Bargain tickets, a fight and an ice cream van
A £1.75 ticket to see The Stranglers in Bangor is a reminder of the band’s early visits to the city — a history involving a rapidly rising booking fee, objections from councillors and a confrontation which left their ice cream van with all four tyres slashed.
Before becoming a major concert attraction, The Stranglers played a students-only show at the University College of North Wales, listed in concert histories as taking place on 25 November 1976.
Their fee was just £90. Less than a year later, when they returned on Saturday, 8 October 1977, the cost of booking them had risen to more than £1,000.
The contrast was highlighted by music columnist Barry Jones in the North Wales Weekly News, which reported that the October booking was among the largest sums paid to a band by the students’ entertainments committee.
For fans, however, admission was still a bargain by today’s standards.
Tickets for the October concert cost £1.75, with the band appearing at the college’s Glanrafon Refectory. The distinctive ticket design featured The Stranglers’ name above a large rat silhouette.
Promoter Kevin Elliott expected a full house and advised fans to buy their tickets early, anticipating demand from across a wide area.
But it was another memory of Bangor that bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel would recall decades later.
Writing in August 2014, Burnel paid tribute to former roadie Carey Fortune, who had joined the band’s crew in 1976 and had himself studied at Bangor University.
Burnel remembered the band encountering hostility during a university performance. Fortune responded by launching himself from the stage into the crowd.
“There was a mass punch up and the ice cream van ended up with all four tyres slashed,” Burnel recalled in the tribute published on the band’s official website.
The ice cream van was the band’s early touring transport.
Drummer Jet Black had worked in the ice cream business before forming The Stranglers. When he decided to start a band, clearing out one of his vans provided a practical way of getting the musicians and their equipment to gigs.
Burnel did not date the Bangor confrontation, so it remains unclear which appearance ended with the fight and damage to the van.
By the time the band’s October 1977 return was being organised, their growing fame was accompanied by controversy.
A committee of Bangor councillors opposed the proposed show, with the Weekly News reporting that members had described the group as “rubbish”, “immoral” and “diabolical”.
The objections reflected a wider backlash against punk. Another contemporary report said seven dates on The Stranglers’ tour had been cancelled by councils around the country.
Barry Jones challenged the local criticism, questioning whether those condemning the band had actually listened to their music. The group’s publicity officer even offered to send the council a copy of their debut album, Rattus Norvegicus.
At least one Bangor councillor recognised that the argument was simply giving the band more publicity.
Despite the opposition, the October concert remained on the schedule. By September, the Weekly News was offering readers the chance to win four pairs of tickets.
From a £90 student booking to a four-figure fee, The Stranglers’ early Bangor appearances captured a band on the rise — with an ice cream van and a set of slashed tyres adding an unforgettable chapter to the story.
Were you at either of The Stranglers’ early Bangor gigs? Do you remember the fight, the ice cream van or paying £1.75 to see them?
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