The night when Punk rock exploded onto the national scene, in Manchester in 1970s!

The gig that changed the world.

The venue was Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall.

The band on stage were like nothing glimpsed on the British music scene before.

They were savage, raw and breathtaking.

The Stranglers play The Electric Circus 1977, Did You Have a Ticket Like This? – Manchester Digital Music Archive

They were the Sex Pistols – and their Manchester appearance ignited the punk rock explosion of the 1970s.

If everyone who claimed to have been at the Free Trade Hall on that extraordinary night had actually been there, the place would have been heaving.

As it was, an estimated 35-40 people turned up.

But the people who did come along read like a who’s who of Manchester music.