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On this day, 14 December 1976, pioneering punk rock band the Sex Pistols played the Castle Cinema, Caerphilly on their Anarchy tour.
Earlier in the year they had played three other Welsh shows with barely a raised eyebrow, but following a last-minute cancelation by Queen, The Sex Pistols and friends appeared on the Tonight Show, presented by Bill Grundy. Famously turning the air blue, John Lydon, Glen Matlock, Steve Jones and Paul Cook came across as uncouth, ill-mannered oiks to millions watching, and as a fantastic anti-establishment breath of fresh air to a few. The incident cost Grundy his job, and made the Pistols front page news.
Venues already booked for their Anarchy Tour reneged on deals, and local councils pressured others to cancel shows. So many venues cancelled on the band that they ended up going twice to some of the venues that would have them.
Cardiff's Top Rank was one of the shows cancelled, but a south Wales promoter called Andy Walton stepped into the breach and offered a show at the town's Castle Cinema.
A campaign was waged in the South Wales press, urging the gig to be abandoned. A typical letter can be found in the archives of the South Wales Echo: "...we feel bound to protest against the decision of our local Castle Cinema management to engage a 'punk rock group' already notorious for its dependence on obscenity, blasphemy and open violence." But to no avail. The gig went ahead, not least because the Castle Cinema's elderly lady owner... refused to be bullied by Caerphilly's worthies."
There was a lot of religious objection to the band and the gig. A leaflet handed out in the town that night said, "Even though apparently just a passing fad... such trends are clearly part of the fulfilment of Jesus' prophecy that before his return to earth, wickedness would multiply beyond all previous limits". (You can see the full leaflet at www.thesexpistols.co.uk.).
