Camden Roundhouse to celebrate all things punk

The history and future of punk is to be celebrated at the venue that helped kickstart the movement 40 years ago.

New York band The Ramones inspired the Sex Pistols and The Clash with their first UK performance at the Roundhouse on July 4, 1976, pictured above featuring guitarist Johnny Ramone. The Ramones’ former manager Danny Fields will be among those at the three-day Punk Weekender, starting on Friday.

The event has performances from punk bands, punk poetry, film screenings, songwriting workshops, discussions and a record fair.

The band, who all adopted the surname Ramone despite not being related, only ever achieved one top ten hit in the UK, with the 1980 number 8 cover of The Ronettes track 'Baby, I Love You'. Despite their limited commercial success – they found it difficult to fill stadiums, even in their later years – the band are considered one of the most influential groups of the 20th century, having not only inspired British punk bands, but other movements including metal, thrash metal and grunge.