It’s almost 40 years to the day since iconic British punk band The Clash played Trinity College, a gig that has become the stuff of legend.
Former Trinity Ents Officer Paul Tipping, who organised the concert in 1977, joined Seán Rocks on RTÉ Arena. He spoke about the significance of the performance ahead of Year Zero, a symposium marking the anniversary, which will take place at Trinity this weekend.
Tipping believes the show signalled a change in the Irish music landscape – most prominently, a shift away from the showband era:
"Over the course of my time in music I’ve promoted quite a few showbands – not least for the Trinity Ball and the Fresher’s Ball. I have great respect for them, but something else was needed I think and this was it. "
It may seem difficult to imagine how a band like The Clash ended up playing Trinity. How did it all come to be? Tipping explained that The Clash had had some gig cancellations, and so were left with a huge amount of rented equipment and nowhere to go.
"They came to us rather than we went to them".
For a fee of £1500, The Clash played two 35-minute sets. Tipping told Seán that he went to both.
"The first show was, well, I’ll have to use some f-words here…t he first show was frantic, frenetic, febrile, feral and frightening. I was there right through the whole thing. It showed how a release of energy, and really good craftsmanship in terms of songwriting and lyrics, where it can lead"
Listen back to the full interview between Paul Tipping and Sean Rocks on RTÉ Arena here.
