The Elizabethan Ballroom/Hall
This gig was arranged by Granada to film both bands live.

Get Out Of Control Tour
Supported by Souisie and the Banshees, Saxon

updated Dec 2014 - added poster and ticket
update October 2020 - added Getty image
updated 22 January 2022 - added crowd photo
updated March 2024 - added Saxon as support band and comment form Saxon

Video

Original source: So it Goes, broadcast Dec 77 & Dec 78
From SVHS Nicam rebroadcast - 10min - 4 tracks

Audio

- from SVHS Nicam rebroadcast - Sound 4 - 10min - svhs/1 - 4 tracks

Capital Radio

Video

Many copies of varying quality exist. Copies from the rebroadcast are vastly superior.

So it Goes broadcast

Often circulated as Elizabthan Suite, it is in fact a full gig which was filmed by and for Granada TV and included Souisie and the Banshees as support.

A copy exists at BFI Library

Snippets were screened twice on the So It Goes TV show (Dec 77 and Nov 78) (and repeated again in 1990) and circulate on video and audio.Other than the So It Goes source, no other source exists. It is thought Granada don't know where it is either and that the Dec 78 footage may have come from Tony Wilsons own collection? Also see A Riot of Own p31.

BFI details

BFI identifier 612869
Title So It Goes [07/03/78] (Original)
So It Goes [Rx 07/03/78] (Archive)
Date 1978-03-07 (Production)
Production country United Kingdom
Production company Granada

Television Synopsis: The last So It Goes of 1977 is highlights programme presented by Tony Wilson with Ian Dury as guest in the studio. The show contains some of the highlights of the series: clip from 'pop video' I'm a Little Dinosaur by Jonathan Richman, clip of Matthew Kaufman, head of Beserkley Records, Ian Dury recites A Requiem for Roland Kirk, Steel Pulse perform Macka Spliff, The Clash perform Capital Radio and Janey Jones World. Ian Dury recites The Bus Driver's Prayer.

The Clash perform Garageland. (Synopsis)
Credits Film Director: Peter Carr
Studio Director: Nicholas Ferguson
Production Company: Granada Television

Other sources for video

An addendum to this is the footage held by Tyne Tees (Newcastle) of 'The Alright Now' show. The 'Something Else' programme is held by the BBC as well, as well as Melvin Bragg's Rude Boy film feature and BBC Radio 4's Rude Boy feature.

Yorkshire TV, Tyne Tees, London Weekend also have live Clash footage on their back catalogue database.

Audio

This audio dub from the So it Goes rebroadcast (1990) which was recorded on a SVHS Nicam video.

The Clash live in Manchester, 1977

Dangerous Minds - 06.14.2011

Before he started Factory Records or the Hacienda nightclub, as the host of And So It Goes on Granada Television, the late Tony Wilson was personally responsible for some of the most iconic punk bands getting preserved on film and videotape. The Sex Pistols, Magazine, The Buzzcocks, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, The Banshees, The Fall, The Jam and many other performers found a TV outlet on And So It Goes that they wouldn’t have had elsewhere.  It ran for two years until a foul-mouthed moment by Iggy (wearing a horse’s tail, I might add) got it canceled.

This And So It Goes footage of The Clash playing at the Elizabethan Ballroom in Manchester on November 15th, 1977 is probably the best footage of the Clash that there is. It’s certainly the best I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen a helluva lot of it. The camera placement is perfect for showing what utter havoc and mayhem the band could cause. You can practically feel the gob in the air that night. According to The Clash: Return of the Last Gang in Town by Marcus Gray (highly recommended, btw) fans queuing up for the show got rowdy and pushed the door in causing quite a bit of damage.

Richard Hell and the Voidoids were not in fact the opening act. The were replaced at the last minute by Siouxsie and the Banshees. Note ticket price!

During “What’s My Name?” Strummer sings “Here we are on TV. What does it mean to me? What does it mean to you? FUCK ALL!”:

Record Mirror - SO IT GOES DATE, 90p

12 November 1977

Link

Granada TV

This was a specially arranged full gig which was recorded by Granada TV, of which 4 songs have only ever been broadcast on the So it Goes shows. Johnny Green (p31) also mentions the gig for the Granada TV's So it Goes programme.

Granada TV also filmed the support act Soiuxie and the Banshees and a couple of minutes of their footage exists also.

The original broadcast dates were mid December 1977 when the first two songs were broadcast, and a year later, December 1978 when the latter two were shown.

Record Mirror: This man (Tony Wilson) needs you

26 November 1977

Tony Wilson, Presenter of So it Goes on Granada ITV channel talks of the Clash

Link

Flyer

Advert

The whole crowd got in without paying

"I went to the Manchester Belle Vue gig which was filmed for So It Goes. For years I'd remmbered it as 1978 but was interested to find it was Nov 77. I was a fifteen year old school kid in Manchester and it was the first ever gig I attended - and what a show.

The crowd outside was pretty big. The doors were late opening and eventually the doors (which were glass) - shattered completely  (after a bit of kicking).The whole crowd got in without paying.

For me at my first gig this seemed brilliant.

I remember watching Soiuxie and the Banshees and her getting pissed of with the amount of gobbing going on.

The thing I remember most was that when The Clash came on they started with London's Burning. However, the opening line was changed to "Getting in for nothin' - Getin'in for nothin' " - outstanding!."

The aftermath of the violence at the Elizabethan Rooms in Belle Vue, Manchester following The Clash in November 1977 ...

Link

The violence at the Elizabethan Rooms

The aftermath of the violence at the Elizabethan Rooms in Belle Vue, #Manchester following The Clash in November 1977. Were you there? What are your memories? Pic courtesy of our 'Dirty Stop Out's Guide to 1970s Manchester'.

— with Linda Mee and Sarah Mee.

kicked off big time

Mickey Carr - yes and it kicked off big time.

Steve Shy - the only thing i noticed that night was how good the clash were

Steven Brown - Yes i was at this concert, but i do not remember the violence, i just remember all the spitting.

They stopped taking money and just let everyone in

Martin Ryan - I didn't see any violence. There was a crush going in, probably because it was pay on the door, so they stopped taking money and just let everyone in. It was Siouxsie and the Banshees and Subway Sect supporting. The Pirates did play the Elizabethan for a So It Goes but that was another date. I seriously wondered if it was staged. Tony Wilson liked to talk up the violence at punk gigs on So It Goes which I never saw and I went to quite a few.

Judy Richards - That crush wasn't staged Martin- we genuinely thought we might die before the doors gave way. They only let people in after the doors collapsed.

Martin Ryan - No probably not Judy. But I did wonder why trouble happened when the Granada cameras were there. There was a flash point at the Electric Circus when Penetation played, which was the episode where Wilson talked about violence having always been a part of rock'n'roll. Something I never saw at any other Circus gig and, as I said, I went there a lot.

Mickey Carr - The trouble was between two mobs. The usual suspects and a gang from Irlam Flixton way.

-

Snuck in with the tv crew

Steve Doyle - Yep, was there. Lived near Belle Vue at the time and me and a mate were wandering around in there just to see if anything was going on. Saw lots of punks outside the Elizabethan crushed around the doors which were starting to shatter.

We went around the side and snuck in with the tv crew (for So It Goes?)who were taking all their gear in. Think The Pirates were on first, then Souixsie before the Clash. Not bad for a freebie!

A massive crush to get in

Judy Richards - I was there, I don't remember it as violence, just a massive crush to get in. They delayed opening, my friend & me were amongst those pressed against the large glass doors when they collapsed under the weight, it was scary but we still had a great night even with our sore ribs! Had the MEN poster about it for many years but then stupidly threw it out

THE CLASH - JANIE JONES, CAPITAL RADIO, WHAT’S MY NAME, GARAGELAND

(12) Video | Facebook

THE CLASH – JANIE JONES, CAPITAL RADIO, WHAT’S MY NAME, GARAGELAND

On this date in 1977, THE CLASH electrified Manchester’s Elizabethan Ballroom with a performance immortalised by Granada Television’s So It Goes (Nov 15, 1977)

The concert was crafted with the programme in mind, featuring blistering renditions of tracks like Capital Radio, Janie Jones, What's My Name, and Garageland. It was a moment that captured not only the raw energy of the band but the punk movement as a whole.

The evening, a punk showcase, saw The Clash headlining with Siouxsie and the Banshees stepping in as last-minute replacements for Richard Hell and the Voidoids. The late lineup change added another layer of intrigue to an already charged event. Siouxsie and her band performed Make Up to Break Up, a striking contribution that underscored the diversity within punk’s evolving soundscape.

The atmosphere outside the venue was no less intense. Fans, eager to catch a glimpse of their heroes, pressed against the ballroom’s front doors with such force that they gave way, causing £600 worth of damage. This fervour reflected The Clash’s rising influence and the visceral connection they had with their audience.

Granada TV’s So It Goes, hosted by Tony Wilson, was instrumental in amplifying the punk movement, bringing its raw, unpolished energy to viewers who might never have encountered it otherwise. The footage from this particular night aired in December 1977 and again in November 1978, with a later repeat in 1990. Yet, beyond these snippets, no complete recording is known to exist.

One of the most memorable moments from the night came during What’s My Name, where Joe Strummer broke the fourth wall to confront the camera head-on, spitting the lyrics: “Here we are on TV. What does it mean to me? What does it mean to you? Fuck all!” Strummer’s characteristic defiance and his direct engagement with the audience were hallmarks of The Clash’s philosophy. They weren’t just a band; they were a movement.

The Elizabethan Ballroom itself, a stalwart of Manchester’s music scene, provided an evocative backdrop. Photographs from the night capture not only The Clash’s intensity but the fervid energy of the crowd, immortalising a moment in time when punk was at its most potent.

For Tony Wilson, So It Goes was more than a platform—it was a mission. His commitment to showcasing bands that mainstream media ignored cemented the programme’s legacy as a lifeline for punk music. Wilson’s collaboration with The Clash on this occasion exemplified this ethos, ensuring that the band’s incendiary energy reached far beyond the Elizabethan Ballroom.

For those who were there, it’s a memory etched in sharp relief. For those who weren’t, the surviving footage stands as a tantalising fragment of a night that helped define a movement. What remains clear is that The Clash, on that November evening, didn’t just play music—they embodied it. 

Facebook Link

The Clash Official

All FB posts on Clash Official Belle Vue
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Record Mirror interview with suppot band, Saxon

1980-03-29 Record-Mirror

A Riot of our Own pg31

Setlist

Only the four broadcast tracks known

1 2 3 4	Capital Radio Janie Jones Whats My Name Garageland full set unknown