The Skids & Theatre of Hate

The Skids and Theatre of Hate share a bill at Gloucester Guildhall on Thursday 12 November, two post-punk acts from the same era playing on the same night. The Skids formed in Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1977, around Richard Jobson, Stuart Adamson, Bill Simpson and Tom Kellichan. They signed to Virgin Records in 1978 and put out early hits like 'Sweet Suburbia', 'The Saints are Coming' and 'Into the Valley', which reached the UK Top Ten in early 1979. These days they play as a stripped-back four-piece: Richard Jobson, Peter Byrchmore, Hernandez and Connor Whyte.

Theatre of Hate came along in 1980, when Kirk Brandon took in the members of the punk band The Pack. Their debut double-A-side 'Legion'/'Original Sin' topped the independent chart that same year, and their 1982 debut album Westworld, produced by Mick Jones of The Clash, sat at number one for 21 weeks and gave us 'Do You Believe In The Westworld?'. The band imploded in 1982, with Brandon going on to form Spear of Destiny, but they've since resurfaced to play across the UK, Europe and the USA. For this show, the line-up is Kirk Brandon, Stan Stammers, Chris Bell and Clive Osborne.

It's a double bill that puts two bands from the same post-punk era on one stage. The Skids bring the Scottish side of things, with the early hits that made them a name in the late seventies; Theatre of Hate bring the London independent scene of the early eighties, with Westworld and its long run at the top of the indie charts. Between them, that's a fair bit of ground to cover from a single evening.

The gig runs from 7pm to 11pm at Gloucester Guildhall, 23 Eastgate St, GL1 1NS, and tickets are £30.