The Clash's 1977 performance at the Rainbow Theatre has been voted the best London gig ever.

The gig is remembered mostly for a riot in which fans ripped out hundreds of seats.

But a poll of over 100 Time Out writers and contributors voted it the most legendary performance of any artist ever in London.

The Clash came top of list of 100 classic London gigs - which ranged across nine decades of music - in a seminal gig that cemented punk rock's place in history.

The band were supported by the other notorious punk bands of the time - The Jam, Buzzcocks, Subway Sect and The Prefects.

The late Joe Strummer said of the gig: "We were in the right place doing the right thing at the right time."

In second place was Brian Wilson's triumphant return to perform Smile at the Royal Festival Hall last year.

Stevie Wonder - also at the Rainbow - in 1974 was in third place ahead of The Rolling Stones at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, 1963.

Time Out editor Gordon Thomson said: "The Clash gig went down in history as the greatest London band, in their prime, at the moment when punk rock spilled out of the clubs and into the major venues."

The top 10 in full:

1. The Clash at The Rainbow Theatre, May 9, 1977
2. Brian Wilson plays Smile at Royal Festival Hall, February 20, 2004
3. Stevie Wonder at The Rainbow Theatre, February 24, 1974
4. Rolling Stones at The Crawdaddy Club, Richmond, April 28, 1963
5. Duke Ellington at London Palladium, June 12, 1933
6. N*E*R*D with Justin Timberlake at Brixton Academy, November 9, 2003
7. Bob Marley at Lyceum Ballroom, July 17, 1975
8. The Smiths at Jubilee Gardens, June 10, 1984
9. White Stripes at Camden Dingwalls, July 30, 2001
10.The Beatles at The Pigalle, Piccadilly, April 21, 1963

ON TOUR - BUY TICKETS NOW!

,

LATEST NEWS