31 October: Gig in Scarborough, UK

U.K. Subs play the Taboo Club in Scarborough, England

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

THIRTEENTH DATE OF THE ‘OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 1980 UK TOUR’

Steve Jones from York sent T&M his recollections of this gig:

“I attended this gig and whilst I cannot remember the set list, what I do remember about this gig was the band having a running battle in the balcony above the stage, shortly before going on! Lots of liquid was being thrown by all members out of bottles and glasses, seemed really serious in a playful way! Certainly got the crowd's attention. This club was very small and had a tiny stage, not raised very much, maybe a foot at most, also a really low ceiling and above the stage was a balcony that went most of the way round, so the stage area did have some elevated headroom. The heat in this place was crazy and a real fire hazard, being on the first floor. I also recall the Subs being incredibly loud but most people had their ears within a few feet of the speakers. The Taboo audience were noted for singing a few lines, and joining in and I also remember Charlie offering the mic to the front row on certain choruses, this was very common at the Taboo, possibly one of the most intimate venues possible, or at least at the time as there was no pit, just a bit of scaffold sort of thing, probably to stop the push from the back. I also saw many bands here around 1978, 79, 80 and 81. We did enjoy this gig, as they would have known if we hadn’t!!!
I also saw UK Subs at the fateful York Pop Club,which was closed owing to a riot as I’m sure you know, but for this gig the thing that sticks in my mind is the throwing of liquid - beer maybe!”

Cheers Steve!

Mark Leighton from Hull also recalls this gig:

"Thanks to Steve's recollections, I also recall going to this gig with my mate Mark Potter. We set off from Hull to Scarborough by bus armed with our sleeping bags and the intention of sleeping on the beach with the crazy idea that for some reason we would stay warm on the sand.
As we did a few pubs before the show, two things stuck in my mind. One was a large contingent of Boro boys (Oi type skin/punks from Middlesbrough) chanting "we are the Boro boys" around the centre of Scarborough. The other was Charlie being in one of the pubs with punks queuing to buy him drinks. Don't remember the set list but I do recall while the band were on the venue was rocking and extremely cramped and hot. I do remember the glasses and bottles being thrown in the club and it getting quite nasty. Interestingly, I remember seeing Martin Roper from Anti Pasti perching at the side of the small stage. After the show me and my mate Mark went to get our sleeping bags that we had hidden in the bushes in the seafront gardens and made our way down to the beach to bed down for the night.
It was absolutely freezing so we ended up walking around the town desperately trying to keep out of the way of the Boro boys - as we could hear their distant chanting. As morning broke, we made our way to the bus station and, as we were so cold, we and let ourselves on to a bus that was parked up.
However, others had had the same idea and we had no sooner got ourselves comfortable when (would you believe it?) the Boro boys invaded the bus. Of course, in the end they were great guys and we ended up talking about the previous night's show and having a laugh about what we had got up during the night.
Unfortunately, when the driver arrived he slung is all off leaving us to wait for the arrival of the next bus to Hull and Middlesbrough.
Happy days!"

Cheers Mark!