I’ve seen some… counterintuitive live music lineups before—Sisters of Mercy and Public Enemy, Pantera and Powderfinger (even allowing for the latter being a bit heavier in its earlier days, that was still bizarre), Dire Straits and Talking Heads— but I don’t think I’ve ever been as confused as I have by this:
…in which THE BAY CITY ROLLERS headlined a post-punk/goth festival in September 1983.
The organiser claimed to have decided to add them as a bit of light relief at the end of the first day (and to replace Howard Devoto, who had apparently pulled out despite still being advertised), similar to when he hired GARY GLITTER (!) for the second Futurama a few years earlier. The difference was, Gary was having an unlikely revival at the time among the post-punk crowd who remembered their glam roots (so it made a sort of odd sense after all to have him headline that sort of show), the Rollers… were not. Morrissey and co. refused to perform when they discovered Les and co. were the new headliners, and the crowd weren’t impressed either, with lots of bottles and cans and glasses being flung at the Rollers. Until finally McKeown snapped and threw one back, and wound up getting arrested as a result. Not quite the light relief I think John Keenan was hoping for; wonder if this had anything to do with the six year wait until the next Futurama…
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