Cock Sparrer

please note: this is a rescheduled date. all original tickets remain valid. If you would prefer a refund, please contact your point of purchase directly. 

+ crashed out

COCK SPARRER are widely considered to be one of the most influential Street Punk bands in history. 

2017 sees them celebrate their 45th Anniversary.

The thing about Sparrer is that they're not just a band. They are childhood friends and have been making a noise since they got together way back in 1972. They were playing, drinking, going to football and generally making a nuisance of themselves when the late 1970s punk scene started in London. Finally it seemed that there were hundreds of likeminded people with the same attitude. 

However, the boys were from the wrong side of town and didn’t quite fit in with the ‘art school’ scene - they were more at home on the terraces wearing jeans and Dr Martens boots than being fashion victims in bondage trousers. They’ve always done things the way they wanted to. As Punk ended up with its own set of rules they were always on the outside as they just didn’t buy into it.

Despite being courted by Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren (who they turned away for not buying a round of drinks), early tours with the Small Faces, Thin Lizzy, Motorhead, Slade amongst others and a record deal with Decca, the ‘music industry’ just wasn’t ready for Cock Sparrer. 

British music paper SOUNDS sums it up perfectly in a live review from April 1978: 

“Musically and visually, the Cock Sparrer crew are just about as motley and uncouth as its possible for a band to project. Imagine five collectively imageless Cockneys with hair length varying from skinhead to Woody Roller, wearing clothes that looked they pool from the jumble sales, and singing about how East End life is tough but fun…(they)…create a good time sound that occasionally approximates to the original spirit of Slade.”

When the Oi! Scene started in 1980 the band found themselves on a number of compilation albums and a new breed of fans discovered them. This was Punk from the streets and Sparrer and their fans just seemed to fit in. 1983 saw the release of the bands first official album, the seminal SHOCK TROOPS which today is a certified classic and regularly features in the ‘most influential punk album ever’ polls.

Never having got (or needed) the critical acclaim they deserved from the music press the band went largely unnoticed by the masses. However, this brought them cult status amongst those that mattered; the real punk fans and the band have kept that spirit alive for the past 45 years.

1992 saw the resurgence of the band to a level that they never expected. Many new bands had come along and all cited Cock Sparrer as an influence or “the Godfathers of Street Punk”. What followed was the ability to go anywhere in the world, any night of the week and play to packed venues all singing their hearts out.

Rarely do a band get the reaction that these guys do. A Cock Sparrer show is an event. It’s like cup final day. A family singalong. Theirs is a career in reverse, they’re bigger now than they ever were. Regularly headlining all the major punk festivals in Europe and occasionally hitting the US to headline events such as Punk Rock Bowling and Riot Fest.

2017 see’s the band release “FOREVER”, their first album since 2007s Lars Frederiksen (Rancid) produced album HERE WE STAND.
Cock Sparrer – 45 years on, still five blokes in a pub, five mates having a laugh, more than just a band. 

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Important Venue Entry Info:

We are following Covid guidelines and will do our upmost to keep our staff, artists and customers safe. We want customers to be able to return week after week without any closures or interruptions to our events and for our staff to feel confident and safe in the workplace. We hope that through our consciousness and care towards our supporters that those feeling anxious about returning to crowded places will have more confidence to do so.

We want to make the experience as easy as we can so will help by offering as many alternatives as possible plus providing links on our website and social media to sites for tests and results as well as offer advice on how to get a covid pass. 

To enter the venue customers will need to provide one of the following:

•             Show proof of a full vaccination – remember second dose must be at least 14 days prior to the event

Or,

•             Natural immunity – based upon a positive PCR test within 180 days of the event and the result on NHS App

Or,

•             A negative lateral flow test, same day as event – results registered www.gov.uk/report-covid19-result