1977-03-01

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1977-03-01
a flyer / mini poster from this concert
an ad for this concert - provided by the South Wales Argus
Performance summary
Artist performing:	Cherry Vanilla
Tour:	1977 Cherry Vanilla Tour
Venue:	Alexander's
Location:	Newport, Wales, UK
Support acts:	The Police
Ticket prices:	1 UK pound

On 1977-03-01, The Police performed at Alexander's in Newport, Wales, UK.

Setlist

This section needs more information.

Recording information

This section needs more information. Please note if an official or unofficial recording, or recording(s), is known to exist of this performance.

Trivia

Stewart Copeland meets Miles Copeland at Manno's, then hires a PA and loads The Police's equipment onto the truck.

The musicians drive to Newport, Wales, for the first ever concert of The Police. The Police start to play at 10:00pm in front of about 30 people. Sting and Stewart Copeland join the Cherry Vanilla band for their two sets, followed by another The Police performance.

After their sets The Police drive home to London. Stewart is back at home at 07:00am the next day.

While most old sources mention that this happened at the Stowaway Club Sting's book Broken Music is the first to get it right - The Police's first gig took place at Alexander's ("The Alex" / "Alexandria Club"). This was confirmed by Stewart Copeland and other eyewitnesses...

In his book "In It 4 The Crack" (released in 2012) promoter Jonny Perkins remembers the event: "Cherry couldn't afford to bring her own band over, at the time, as this was her first ever British gig. So she used some British musicians. They were The Police, and it was their first ever gig. The Police had their fist single out at the time, called 'Fall Out'. I paid Cherry £100 for the event, and she paid The Police £15. The Argus wouldn't advertise them as The Police. Saying that the chief constable wold be on to them if they were to advertise them! The Argus would only advertise them as 'Her Band'. A magazine recently wrote about this gig, but they said that the gig took place at The Stowaway, which is incorrect as it was The Alexandria. The Police then played Cardiff on their comeback tour recently, and mentioned this gig, acknowledging it as their very first."

Stewart's numbers in his diary look a bit different - he mentioned a total of £150 with £20 for The Police.

Cherry Vanilla remembers paying The Police £20 each night - £10 for Sting and £10 for Stewart Copeland (as Henry Padovani didn't perform in her band).

Here's what Louie Lepore remembers about this first concert:

"It was the time of the first gig we all had done. It was in Wales (and I don't remember the venue, but I'm sure it's easy to find) and after our arrival and possible sound check, it was time to start the show and The Police had taken the stage as the opening act. Since we had only rehearsed with Cherry with Stewart and Sting as the members of our band, I'd never heard them as a band.

I remember being in the audience to watch them play for the first time, and at one point - I think quite early on in their set- I saw Stewart in what I would say, a bit of a panic! Maybe he'd say he wasn’t panicking, but he caught my eye - because the venue was quite small if memory serves - and while he was playing at a staggering pace and quite a loud volume, he was pointing with one of hands down to his bass drum pedal. I knew there was something wrong, so I ran up to him while he was blasting away, and he screamed in my ear: 'My bass drum pedal came off!' So as someone who had already seen and heard this many times with other bands, I immediately took charge and placed myself on his right side, hunched underneath the snare drum, and held his pedal in place while he was still playing and was trying to latch the wing nut of the pedal onto the rim of the bass drum. It was quite impossible to do because he was still pounding the pedal to keep the song going, so I did the best I could by holding it in place while he was “smacking” the snare drum right above me - probably 6 inches away from my left ear! I'd say I was there underneath his snare and holding the pedal, for a good half of the song! After the song ended, he did a quick 'thank you', and re-fixed the pedal to the rim of the bass drum.

For me, that was a moment of brotherly love. We were in this together, no matter what the situation is because of the circumstances, and you've got to help out your band mate, no matter the cost!

I say, bless all the “Roadies” of the world, for Lord knows, they have probably seen worse and more so!"

See also

• 1977-1978 Pre-Outlandos performances
• Cherry Vanilla

External links

This section needs more information.

References

sources: Broken Music, Stewart Copeland's diary, Cherry Vanilla, ad, poster / flyer, "In It 4 The Crack" by Jonny Perkins

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