How to ‘gig-pirate’ a show at London’s 101 Club

Kinetic Ideals, on-stage at the 101 Club, London
Kinetic Ideals, on-stage at the 101 Club, London

It’s the 1980s and anything goes. Some Canadian boys went to England after getting serious radio airplay. They started getting gigs and decided to take the show on the road. Here’s what JC Chambers, guitarist for the 80s post-punk bank Kinetic Ideals had to say to Core Magazines about their adventures in London, U.K.

Kinetic Ideals (1980-85, Streetsville (Mississauga), Ontario, Canada. Original members: JC Chambers on guitar, Alan Murrell on bass, Jon Davies on drums and Mike Rullman on vocals.)

It was the 101 Club we played at in London. We actually gig-pirated that show. While we were visiting Britain we had friends that were living in London and calling themselves Germinal and had gotten a gig at the 101 Club. But by the time the booking had come around they weren’t in a position to play the show and asked if we wanted to pretend to be them. Well, of course we did!

The guys in Germinal would later return to Canada and change their line-up and name to become The Cowboy Junkies. I think they are still going.

When we first got to the 101 Club that night Jonathan prostrated himself on the small, stained, smelly, carpeted stage, ran a hand wistfully along the floor and said, “Joe Strummer spat here!” That may sound weird to you but it wasn’t to us and that’s why it was significant – because for us it was a pilgrimage.

by Cherryl Bird – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Twitter @ladycbird | Instagram @cherrylbird


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