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advertised on poster re: hollywood palladium 82 shows; the Ministry opened for the Clash?

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Went to see them in LA at the Palladium in 1982, stupidly thought we could get tickets at the door. The show had been sold out for weeks. The security guards were nice enough to open the doors for a little bit so the rather large crowd outside could see for a few minutes. The best concert I never attended.

Ticket from the gig and this account of events here 

…When it was announced that the boys would be playing at the world famous Hollywood Palladium that summer there could not have been any reason for me not to be there other than death itself. By this time in my life I had gone to see many punk bands at venues such as The Whiskey, the Roxy and The Music Machine but did not consider myself to be a punk, just a fan of the music. I stayed clear of the mosh pits that formed at every show and enjoyed the music, the events and the scene. 

As The Clash took to the stage at The Palladium on that balmy Southern California night, the wave of young enthusiastic punks pushed me over to the left front of the stage where I found myself at arms length from Mick Jones’ combat boots, but uncomfortably close to the amp that was positioned right in front of me. The juice of the guitars, bass and drums hummed in my ear all night long but I would not have had it any other way as I was up front at a potent Clash concert. The band had a forceful opening set as I recall with fast numbers such as London Calling, Career Opportunities, White Riot and Clampdown setting the tempo for the show. By mid-show, Joe Strummer slowed it down a bit, took out an acoustic guitar, got on one knee and started to almost serenade the fueled and passionate crowd with what I recall was a ballad called Bank Robber. At this moment in almost slow motion, a punk from front center hocked out a loogie projected right at Joe. From my vantage point it looked to be about 8 inches long and twisted slowly in circles in mid flight while being backlit from one of the stage lights. The projectile landed directly on Joe’s face and dangled from his ear much like a slime scene out of the yet to be released film Ghostbusters. Joe, the consummate punk, barely missed a beat where he did nothing but laugh as he wiped it off with his hand and continued with the song. When the show ended with the punk encore of “I fought the Law”, I was loaded with adrenaline, drenched in sweat and had a horrible ringing in my left ear, a consequence which continues to this day. 

I had the good fortune to see The Clash two more times; in October of 1982 at the Los Angeles Coliseum as they opened up for The Who and then again in the summer of 1983 at the US Festival in San Bernardino, but neither matched the up front raw energy of the Hollywood Palladium show… I still have the ticket stub from that night which is a bit odd since I was not nearly as nostalgic back in 1982 as I am today. Perhaps I knew someday 28 years later, I would still be talking about The Only Band That Mattered.

The band chose to return to the Hollywood Palladium where they had played in October 1979, for their LA shows; this time though they sold out 5 nights, The Jam it was pointed out struggled to fill just one.

The seat less dance floor there no doubt a key factor but perhaps also the glamour and history of this famous venue played a part in the band’s choice. The Palladium at 6215 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California remains a famous icon which has hosted everything from Sinatra, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, MC5 The Who to the Pornographic Film industry’s Award Show. 

Built in 1940 in an art deco style with a 11,200 square foot (1040 m²) dance floor with room for up to 4,000 people, it cost what was then a huge $1.6 million on the site where the original Paramount lot had stood. In February 1965, Martin Luther King, Jr. was honored at the Palladium by city officials recognizing his Nobel Peace Prize. The Palladium reopened after refurbishment with a Jay-Z concert on October 15, 2008 after a year long, multi-million dollar renovation. 

squared, colour corrected