The Doors: Michigan, 1967

Before the mid-’70s, punk may not have had a label, but the blueprint for the genre was well and truly being laid out. Iggy Pop was one of the first artists to really channel the punk aesthetic, and he was first inspired to put on such performances after being subject to the chaos of The Doors. He knew he needed to act like Jim Morrison the next time he was onstage, and that’s exactly what he did, which in turn inspired the budding punks who would eventually go see The Stooges play.

“I loved the performance. Part of me was like, ‘Wow, this is great. He’s really pissing people off, and he’s lurching around, making these guys angry’,” recalled Pop, “People were rushing the stage, and Morrison’s going, ‘Fuck you. You blank, blank, blank’. You can fill in your sexual comments yourself. The other half of it was that I thought, ‘If they’ve got a hit record out and they can get away with this, then I have no fucking excuse not to get out on stage with my band’. It was sort of the case of, ‘Hey, I can do that’. There really was some of that in there.”

Ramones: New York, 1974

The Ramones were one of the first bands to properly brandish the mantle of punk. While the genre is often considered a predominantly British sound, it was the Ramones who first made the iconic style of punk performance famous from across the pond. Their first show was in 1974, and while a lot of it didn’t go to plan, this first gig was vital when it came to the overall development of the genre.

Biographer Tony Fletcher reflected on the show, saying that it was a totally shambolic performance, despite being such a standout in the grand scheme of things. He recalled “the set collapsing several times into complete chaos”, and even though haphazard, there was no escaping that the whole thing was absolutely vital.

Sex Pistols: London, 1975

Granted that the Ramones had already been playing live for a year by this point, but it was the Sex Pistols’ debut live gig in London, at St Martin’s College, supporting Bazooka Joe, where the chaos that ensued, both on stage and in the crowd, really set a precedent for how punk gigs were supposed to go down. Don’t take my word for it, though; the review of the night speaks for itself.

“‘Hurry up, they’re having an orgy on stage’,” wrote Neil Spencer in the New Music Express, “Said the bloke on the door as he tore the tickets up. I walked to the front and straightaway sighted a chair arcing gracefully through the air, skidding across the stage and thudding contentedly into the PA system, to the obvious nonchalance of the bass drums and guitar. Well, I didn’t think they sounded that bad on first earful, then I saw it was the singer who’d done the throwing.”

Sex Pistols, The Clash, Buzzcocks: Sheffield, 1976

While London was the most predominant city where the punk movement truly developed, there were a lot of other Northern towns which put on iconic gigs while the genre was still finding form, and one of the most famous was the punk lover’s dream in Sheffield, as Sex Pistols, The Clash and Buzzcocks all took to the stage at The Black Swan (a pub which was lovingly known by locals as ‘The Mucky Duck’).

This gig wasn’t famous just because of its great line-up, but it was also the first show that The Clash ever did. The band weren’t a huge fan of their sound after the gig, and so decided to tighten things up, so essentially, The Clash that we know and love may not have ever existed had it not been for this landmark show in Sheffield.

Bob Vylan: Glastonbury, 2025

Punk was born in the ‘70s, but there are still plenty of bands out there championing the sound to this day. A lot of them have fallen into the trap of blurting out agreeable and empty sentiment over distortion, but then you have occasional acts who are still willing to shock audiences with their words, even if it’s to the band’s detriment, and one of these acts was Bob Vylan when they played at Glastonbury in 2025. As they called for action against the genocide in Gaza, they started a chant which many people found unsavoury, and that landed the band in incredibly hot waters.

“With almost 4,000 performances at Glastonbury 2025, there will inevitably be artists and speakers appearing on our stages whose views we do not share, and a performer’s presence here should never be seen as a tacit endorsement of their opinions and beliefs,” said Glastonbury in a statement after the duo’s performance, “However, we are appalled by the statements made from the West Holts stage by Bob Vylan yesterday.”

This is a topic that divides opinion, as many back Bob Vylan, while others completely condemn them. Regardless of which side of that argument you’re on, the fact that the argument exists in the first place is exactly the point of punk. The statement, the controversy, and the discussion that followed reflect what happened at the genre’s inception. While the majority of modern punk bands in the modern age are hardly in a position to speak up for those they claim to represent, the controversial Bob Vylan set proved that the genre can still have some bite.