Discharge, V.O.T.S @ The Gallery, Rhyl
By 1980, as Seventeen spent more and more time out of the area, a new crop of bands and people were emerging within the scene. Over in Deeside VOTS had started making a name for themselves as a hardcore punk band, featuring among others, Greener on vocals and drummer Pete Banks. VOTS stood for Victims Of The System and they trod the path being made way by the second wave of punk bands. Their following was known as the “VOTS Army” who were blamed for smashing up The Gallery in Rhyl (years later to become the Breeding Ground). VOTS were support to Discharge on the night, and they say it’s all about timing as when the police turned up, they stopped the song they were playing, Greener said; ‘Don’t fight among yourselves, give it the coppers!’ And immediately went into a rendition of the Angelic Upstarts’ Police Oppression. They were also billed on that CND benefit festival at the Queens in Rhyl (as were just about every band in the area), and three weeks earlier had played with Jap Connection and The Vaj at the North Wales Inn, Rhyl on 17th January 1981, where reviewer Jill Roberts, writing for the Live At The Foxes fanzine said, ‘The VOTS outclassed the other two punk bands. What they did they did quite well, but really – what is the point of rehearsing a style that has been outgrown? I won’t raise the hackles of every punk fan by saying ‘Punk is Dead’, but it no longer the force it was. For instance swearing at the audience no longer shocks – simply because it’s all been done before, and done better – it’s stereotyped and stale’
The Gallery was a regular haunt in 1981 (after the demise of the 1520 Club). Eddie Macdonald (then of Seventeen, later the Alarm) used to put on alternative discos there and the venue built up a good reputation as a place to pose and hang out and be different. It had black plastic wall coverings and started started on Valentine’s night in 1981, located below the Celebrities nightclub at the Marina Hotel. You’d go in through a side entrance from the car park and walk downstairs, you would feel really special because The Alarm [Seventeen] would be standing there all looking really cool, you’d pay them the entrance fee and you’d be in for a night of posing! It was last used when it was smashed up during that Discharge gig. That fated night was 19th June 1981, Eddie said, ‘We were trying to set something up for young people in Rhyl. We ran a disco for a time and then put Discharge on, who were great but the kids ruined it, which was typical.’
Mike Peters said; ‘We didn’t have bouncers because we put all the money into buying records. We had a notice which said the club was run by kids for kids and for the love of music. If we had any trouble we’d close.’
One punter at the show called Pete recalls, ‘One minute I’m peeing in the bog, two pints later, I’m LOOKING for the bog; it had been smashed into a zillion bits on the floor!’
A lot of the damage was caused by the Deeside and Denbigh punk contingents who had built up a rapport and a reputation for being unruly. They would regularly get together on Bank Holidays to converge on Rhyl to go ‘Mod Bashing’. This was quite unique for the Denbigh punks to actually get along with anyone at the time as the town was notorious for being insular. Any outsiders were treated with suspicion and were usually assaulted.
