This week 41 years ago, Joy Division played an iconic Islington pub for 75p.
Now the Hope and Anchor are hoping to reignite their musical legacy with a series of gigs by bands that originally played at the venue in the 1970s.
Staff at the iconic pub have put together a programme that includes bands such as the Bollock Brothers, who were part of the first punk wave that spawned at the venue forty years ago.
Graham Richardson, a banker based in Islington, first visited in 1976. Tickets were less than a pound, and the basement teemed with underage drinkers.
Bono once stormed out “because there were only four people at the gig”
“It started a love affair with live music,” Richardson says. “The pub was rough and ready, and you could hardly stand up, it was so full. Joy Division at the Anchor was one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to.”
The Upper Street pub first opened in 1880, but became a legendary music venue as pub rock, and later punk, burgeoned.
It became renowned for booking fledgling rock stars just before they found wider fame: Madness, U2 (billed as V2) and the Police all started out here.
Madness even recorded a music video at the pub, for the opening track to their debut album, One Step Beyond.
In the video, the band dance on stage in front of a wall emblazoned with the words Hope and Anchor – as Britain was introduced to the band, they were also introduced to the pub.
The venue wasn’t always harmonious, however. Luke, a barman at the pub, said Bono once stormed out “because there were only four people at the gig”.
Madness, U2 (billed as V2) and the Police all started out here
That Joy Division gig wasn’t without its hiccoughs, either – enigmatic frontman Ian Curtis had his first epileptic fit in the pub basement while singing.
Nigel Billington, a driver originally from Manchester, spent his youth at punk concerts in London. He remembers the Hope and Anchor fondly, saying he visited regularly in the late 1970s.
“It was a great venue, and I lived nearby so would go whenever there was a gig on. It’s a distant memory now, but Wire, the Stranglers and Plummet Airlines all made an impression.”
His favourite memory from the Hope and Anchor? “I remember seeing a punk band – I think the Skids – covered in phlegm from the audience.”
“I don’t think that would be encouraged today.” he added.
In 1976, with the threat of closure hanging over the pub, the Hope and Anchor Front Row Festival was organised.
The pub hosted a series of concerts over the next year: playing hosts to bands as diverse as Squeeze, the Pogues and the Clash.
Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis had his first epileptic fit in the pub basement while singing
The modern visitor to the pub is met with posters and memorabilia from the pub rock, and later punk rock, heyday.
The Hope and Anchor is still a buzzing live music venue, however, with multiple gigs on a week. Modern fire regulations mean it might not be as rough and ready as it once was- capacity is now 80 – but the venue is still a starting point for young musicians.
Yasmin Jade, a singer-songwriter from Croydon, played the Hope and Anchor at the beginning of March. It was her first major gig in the city, and said playing the venue was “thrilling”.
What about those original fans from the early seventies? Nigel Billington, the driver from Oldham, says he’ll make sure to visit the pub next time he’s in the city. “It’s great to see that the pub is still playing live music,” he said.
Hope and Anchor have a number of gigs throughout March and April.
