The Cinema at 7 Clerk Street was opened as theNew Victoria on 25th August 1930, designed by architectsWE Trent & JW Jordan for Gaumont. Renamed The Odeon in April 1964. 1978 saw the stage made deeper, making the performance area more suited to many live bands that played gigs here bookended by the years 1970-1981(Including my first ever gig, the Madness matinee show in December 1980). In 1982 the auditorium was subdivided, ending it’s life as a music venue. The cinema sadly closed on 30th August 2003.
The Odeon 20th April 2009. ©S.S. 2009.
- 1970 20th March Deep Purple
- 1970 23rd-25th July The Corries
- 1970 26th-29th August, 2nd-5th September, 9th-12th September Corrie Folk (The Corries and guests).
- 1970 28th November Julie Felix & The McCallums
- 1970 27th December The Corries
- 1971 13th August Syd Lawrence & His Orchestra
- 1971 22nd August Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, & Peter, Paul, & Mary
- 1971 4th December Humpherey Lyttelton & Alex Welsh-A Tribute To Louis Armstrong
- 1971 17th December Yank Lawson, Bob Haggart & The Worlds Greatest Jazz Band
- 1971 19th December The Corries
- 1972 19th March David Hughes-A Viennese Evening
- 1972 28th May The Corries
- 1972 1st November Up Country
- 1972 3rd November The Four Tops
- 1972 8th November Cliff Richard & Olivia Newton John
- 1972 9th November George Hamilton IVth
- 1973 7th January The Corries
- 1973 17th February Freezin’ Heat
- 1973 3rd March Slim Whitman
- 1973 7th April Roxy Music, Sharks, & Lloyd Watson
- 1973 23rd May Paul McCartney & Wings
- 1973 27th May The Corries
- 1973 31st August The Corries
- 1973 1st September The Corries
- 1973 7th September The Corries
- 1973 13th October Lindisfarne
- 1973 16th & 17th November Cliff Richard (4 shows in total)
- 1974 8th February Wizzard (2 shows)
- 1974 5th April The Incredible String Band
- 1974 12th April Mick Ronson
- 1974 15th April The Spinners
- 1974 19th April Deep Purple, support band Elf
- 1974 25th May Alvin Stardust (2 shows)
- 1974 29th May Black Sabbath & Black Oak Arkansas
- 1974 4th June Lou Reed (the show was very late to start as Lou was busy drinking in the bar of the Caledonian Hotel).
- 1974 12th October Mud
- 1974 19th October Uriah Heep
- 1974 21st & 22nd October Roxy Music
- 1974 31st October The Bay City Rollers
- 1974 15th November Golden Earing, support band Lynard Skynard
- 1974 19th November Sparks, support band Pilot
- 1974 10th December The Rubettes
- 1974 13th December Rod Stewart & The Faces
- 1975 29th April The Bay City Rollers
- 1975 16th & 17th October Sparks
- 1975 21st October An Evening With Bette Davis
- 1975 26th November Uriah Heep
- 1975 6th December Mud, support band Bilbo Baggins
- 1975 14th December Jim Cruickshanks Gala Night, compere Stu Francis
- 1976 22nd April Nazareth
- 1976 14th & 16th May The Average White Band
- 1976 28th & 29th May The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
- 1976 23rd June Slik
- 1976 8th August Country & Western Festival Ethna Campbell, Carl Gibson, & Wayne Nutt
- 1976 10th September The Bay City Rollers
- 1976 25th September Be Bop Deluxe
- 1976 24th October Patti Smith, support band The Stranglers
- 1977 11th March Val Doonican
- 1977 30th September Dr Feelgood, support band Mink DeVille
- 1977 14th November Thin Lizzy, support band The Radiators From Space
- 1977 15th November Gary Glitter, support band Rosetta Stone
- 1977 25th November Peter Straker
- 1977 6th December The Boomtown Rats
- 1978 4th February Judas Priest
- 1978 18th April The Commodores
- 1978 5th May UK
- 1978 23rd May The Maddy Prior Band
- 1978 28th May AC/DC, support band British Lions
- 1978 29th May George Benson
- 1978 31st May Blue Oyster Cult, support band Japan
- 1978 1st June Ian Dury & The Blockheads
- 1978 5th June Gerry Rafferty & Rab Noakes (Dire Straits did not play)
- 1978 6th June The Buzzcocks
- 1978 14th June Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers
- 1978 22nd June The Boomtown Rats, support band Matt Vinyl & The Decorators
- 1978 30th June UFO
- 1978 14th July Jasper Carrott
- 1978 30th August Patti Smith (aftershow party at The Antiquary St Stephen’s Street, Stockbridge)
- 1978 13th September Blondie, support band The Boyfriends
- 1978 25th September Brand X, special guest Peter Hammill
- 1978 28th September The Tom Robinson Band
- 1978 1st October Rose Royce
- 1978 7th October DrFeelgood
- 1978 10th October Wishbone Ash
- 1978 11th October Steel Pulse, support band China Street
- 1978 18th October Kraftwerk
- 1978 23rd October Buzzcocks, support band Subway Sect
- 1978 27th October Whitesnake, support band Magnum
- 1978 31st October AC/DC, support band Blazer Blazer
- 1978 1st November Sham 69
- 1978 7th November Judas Priest
- 1978 16th November The Clash, support band The Slits
- 1978 20th November Lindisfarne
- 1978 21st November The Cheiftains
- 1978 26th November Devo
- 1978 1st December John Martyn
- 1978 13th December Rory Gallagher
- 1978 22nd December The Rezillos, support band Chou Parrot (The Undertones did not play).
- 1979 15th & 16th January Elvis Costello & The Attractions
- 1979 23rd January The Kinks
- 1979 8th February UFO
- 1979 20th February Herbie Hancock
- 1979 21st February Steve Hillage
- 1979 1st March Average White Band
- 1979 5th March Bad Company
- 1979 6th March Graham Parker & The Rumour
- 1979 13th March Eddie & The Hot Rods & The Members
- 1979 15th March Van Morrison
- 1979 19th March Elton John
- 1979 24th March Bootsy’s Rubber Band
- 1979 26th March David Essex
- 1979 27th March Motorhead
- 1979 30th March Folksong ’79
- 1979 1st April The Hollies
- 1979 6th April Frankie Miller
- 1979 16th April Thin Lizzy
- 1979 27th April JJ Burnel, Support bands Blood Doner & Rapid Eye Movement
- 1979 28th April Rush
- 1979 1st May Child
- 1979 2nd May John Miles, support band Bandit
- 1979 7th May Dennis Brown & The Professionals, support Rudy Thomas
- 1979 12th May The Tubes
- 1979 19th May Renaissance
- 1979 23rd, 24th, 25th & 26th May Status Quo
- 1979 1st June The Police, support band The Cramps
- 1979 3rd June Robert Halpern
- 1979 9th June The Who
Thank you to David for his memories below of The Who at the Odeon “In the foyer they had a lot of stands advertising Quadrophenia and the Kids are Alright movie which had just been released. We managed to nick a couple of album covers and hung around outside the back of the theatre in the hope of getting them autographed. We saw John “Rabbit” Bundrick the keyboard player, and my mate swears we saw Kenney Jones as well. We did find out however that the band were staying at the Caledonian Hotel in Lothian Road”.
“So we went down to the hotel and met Roger Daltrey, Bill Curbishley the band’s manager and Harvey Goldsmith the promoter. Roger signed the album sleeves. They asked us whether we had been to the recent outdoor rock festival at Loch Lomond, which we had. They seemed very interested in what we thought of the event. We wondered whether they might have been contemplating playing a festival that summer. They didn’t as a matter of fact. Interestingly though, their very next gig after the Odeon was Wembley Stadium”. The gig was amazing!
- 1979 10th June Dire Straits
- 1979 19th June Third World
- 1979 21st June Steve Hackett
- 1979 29th June Dave Edmunds Rockpile, support band Lew Lewis Reformer (rescheduled from 6th May)
- 1979 29th & 30th July Ian Dury & The Blockheads
- 1979 29th August Rickie Lee Jones
- 1979 1st September Alien film premier
- 1979 7th September The Skids, support band The Berlin Blondes
- 1979 15th September Louden Wainright III
- 1979 20th September XTC, support bands Yachts & Viva
- 1979 5th October The Boomtown Rats
- 1979 6th October Buzzcocks, support band Joy Division
Thank you to ken for his memories of The Buzzcocks gig Pete Shelley and the guys were as loud, punchy and frantic as I’d expected but I remember being surprised at the high quality of the sound and the tight musicianship.I guess by that time they were honed by a few years on the touring circuit.
- 1979 17th October Whitesnake
- 1979 20th October Alien (midnight charity screening of this iconic sci-fi film)
- 1979 23rd October Camel
- 1979 1st November Steve Hillage
- 1979 17th November Hawkwind
- 1979 21st November Motorhead
- 1979 22nd November John Martyn
- 1979 28th November The Kinks
- 1979 29th November Talking Heads, support bands A Certain Ratio & Section 25
The support band was due to be The Human League, but on the release of this press release from Bob Last the support slot was cancelled. “The Human League, intrigued to experience their own performance themselves, have designed a remotely controlled touring entertainment. Therefore, 30 Human League minutes will be available on the upcoming Talking Heads tour. The League themselves may well join the audience on some evenings to savour the occasion. The arrangement will allow them on other evenings to continue working on their second album in their Sheffield workshop.”
Thank you to Ken for his memories of the Talking Heads gig
“Talking Heads put on a funky but spooky performance…David Byrne was in full-on sweating, awkward psycho/geek mode and hardly ever looked up at the audience!”
- 1979 7th December The Dickies, support bands Chelsea & The Cheetahs
- 1979 10th December The Jam, support band The Vapors
- 1979 11th December Leonard Cohen
- 1979 15th December Wings
- 1979 21st December The Specials, support band The Revillos. The Specials stayed at the Learmonth Hotel.
- 1980 1st & 2nd January Blondie, support band Whirlwind
- 1980 16th January UFO
- 1980 19th January The Clash, support Mikey Dread & Metropak (took place on the 19th, not the 21st as per the ticket).
- 1980 20th January The Clash, support band Mikey Dread & Josef K
- 1980 23rd January Wishbone Ash
- 1980 27th January The Ramones, support band The Boys
- 1980 5th February Robin Trower
- 1980 6th February Iggy Pop, support band The Psychedelic Furs
- 1980 16th February Spyro Gyra
- 1980 22nd February The Tourists
- 1980 1st March Peter Gabriel
- 1980 5th March Gillan
- 1980 9th March Nazareth
- 1980 19th March Judas Priest
- 1980 28th March Stiff Little Fingers, support band Another Pretty Face
- 1980 4th April Jasper Carrott
- 1980 11th April Gerry Rafferty
- 1980 23rd April Genesis
- 1980 24th April Judie Tzuke
- 1980 4th May Thin Lizzy (note the spelling mistake on the ticket below)
- 1980 8th May Eric Clapton, support Chas & Dave
- 1980 16th May Black Sabbath
- 1980 21st May Suzi Quatro
- 1980 22nd & 23rd May The Average White Band
- 1980 30th May The Undertones, support band The Moondogs
- 1980 1st June Saxon, support band Tygers Of Pan Tang
- 1980 3rd June Joan Armatrading
- 1980 6th June Whitesnake
- 1980 13th June Steve Hackett
- 1980 30th June Magnum
- 1980 6th August Ted Nugent, support band Wild Horses
- 1980 15th September Ozzy Osbourne’s Blizzard Of Ozz
- 1980 16th September Secret Affair
- 1980 20th September Rick Wakeman
- 1980 22nd September The Tourists
- 1980 26th September Rory Gallagher And His Band
- 1980 3rd October The Skids
- 1980 17th October UFO
- 1980 23rd October Ian Gillan
- 1980 24th October The Dooleys
- 1980 31st October Simple Minds
- 1980 3rd November Motorhead
- 1980 4th November Tangerine Dream
- 1980 9th November John Martyn
- 1980 11th November OMD
- 1980 14th November Dexy’s Midnight Runners
- 1980 19th November Hot Chocolate
- 1980 22nd November Sad Cafe
- 1980 29th November Hazel O’Connor, support band Duran Duran
- 1980 5th December The Damned, support band The Straps
- 1980 8th December Ultravox
- 1980 9th December Madness (2 shows, kids show & evening)
- 1980 12th December Hawkwind (brought forward from 22nd December)
- 1980 13th December Saxon
- 1980 16th December Steeleye Span
- 1981 14th January The Boomtown Rats
- 1981 20th January April Wine
- 1981 22nd January Slade
- 1981 20th February Krokus
- 1981 9th March Iron Maiden
- 1981 21st March Mike Harding
- 1981 10th April Showaddywaddy
- 1981 21st April Girlschool
- 1981 29th April Echo & The Bunnymen
- 1981 1st May Tygers Of Pan Tang
- 1981 12th May Japan
- 1981 13th May Barcaly James Harvest
- 1981 16th May The Cure
- 1981 23rd May Stiff Little Fingers, support band The Wall
- 1981 28th May Wishbone Ash
- 1981 29th May Toyah, support band Positive Noise
- 1981 6th June The Teardrop Explodes
- 1981 7th June Trust, support band Cadiz
- 1981 16th June The Tubes
- 1981 1st July Diamond Head
- 1981 6th July Duran Duran, & The Freeze
- 1981 19th July Def Leppard
- 1981 23rd August Arthur Negas On Antiques
- 1981 28th August Simple Minds
- 1981 5th September Michael Schenker Group
- 1981 16th September Hazel O’Connor
- 1981 19th September Nazareth
- 1981 26th September Ultravox
- 1981 27th September Sad Cafe
- 1981 9th October Gary Glitter
- 1981 10th October Hawkwind
- 1981 25th October Andy Williams
- 1981 7th November Gillan, support bands Budgie & Nightwing
- 1981 13th November The Damned, support band The Anti Nowhere League(release date of the Friday 13th EP).
- 1981 25th November Hot Gossip
- 1981 26th November The Cure
- 1981 27th November Gary US Bonds
- 1981 29th November The Pretenders, & The Flying Padovanis
- 1981 7th December Squeeze
- 1981 9th December Slade
- 1981 15th December Rose Tattoo
- 1981 16th December Nils Lofgren, support band Grand Prix
- 1981 17th December The Stray Cats, & Screaming Lord Such and The Savages (as far as I can tell, this was the last concert held at the Odeon).