POI #5 The Rainbow Theatre

Description of The Rainbow Theatre

The Rainbow Theatre was originally built as a cinema in London in the early 1930’s. From the 1960’s until the 1980’s it was converted into a venue for live events until it shut down in the 1980’s and was converted into a pentecostal church. Located in Finsbury Park of inner London, The Rainbow hosted some of the biggest artists in the world when at the height of its glory as a venue. This theatre was unique due to its extravagant inside architecture, and the grandness of the inside of the theatre. Although it has now been converted into a church, The Rainbow was a music venue that hosted The Clash in 1977 following the highly negatively received Bill Grundy interview with the Sex Pistols. Punk had already erupted across England and shows were getting cancelled due to public worry. The Rainbow hosted The Clash anyway and a violent mid-show punk riot broke out during the show when The Clash performed their controversial hit, White Riot. This event was important to the punk movement, as The Rainbow Theatre said they would host more punk concerts in the future, despite the damage to 200 out of 3000 seats at the venue and the public controversy over punk culture. Venues like The Rainbow were necessary for the continual growth of punk culture. The Rainbow could seat roughly 3000 people, which was more than The Clash was used to playing for at this point in their career, displaying the spread of punk culture and the popularity of the band.

The Rainbow Then and Now

The Clash Live at The Rainbow

Significance to Punk Movement

The significance of The Clash performance at The Rainbow was that a riot broke out and this labelled punk shows as violent. However, there is more to the riot at The Rainbow then meaningless, unnecessary violence. The riot initially began when The Clash started to perform their hit song White Riot, a song that speaks against systemic racism in Britain. Some lyrics from this song include “Black people gotta lot a problems, But they don't mind throwing a brick, White people go to school, Where they teach you how to be thick…” This song was written in response to a London riot following the Notting Hill Festival when five hundred young black people ended up in street warfare with British police officers. The message The Clash had was that white people had all the power, and discouraged being a bystander in order to avoid getting into trouble, hence, the result of rioting in celebration of these powerful lyrics. Punk culture was dissatisfied with the systemic racism that was present in everyday life for Londoners, and the riots that occurred were a result of this detachment and disengagement from the rest of the world. These riots also emphasize how meaningful punk lyrics could be, and that they should not be taken at face value, White Riot, without any context or understanding of the lyrics, could easily be misinterpreted as a white supremacist message.

A Ticket to The Clash at the Rainbow, May 1977

The Rainbow: Capitalizing on the Punk Movement?

The Rainbow Theatre, unlike many other live event venues at the time, capitalized on the culture of punk bands and used this to attract punk fans. The article Punk Wreck from 1977 describes the delightful of Rainbow Theatre director Allan Schaverian, who describes the damage to over 200 seats as “natural exuberance” in response to the music of The Clash. The theatre even had extra money set aside to cover the cost of damages. This is important to the punk movement because it is venues like The Rainbow, although no longer operating, that allowed for the punk movement to occur at all. This also is what allowed London to become the biggest city in the punk movement, and continue to excel as a hub for entertainment, and a home to significant events in the history of the music industry.

Riot During White Riot

The Clash Defined London in the late 70's

Jon Savage, a journalist known for his review and recorded history of punk concerts in London, attended The Clash at the Rainbow in 1977. He writes about the electric tension of the show, and draws attention to how vital The Clash was to defining London, England in 1977. The punk effect on the atmosphere of London is immense, although some believe the punk movement created a climate of fear, Savage explain the realness of The Clash performance. Savage also notes that the band can communicate and connect with an audience of 3000 just as well as they could with audiences of 200 when they played at smaller venues. The effect of the punk movement on London, England was much more than just a climate of fear, but also of encouragement to think outside of what is socially acceptable and speak up against authority if you aren't satisfied with how the world around you is operating.

The Rainbow Theatre

Bibliography

Burton, Rick. "A History of The Rainbow Theatre." rainbowhistory.x10x.mx. http://www.rainbowhistory.x10.mx/index.htm (accessed November 15, 2017).

Burton, Rick. "Dates: 1977." rainbowhistory.x10x.mx. http://www.rainbowhistory.x10.mx/index.htm (accessed November 15, 2017).

Burton, Rick. "Early History." rainbowhistory.x10x.mx. http://www.rainbowhistory.x10.mx/index.htm (accessed November 15, 2017).

James, Kieran. "Who am I? Where are we? Where do we go from here?" Marxism, voice, representation, and synthesis." Critical Perspectives On Accounting 21, no. 8 (November 2010): 696-710. Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed November 15, 2017).

Hayes, Martha. " 'It was described as a riot': The Clash at The Rainbow, London, 1977." The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/dec/09/clash-rainbow-finsbury-

park-may-1977. December 9, 2016.

Lyrics, Clash. White Riot (The Clash). London: CBS, 1977. https://play.google.com/music

/preview/Teu2rbzdlrvgn2iamfyzmo6eldm?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics

Martinez, Ray and Roe, Ken. "Astoria Finsbury Park." cinematreasures.org http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/1243 (accessed November 15, 2017).

Savage, Jon. "The Clash, The Jam, The Buzzcocks: The Rainbow Theatre, London." Rock's Back Pages Library. https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/the-clash-the-jam-the-buzzcocks-the-rainbow-theatre-london? May 21, 1977.

"Punk Wreck! Fan's Riot and Theatre Boss is Delighter." Newspaper clipping, The Sun, May 11, 1977.http://cluster1.website-staging.uk/blackmarketclash.co.uk/Bands/Clash/recordings/1976_77/77-05-09%20Rainbow/Punk-Wreck.jpg (accessed November 15, 2017).

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