Chapter 24

By the time the band came on stage the crowd packed in, a mass of throbbing hormones. Although not as manic as some mod gigs there was still a vibrant and explosive atmosphere. Electric guitar magic was in the air and amps were cranked to the max. We all surged towards the stage as the first song, Now It’s Gone, echoed through the hall. I was psyched! This was what I lived for, that nerve tingle of mass hysteria. All four members of the band looked amazingly cool. The energy and pent up excitement of the crowd built to a crescendo as The Chords rattled through one mod anthem after another. It was like a nuclear bomb ready to explode.
I looked around recognising several faces in the crowd. The north London mod’s were there in high numbers. They normally didn’t turn up with quite so big a group, but they were there alongside other groups that I had never seen, but all great just the same. Mod scenes were popping up all over Britain.

The mod revival craze is here, I thought, and I’m right in the middle of it!
Some of the Shepherds Bush boys were there too, more familiar faces I’d seen around, but I wasn’t convinced we could rely on them in a fight. They were a bit unpredictable in a ruck. Normally we mods were solid together, but a conflict of interest stirred the crowd: some wanted to party and some wanted a scrap. I thought, Only Kev from the Canterbury mob is one-hundred-percent trustworthy. You could always rely on him in a brawl.

There were a few of the Peckham lads present whom I exchanged nods with, but our mates, Pete and his mob, weren’t there. Probably still recovering from Saturday, I smiled to myself remembering the mayhem at the London train station after the gig last week. A few of the lads and I had tried phoning Pete since, but funnily enough, he never seemed to be in. It was like he just disappeared. We counted him out!
The band’s set was coming to an end. The closing song, Maybe Tomorrow, built up the atmosphere signalling the end of another immense performance. In my view, The Chords was one of the best mod bands, outside The Jam, on the circuit.

Liquor, sweat and other body-fluids dripped from everywhere, teenagers, walls and the ceiling, and, finally, the band left the stage. Adrenaline pumped through the crowd in anticipation of what would happen outside adding a certain something to the violent atmosphere the band helped fuel.
I grabbed Lilly by the hand and pulled her through towards where some of my friends, Harry, Kev and their mates were gathering. Harry nodded over at me, winked, and turned to his mob.

“Everyone ready then?” he screamed.

They knew what he meant and his challenge was met with a few nods and murmurs. No one was in the mood for talking, they were all too busy hyping themselves up to be tougher than the rest.

“Okay!” he yelled.

The way he conducted the orchestra of teenagers excited me even more. Harry is sooo damn cool!

“Lets fuckin’ get it over with. Go!” Kev shouted as he began moving towards the entrance, pushing the crowd to the front door.
I had seen what masses of wild young lads could do and my stomach was turning somersaults. My mouth was dry and my heart pounded as I walked or rather, was carried along by the crowd. A battalion of bodies surged against me from behind and pushed me into the cool, night air. To be honest, at that very moment, I felt like I was going to be sick. I was light headed and my legs felt like jelly. Lilly squeezed my hand in a death grip trying to hang on. I turned and smiled at her pretending I was cool with it all. The truth be told, I was scared shitless, but I thrived on it. Lilly looked petrified as we headed along the side of the bridge towards the station. It was only a matter of a few minutes away, but it felt more like miles. We were blocked with railway arches on one side and a high brick wall of the housing estates on the other. It was the perfect place for an ambush, and I smelled trouble!
There were about 60 of us who had left together for the train. The rest remained behind for the usual disco and to have a few drinks. Most of us had to leave in order to get the last tube home or some of our mates would be in serious shit with their parents.
We made it all the way to the junction in the road near the station when I heard a rumble like an approaching thunderstorm. It’s a relief really, and about time too, I thought, knowing what to expect. All the waiting had been doing my head in. Once it started and really kicked off, you didn’t have time to think or worry, you just shifted into auto-pilot. It was fight or flight, or in most cases both!

First a bottle smashed into the head of one of Kev’s mates who immediately fell to the deck. It sounded like someone dropped a water-balloon and blood shot everywhere. Then came the barrage.

“Shit! Run!” Kev screamed.

I could see them in the ally by the junction charging toward us, hundreds of them it seemed, like some kind of nightmare. They were lobbing missiles of all descriptions from the estate on the other side, bits of wood, bottles, dustbins and road cones. You name it, it flew at us like a driving hailstorm.
“Come on let’s do it!” Harry yelled as we started to charge into them.

It was war. The same ancient instinct of tribal warfare had brought out the worst in mankind for thousands of years. This was skins versus mods, a common occurrence after gigs, mobs of drugged up kids looking for trouble.

The two groups collided in an explosive melee. I didn’t know what to do? I really didn’t want to let my mates down, but I had Lilly to look after and I’d promised to keep her safe. Bottles and bricks were raining down on us and, with it being so dark, it was impossible to avoid them. Silly really, but even though it was scary all the same, we couldn’t stop laughing. Crash, boom, splat, blood was running in the streets and all we could do was laugh.

“We are the mods! We are the mods, we are, we are. We are the mods!” We

shouted and sang in chorus. The sound of 60 people charging down the road like a herd of stampeding buffalo was unbelievable. Deafening!

Harry ran over and made up my mind for me. I’d been wondering if it was too much for Lilly. She’d never seen this kind of action before. He looked at me and screamed, “For fuck sake Abbie, get Lilly out of here! We ain’t gonna be able to hold ‘em off for long.”

I didn’t need telling again. I grabbed Lilly’s hand and the two of us sprinted along the lane towards the station. I could hear a train on the tracks above us going in the same direction. That’ll do, I thought and increased my speed. Running as fast as I could and dragging Lilly behind wasn’t easy when we were both wearing winkle pickers. Even though we were out of the firing line, I felt safer somehow when I was in the middle of the mob. We were exposed, easy targets.
I could hear the rest of the mods behind me. They were all running now, running for dear life.

“Hold the tube, hold the tube. . .” they shouted.

We ran across the station car park as the train pulled in via the viaduct. Lilly and I bolted up the iron staircase into the station. It was a tight race and my 38DDs were pounding, whilst I gasped for air. I could hardly breathe.

Rudely, we shoved paying passengers to one side while we ran through the crowd like a hot knife through butter, laughing our heads off the whole time. The bystanders looked terrified as our gang of mods descended upon them. We hardly even noticed them really. They might just as well not have been there. In our haste, all our concentration was on reaching the train in time. We’d be dead at the hands of the skins if we didn’t.

The doors signalled they were going to close, but we managed to get in between in time to hold them open as Lilly jumped on. I could hear shouting downstairs in the station as the mods rushed into the station and up the stairs. The guard was going mental at us for holding the doors.

“Fuck off!” I yelled. I’m about to save lives here. Who do you think you are,, Jobsworth?
The first of the mods were now running into the carriage as Lilly and I held the doors standing on either side. Quite a few of the lads were covered in blood, they obviously had a bad kicking. Some of them were holding wounds and groaning. I could see adrenaline-fuelled fear in their eyes. Harry and a few stragglers appeared at the top of the stairs. Harry was always one of the last to get away from the action. It was like he never wanted it to end, enjoying every waking minute.

The skinheads were right in amongst them, fists flying, Harry lashed out with a bit of metal piping. He and a couple of other lads were managing to keep the skinheads at bay as the rest of the boys jumped onto the train. One of the skins took the full force of the piping across the face, and I heard the crack of his jaw as he crumpled onto the platform in spurts of blood. His blood-curdling screams went right through me, rising above the noise of the mob.

Everyone paused for a second to give Harry enough time to jump aboard as we let go of the doors and they slammed shut with a bang. Almost immediately the train began to move away, the driver obviously aware of what was going on. A few more missiles bounced off the windows as the train sped up and out of the station. Luckily the glass held firm and we left London behind.

I gulped for air and thought, This stuff only happens in movies. One day I’ll have to write a book, but no one will believe me!
I looked around the carriage. It looked like the medical tent in the TV series, M.A.S.H. There were a few regular passengers on the train and they appeared terrified. Most were trying their best to move to another carriage.

I glanced across at Lilly and smiled, “What a night!”

We all started laughing together. I felt exhausted as the adrenaline bled out of my body like the air out of a leaky tire. We’d had it on their turf, their manor. Yep, we had gone down to the smoke and took the skins out. Hell yes! Yeah okay, fair enough, we got bashed a bit, but only because we were outnumbered. Our pride was intact. As calm descended over the carriage and the train continued towards Victoria, everybody started getting their breath and reflecting on the battle. Who did what and to whom? Did you see this? Did you see that? One story after another whilst we made our way home.

In my darkest days of loneliness, that’s what kept me going, rallies, gigs, bank holiday weekends and street brawls. The adrenaline, the violence, the unbridled anger, the coming together of people just like me, the anarchy and the people who didn’t give a toss about rules. These were my kind of people and they knew how to have a good time. They were my friends and made me feel important.

I knew it wasn’t good for me, but it was all I had and all I wanted.