The Mob – Trinity Hall, Bristol, November 1983

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Another Day Another Death / Witchhunt / Raised In A Prison / Dance On / Stay / Gates Of Hell / Our Life Our World / Is God A Man / Roger / I Hear You Laughing / Slayed / Smack / No Doves

Indebted to Bob Butler for this recording of the last time The Mob performed in Bristol. Later on this month, in 1983, the band were no more…

Two interesting points to this audience quality recording. Firstly Captain Max does a version of Arthur Comix classic ‘Is God A Man’, secondly the track entitled here as ‘Smack’ is a totally unknown track to most Mob appreciators, including the writer of the song suprisingly enough! So give that a listen.

Loads and loads of other Mob live gigs and singles uploaded on this site, if you use the search function.

Official Mob Site

Captain Max from Paul Wilsons Site Pavlik

63 comments
  1. sean
    sean
    February 9, 2008 at 12:26 pm

    what a gem! I went down to this gig with the band.Got chased round trinity hall by the caretaker for skateboarding during soundcheck and got punched by dave ayres who later became bristols only tattooist by burning out all the others. Had a great time anyway.The journey in marks van inspired eat shits first song,cunningly entitled…..Marks Van

  2. luggy
    luggy
    February 9, 2008 at 2:38 pm

    Can’t remember the new song although I think I was at this gig as well if Trinity Hall is the place they played that’s on a fairly steep road (although there’s a lot of hills in Bristol!)l.

  3. sean
    sean
    February 9, 2008 at 2:58 pm

    yeah,you were there,me and chris mizon came along with you and the band and jaffa drove chris’s van down.Trinity was / is at the top of a slope (hill by london standards),and opposite a large police station.
    In the years I lived in bristol I worked there many times doing sound and light jobs,even went as a punter a couple of times.Funnily enough,the onstage power is run off a fusebox I had left over from london squatting days

  4. Mark M
    Mark M
    February 9, 2008 at 11:48 pm

    the place on the hill you are thinking of is Picton St and the burn it down ballroom? Im pretty sure when i drove past trinity hall last week it was on the flat…..

  5. Mark M
    Mark M
    February 10, 2008 at 12:50 am

    Well I have just listened to this and Max is great doing Isgodaman ,though ive got to say i dont remember it at all.The new song referred to i didnt remember either but after a second listen I think its called Smack and is about a subject that touched us all whether we did or whether we didnt .

  6. sean
    sean
    February 10, 2008 at 12:30 pm

    mark,theres a slope leading down from trinity to the beginning of stapledon rd,I thought that mick may have mistaken this for a hill since he’s not used to bristol.
    The burn it down/beetle centre,at the top of picton st,i didnt think that was squatted then,I know when we played there summer 84 we had to put the electric on first.Did you play there?
    Bear&co squatted a corner house near the top of picton st late 83/early 84 as a “peace centre” after visiting rosebery ave for stop the city.Now picton st certainly is a hill,but mick may remember ninetree hill from returning from the favourite watering hole,The Highbury Vaults (just to make us highbury lot feel at home),as that rates as a fucking HILL.My attempts to get back down it usually featured falling over (not out) and a lot of rolling/vomit.
    I will make sure to pack my inclinometer next time I go back to bristol.The only alternative is to get Luggy there to witness and I dont reckon you’d get him out of hackney with a big lever

  7. Penguin
    Penguin • Post Author •
    February 10, 2008 at 6:45 pm

    Thanks Mark Mobber for the info, will change the track to ‘Smack’. Glad you almost ‘remembered’ the tracks that you wrote in the first place! Also chuffed that you do not remember your old buddy take over the stage for three and a half minutes! Thats what this site is here for, jogging the old memory from 25 plus years ago…keep the comments coming.

    Sean, Lugworm was spotted in ‘posh’ Barnet a couple of weekends ago supping with a load of ‘near to middle aged’ yuppies…

    P.S.

    THFC blah blah blah,

  8. Paul Wilson
    Paul Wilson
    February 10, 2008 at 10:00 pm

    Captain Max and Bobby Butler. Two iconic, punk rock dudes. Alive and kicking in my memory banks.

  9. Mark M
    Mark M
    February 11, 2008 at 12:08 am

    I think we may have stayed at the peace centre after the gig. Perhaps it was the burn it down ballroom later.
    Hi Sean. Im sure when i come down from Old Market, bear left past the massage parlours then take a right bend which leads past Trinity on the left and then bear left again to head towards Kingswood and home.I dont remember going up or down any hills. But bearing in mind im perpetually being told i have no memory as a result of prolonged misbehaviour maybe im wrong 🙂
    And as for you Pengs,I can do without you joining in on the memory bashing as well 🙂

    p.s i saw James last week and Max calls in from time to time.

    Happy Birthday brother Paul and by the way fxxk THFC and highbury tambien

    On second thoughts there may be a slight slope by the massage parlours. I suggest Luggy and the lot of us wander up and down it a bit and see what we think. I will report further on this vital anarcho fact x

  10. sean
    sean
    February 11, 2008 at 11:25 am

    I think a concensus on this is vital to the credibility of this site.Take luggy to the top of disputed slopes and see if he rolls,I say

  11. Pavlik
    Pavlik
    February 11, 2008 at 1:55 pm

    Put him in a barrel first maybe?

  12. luggy
    luggy
    February 11, 2008 at 4:44 pm

    Thanks for the suggestions on how to punish me for my poor 25 years ago hill recollections!!

  13. sean
    sean
    February 11, 2008 at 5:56 pm

    now thats one of the things I’ve always loved mick for,his ready gratitude

  14. Farmer Glitch
    Farmer Glitch
    February 11, 2008 at 6:15 pm

    I think Mark is right on this one – a very slight incline as you bear right and pass the Trinity on your left – bloody great venue that one !! Not sure you could actualy call it a hill though…

  15. carl
    carl
    February 11, 2008 at 8:10 pm

    Thats what I enjoy about this site….as well as punk recollections, I now feel as if I could walk up and down hills in Bristol…knowledge is power !

  16. Tony Puppy
    Tony Puppy
    February 12, 2008 at 12:35 am

    Will there be a game of ‘Spaghetti’ played at the top of the incline?

  17. sean
    sean
    February 12, 2008 at 11:10 am

    now that IS a good idea,it’ll keep mick safely in his barrel,while we all re live our youthful vigour on bristols disputed slopes

  18. carl
    carl
    February 12, 2008 at 11:28 am

    At the risk of ridicule…What is a game of “Spaghetti ” ?

  19. sean
    sean
    February 12, 2008 at 11:35 am

    explained on another thread,cant remember which…….tony,help!
    much in vogue early 84 canonbury/highbury

  20. Tony Puppy
    Tony Puppy
    February 13, 2008 at 9:21 pm

    I give you your reply to Simon, deep into the comments on the Apostles live at Centro Iberico “sean/dirtbox/shocker Says:

    February 4th, 2008 at 12:27 pm edit

    Spaghetti,spaghetti,the game I like,spaghetti,spaghetti,better than tripe!”quoth the unsuspecting contestant,to which we would reply “spaghetti,spaghetti,1,2,3!) and enmesh them in a half mile tangle of rope,and if john had his way leave outside in it.I was just explaining the rules to my wife yesterday…..

    As simon says,thanks pups,prime effort”

    This was a Station House game.

    Carl you can find out more of this game in the comments from the Apostles live post. My guess is it’s in Downloads. I found it by searching for ‘rope’.

  21. Carl
    Carl
    February 14, 2008 at 9:24 pm

    Thanks Tony, I shall have a mooch around for it.

    Sounds like its a game probably best left in the past !!

  22. Pixie boots
    Pixie boots
    February 15, 2008 at 4:03 am

    Okay that’s it. So I’ve been looking around this site for the past week, where I’ve been accused of being dead, having bad taste in footwear, being ashamed of my punk rock background (okay I admit the bad taste in footwear, but hey Limahl and Bono all wore them so they can’t be all bad right?) but come on. I can no longer stand silent while the game of spaghetti gets dragged through the dirt. Spaghetti was genius and art, poetry and grace. Alright so it wasn’t, but if you were not the unsuspecting victim it was a good way to make everyone in the room laugh a lot. Oh and for the record the words were “Spaghetti Spaghetti, better than tripe, Spaghetti spaghetti the game I like” which when you think about it makes a lot more sense than the way Sean had it. Of course these are words that I can only say after a couple of decades have passed without the fear of 4 or 5 people jumping on my with a huge pile of orange rope. Seriously though Thank you all Tony, Al, Mick Lugs, Val and everyone else for putting this site up, it’s kind of like a friends re-united for people that at one point in their lives woke up with their pillow a weird shade of purple. Those were great times and other than some really bad music that I was involved with and the reminder that people aged 17 think they are a lot smarter than they actually were. I am really glad that as Mick used to say “I was there I dyed my hair” I have nothing but great memories of all of you and as a 17 year old kid that ran away from home could not have wished for a better group of people to have met up with. I doubt I would still be alive to write this without you all. Cheers everyone- John

  23. Tim
    Tim
    February 15, 2008 at 12:15 pm

    Nice one John. I had to be reminded who you were as I wasn’t 100% but remember for sure thanks to sean etc. Pixie boots and a mac – how does that stick in my memory so well when so much else has gone/been forgotten. Good to see your doing OK…

  24. Mark M
    Mark M
    February 15, 2008 at 12:32 pm

    Hey. John Apostle, great to hear from you..Im sure we all share the same feelings about this wonderful group of people.Your post made me smile all the way to work this am. Lets hope some more appear from the woodwork .. And lets spare a thought for Luke and Hazel and all those that never made it..

  25. Mark M
    Mark M
    February 15, 2008 at 12:41 pm

    Sean in the interest of putting things right I drove past trinity this morning and there is in fact a small incline towards Stapleton rd.Hardly a hill unless youre Dutch but a slope none the less.I stand corrected and Luggy can rest assured we dont need to push him down it to test the slope..

  26. simon
    simon
    February 15, 2008 at 1:25 pm

    Nice one ‘Pixie’, great to hear you ARE still alive, I must admit I was pretty shocked when the Vague one told me what he thought had happened (not spoken in years now) must have been a (Sid) vicious rumour I reckon. Always wondered how you were doing and where you might have ended up… glad it wasn’t up in smoke or in true punk style, a black bin bag on the pavement!

    We all knew you hadn’t buried the past really, you were never the sort of person to be ashamed of anything anyway… even though maybe sometimes you should have been, especially on the hair front, ha, ha! Although I’m a fine one to talk, excuse for a punk, rebel without a clue, seen better hair on a toilet brush as you once said, etc etc…

    Ditto your and Mark’s comments (big smile too!) about the people on here (the survivors) and those that sadly didn’t make it, learnt a lot about life from yourself and many others around you/us, didn’t necessarily listen! But there were many great (and not so!) characters along the way, and pointers that helped us get through our sometimes what seemed impossible teenage and later years. Great memories too and much respect matey.

  27. sean
    sean
    February 15, 2008 at 2:37 pm

    Mark, I’m glad for micks sake that we’ve finally put that knotty bit of anarcho lore to bed.A real shame about the missed photo opportunities tho’,would have rated a whole new album on the photo section.

    John,nice one mate.I suppose I should have wrote “it would be a shame IF he was ashamed” cos thats what I was meaning.But I am fick,innit.

    I think you sum up nicely some of the feelings of a lot of us KYPPers (tee hee!) wether it be the ones making this happen,to whom thanks and respect,or us freeloaders who just chuck our (ill thought out in my case) comments on here.

    spectacular to hear from both dannymac and yourself on the same day,you both had a lot to answer for in my twisted little world,but in a good way.

  28. simon
    simon
    February 15, 2008 at 3:06 pm

    Ha, ha Sean, ‘you aint fick, it’s just a trick’… innit bruv.

  29. Pixie boots
    Pixie boots
    February 15, 2008 at 5:51 pm

    Thanks Mark glad to return the favor as all of your posts have been making me smile for days. I hate to be the bringer of sad news, but if we are pouring out that last sip of Tennants super mixed with scrumpy for our dead homies I have to report that I ran into Mick Bladder a few weeks ago who informed me that God told me to do it Bill died of a heart attack last year. Great guy and definitely missed, I didn’t know about Hazel, that’s a real shame (I’m pretty sure I did know about Luke, and I would have been surprised if Raymond was still around , though again sorely missed). I have a great Hazel story if anyone needs their memory jogged. One night at Roseberry Ave Hazel found a bottle of pills and being hungry wolfed down the whole lot and promptly passed out under the table. A couple of hours later the police kicked the door in and drug raided the place. There was at least a couple of vans worth of boys in blue and they turned the place over and generally hassled everyone. Hazel slept through the whole thing without any of them noticing and only woke up when Claire came in to the downstairs room saying “Has anyone seen my dog’s tablets”. You really had to hear Hazel tell it, lovely guy.

  30. Wildebeest
    Wildebeest
    February 15, 2008 at 6:15 pm

    Simon it’s great to hear from you, and great to hear from Danmac (hey how come he gets to escape the A-word last name tag?). Other than the Mark and the original KYPPers almost none of the people that are posting here knew me when I was in that band. You know how it goes .. A welshman is talking to his grandson and says, “You see that bridge I built it myself, on my own, but do they call me Jones the bridge builder? and that school house too, but do they call me Jones the school house builder? and that time the dam broke and I saved the village from drowning, do they call me Jones the village saviour? You shag one sheep…”

  31. alistairliv
    alistairliv
    February 15, 2008 at 6:43 pm

    What, a real sheep? Not one of the ‘genuine fleece’ ones you can buy from http://www.livestocklovers.com – “What wellies were made for…” ? And what happened to the Welsh accent? Or is ‘sheep’ slang for ‘wildebeest’ amongst members of the animal lovers front?

  32. Luggy
    Luggy
    February 15, 2008 at 7:49 pm

    Hey John
    Great to hear from you.
    I heard about Bill’s death a few month’s ago, thought he went into a diabetic coma rather than having a heart attack (although he always thought he was going to have an imminent heart attack when I lived with him in Aden Grove).
    I hadn’t seen him for years, no-one ever seemed to know where he had ended up. Lovely, intelligent bloke even if he was a hypochondriac!
    There might be a belated wake for him next week in New Cross. Will post if I get details.

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