious once time has passed, one surprising thing leads to another. The first Pistols show led to the second Pistols show led to Wilson’s experimental pop TV show So It Goes, to Buzzcocks’ Spiral Scratch, to the endless Fall, to Factory Records, to the Hacienda, to Marr and Morrissey, to Madchester, to the Stone Roses at Spike Island, to Oasis, to a postmodern brand of civic pride, and, what with one thing and another, to I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.”-Paul Morley