At The Black Swan

On Saturday night, 4th of July 2026, it was exactly fifty years since the Clash played their first ever gig, supporting The Sex Pistols at The Black Swan in Sheffield. The five man Clash- Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Keith Levene and a drummer (there appears to be some confusion about who occupied the drum stool, possibly Terry Chimes). The band were originally billed as The Weak Heartdrops but had become The Clash by the time they arrived in Sheffield. Paul Simonon said in the Westway To The World documentary that he was so nervous that he messed up the bass intro to Listen and an account by a reader in the NME a week or two later said they were 'a cacophonous barrage of noise'. As well as Listen it seems that The Clash played Rabies (From The Dogs Of Love), a song brought by Joe from the 101ers, a Mick Jones song Ooh Baby Ooh (It's Not Over) that was subsequently dropped and Protex Blue. 

On Saturday evening we gathered at The Black Swan for a guerrilla gig by a Sheffield band named after that song, Mick's tribute to a brand of condoms. Protex Blue busked a six song Clash set in the street outside The Black Swan (now very much an ex- pub, formerly known to locals as The Mucky Duck).

Someone had fly postered the building. A blue plaque (later raffled) was pinned up. Bemused motorists and cyclists stopped at the traffic lights. A crowd gathered and sang along. The band powered through their set and it was all gloriously good fun. Joe Strummer would surely have approved. Sheffield's main police station was just across the road. I think everyone was quietly hoping they might have shown up and moved us along. 

Protex Blue repaired to The Harlequin, a pub a few minutes walk away where at 9 pm they played The Clash's debut album in full to a raucous and appreciative, all ages, crowd, the pub getting hotter and hotter as they blasted and hollered their way through Janie Jones and White Riot, What's My Name and Career Opportunities and all those other songs  from 1977 that make up that album, ending with the mighty Garageland. 'Back in the garage with my bullshit detector...'

Protex Blue 

An encore was demanded. Clampdown, London Calling and White Man (In Hammersmith Palais), all also played outside the Black Swan earlier, plus Clash City Rockers and I Fought The Law. One more song? One more song. Complete Control, one of the zeniths of The Clash's back catalogue, a righteous blast of fury, furious guitars, a high octane complaint about dirty record company dealings. Well played Protex Blue.