4 October: Gig in Amsterdam, Holland

U.K. Subs play the Paradiso in Amsterdam, Holland

Line up:
Charlie Harper - vocals
Nicky Garratt - guitar
Alvin Gibbs - bass
Steve Roberts - drums

THIRD DATE OF THE ‘OCTOBER 1980 EUROPEAN TOUR’

Below: Tour Itinerary front cover - click to enlarge
Thanks to Nicky Garratt for the scan

Information inside the above itinerary was as follows:

European Tour 1980

October

2nd   Bilgart Palace - Antwerp, Belgium
3rd    Selekt Halle - Dilbeck, Belgium
4th    Paradico - Amsterdam, Holland
5th    Gigant - Apeldoorn, Holland
8th    Drieluyck - Zaandam, Holland
9th    Kaasee - Roterdam, Holland
10th Stokvishal - Arnhem, Holland
11th Ons Huis - Venlo, Holland
12th Vera - Gronigen, Holland
14th   New Wave Scala - Herford, Germany

Gig Review

by Stijn de Jong (Haarlem, Netherlands)

I was there, only 16 years old at the time, here's my memories of the concert.

To be honest, I was scared out of my 16-year-old wits when I saw the mass of leather jackets waiting outside the Paradiso that night. It's not like I'd never been to rock and punk shows before but this actually looked like a siege. And there were far more people there than would ever fit inside the building, which had a maximum capacity of 1200 at the time.

This meant there were loads of people out there who had turned up without tickets despite of the fact that the gig was completely sold out. I don't think I've ever held on so tight to my wallet before or since!

It took lots of pushing and shoving to even get anywhere near the entrance but eventually me and my friends managed to get inside, a little bruised and ruffled but otherwise okay. I decided to head for the upstairs balcony and find myself a spot there to watch the gig, because my limited height meant that I'd probably wouldn't be able to see a thing otherwise once it started. A wise decision as it turned out, because the crowd was so pumped up that they even created a mosh pit during the support act.

They were a band from my hometown called Jesus & the Gospelfuckers and to cut a long story short, just about everyone agreed that they sucked. Everything they played just sounded like an ear-piercing screech, primarily because these guys couldn't tell one end of their instruments from the other.

Which didn't stop them from taking to the stage with an attitude like they were the best thing since sliced bread. But the crowd gathered in front of the stage couldn't care less and just jumped around while pelting the band with plastic beer glasses.

When the Subs finally went onstage about an hour later, the party really got started and the place just exploded. I've seen some pretty wild gigs since but that night still stands as one of the wildest. It was complete mayhem with a mosh pit literally reaching from wall to wall and from the stage to the entrance at the back of the hall. You couldn't expect any band to deliver a solid show under those circumstances and indeed, the gig was a bit messy to say the least.

This was all more about having a huge party than actually playing the songs the way they should have been done. Which didn't matter because this was the best time anyone could imagine, both for the band and the crowd.

I've seen them a couple of times after that and all those times they actually delivered better shows, but I'll never forget the mayhem of that particular night. I'm just glad I could watch it from the
sidelines and wasn't in the thick of it because I'd most likely have been crushed to death.