But the prospect of playing Tamworth's premiere venue got the band back together again and on December 15th 1978 the Reliants played Tamworth Arts Centre.

In 1978, the prime venue for bands to play in Tamworth was the Arts Centre. The manager at the time was an ageing rock 'n' roller, Dave Armour, who, despite this, was very keen to encourage young bands in Tamworth, (in fact the very first Tamworth Rock Festival was his idea and his initial plan was to have The Clash headlining - true!) At the time, the only bands in Tamworth were 'rock' bands of varying hues, Flash Harry, Ice, Brewster are a few that spring to mind. So to have a group of 17 year old punks gatecrash their exclusive scene was a bit shocking for these ageing hippies. Jed Moore, the Arts Centre 'dogsbody' had screen-printed some posters for the gig and the Armchair and Vince had posted them around the town - Vince resplendent in full length waterproofs to prevent being covered in paste. The Armchair, in all innocence, on a solo pasting expedition, had pasted Reliants posters over Flash Harry posters. He had forgotten to look at the date on their posters and a seething anger within Flash Harry members had erupted as their gig was at the same time as The Reliants - sorry!

At the time, the local paper, the Tamworth Herald was on strike. This could have potentially jeopardised the success of the gig, with no advance publicity. The press article had to be written by the band themselves and submitted by hand - what memories, the days of a Labour government before Thatcher took away any Union rights!

It was 50p to get in. The capacity was 96. The Reliants broke the crowd record and had over 100 people paying to see them. Each band member made £4.80 - the big time! The Armchair had purchased a stripy pyjama top from the Oxfam shop for his stage wear, thinking it had a 'Belsen' look to it, very trendy at the time! A variety of school kids arrived with their school ties anarchically tied loosely around their necks.

It was December 1978, Christmas was round the corner. Rikky Patrick (Rikk Quay), the DJ for the night, had a siren in his box of tricks and this hailed the arrival of The Reliants on stage. The gig was a raucous success, the audience danced down the aisles and in front of the band. The band played 'Away in a Manger' reggae style, as a festive treat. Half way through the gig as things got a bit lively, Dave Armour had to stop proceedings warning the audience if they didn't stop dancing and shouting and throwing things, pop bands would no longer be allowed to play. The audience calmed down, the band played on and a wonderful night was had by all.

Take a look at the Arts Centre Photo Story to recapture that unique night.

The Armchair, thinking that one day, some 25 years later, some sad bastard would produce a web site highlighting the event, had the foresight to take a cassette recorder with him to record the gig. A portable cassette recorder was a rare thing in 1978 and some bastard nicked it. Was it you?

Sadly, the gig proved to be the final appearance of the band and they split. The Armchair and Vince went on to form The Reliants#2, Sam went on to earn some cash in Somethin' Else and John went back to school.

The Reliants - Tamworth's first and last punk band.

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