The 100 Club — First Punk Festival, London

The 100 Club at 100 Oxford Street in central London is one of the oldest continuously operating live music venues in Britain, and is the site of the First International Punk Festival of September 1976 — the concert that defined punk rock as a movement and introduced it to the British mainstream. On 20-21 September 1976, the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Buzzcocks, the Damned, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and other bands performed over two nights to an audience of approximately 100 people each night. The event was organised by Malcolm McLaren and captured the moment when punk coalesced from a loose collection of attitudes, sounds, and provocations into something with the appearance of a movement.

The 100 Club had opened in 1942 as a jazz club — Glenn Miller performed there — and had hosted jazz, skiffle, and R&B acts throughout the 1950s and 1960s before becoming a key venue for blues and rhythm and blues in the late 1960s. By 1976 it was available to the punk generation at affordable rental rates, and its low ceiling, small stage, and sweaty intimacy were perfectly suited to the music. The club also hosted Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, and many significant rock acts in its earlier decades.

The 100 Club continues to operate as a live music venue and is one of the few authentic surviving small venues in the West End of London. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been recognised with various heritage designations. Admission is charged for performances. The venue is a short walk from Oxford Circus tube station and hosts a broad programme of jazz, blues, indie, and rock acts throughout the week.