Punk PZ - 50th Anniversary

2027 is the 50th anniversary of peak punk, with 1977 and the silver jubilee year forever associated with this movement. Penzance holds a surprisingly storied position in punk rock history. During the height of the 1970s punk movement, the town became an unexpected but essential stop on the touring circuit for revolutionary underground acts.
In September 1977, banned from most venues across the UK, the Sex Pistols played the legendary Winter Gardens under the pseudonym S.P.O.T.S. (Sex Pistols On Tour Secretly), advertised only with a question mark as "A Mystery Band of International Repute." Other artists who played in our town were The Ramones, The Damned, The Stranglers, Buzzcocks, Generation X, Sham 69, Wire, and Talking Heads.
This event will celebrate all things punk 50 years on, with headliner ATV (led by Penzance native Mark Perry, responsible for the first punk fanzine, the iconic Sniffin Glue), who played The Acorn in 2022. The show will also feature pioneering Bristol punk band, Social Security, who released their debut four-track EP in 1977. TV Smith (lead singer of The Adverts, who played The Winter Gardens in 1977) will perform an exclusive acoustic set from The Adverts’ classic debut album, Crossing The Red Sea (1978).