The first time I saw the Skids in Brighton was at the Top Rank Suite (now PRYZM) on the 15th of October 1980 and I thankfully still have my ticket. The band’s original lineup then consisted of Richard Jobson, Stuart Adamson (sadly no longer with us), Bill Simpson and Tom Kellichan. They were arguably the biggest Scottish punk band of the 1976-1979 era. They had previously also played at the Top Rank Suite on 31st October 1979, but sadly I didn’t attend that one. Having originally formed in 1977 in their home town of Dunfermline, the Skids debut 3-track release hit an unsuspecting world on 24th February 1978 on the Scottish punk label ‘No Bad’. The independent single was played by legendary DJ John Peel, and the Skids went on to support The Clash in concert. They were then signed to Virgin Records in 1978, with their first major label singles being ‘Sweet Suburbia’, ‘The Saints Are Coming’ and ‘Into The Valley’ with the latter reaching the UK Top Ten in early 1979.
Their seminal debut album ‘Scared To Dance’ came out on 23rd February 1979 and was quickly followed by two chart singles – ‘Masquerade’ and ‘Working For The Yankee Dollar’. Both singles were taken from the Bill Nelson (Be Bop Deluxe) produced second album ‘Days In Europa’. The album also featured new member Rusty Egan of Rich Kids and Visage fame, after the departure of Tom Kellichan. The band released two more albums ‘The Absolute Game’ (1980) and ‘Joy’ (1981) before splitting. Stuart Adamson went on to have worldwide success with his new band Big Country.
Wind the clock forward to 2017, the Skids 40th anniversary year, and Richard Jobson was back on the case. He picked up his guitar again and sang through all of the hits along with new teammates William Simpson (bass guitar, vocals), Mike Baillie (drums, vocals, percussion), Bruce Watson (guitar, vocals) and Jamie Watson (guitar, vocals), when they performed the first Brighton Skids concert for 37 years, when they played the Concorde 2 on 17th June 2017. Read our review HERE.
A year later, on 29th June 2018, they were back at the same venue, playing no less than 17 superb numbers, which ranged from ‘The Saints Are Coming’, ‘Into The Valley’, ‘Of One Skin’ and ‘Melancholy Soldiers’ (all from 1979 ‘Scared To Dance’ album), right up to tracks from the then brand new ‘Burning Cities’ 2017 album, namely ‘This Is Our World’, ‘Kings Of The New World Order’, ‘Into The Void’ and ‘Desert Dust’. Highlights for me that evening were ‘Kings Of The New World Order’, ‘The Saints Are Coming’, ‘Masquerade’ and ‘Into The Valley’. It was overall a brilliant night. Read our review HERE.
The Skids will be heading out on tour again this Winter in celebration of the 45th anniversary of their ‘Days In Europa’ album, where they will be playing a dozen gigs up and down the country which culminates in an appearance here in Brighton at the Chalk venue in Pool Valley. The date for your diaries is Saturday 14th December.
Special guests on the whole tour will be Spear Of Destiny who first appeared on the scene back in 1983 and fronted by Kirk Brandon after the breakup of his previous band Theatre Of Hate. Spear of Destiny released a series of incredible singles such as ‘Prisoner of Love’, ‘Liberator’, ‘The Wheel’ and ‘Never Take Me Alive’, the latter reaching the UK Top 20 charts.
Purchase your Skids concert tour tickets HERE.
Tickets for the Brighton concert can also be purchased HERE.
