The Stranglers 1980 concert dates

A year marked by a cancelled Asia/Middle East tour (India, Egypt), the "Rainbow without Hugh" shows following Hugh Cornwell's imprisonment, a European summer tour, and an extensive North American tour in October–November.

🎙️ = a recording of this show exists

Jan 1980 (undated)
(venue unspecified)
Bangkok, Thailand
Feb 1980 (undated)
Markthalle
Hamburg, Germany
01 Feb 1980 🎙️
University
Saarbrücken, Germany
Date and venue from a private recording collection, not independently corroborated elsewhere
Mar 1980 (undated)
Sports Stadium
Calcutta, India
Cancelled
Mar 1980 (undated)
CCI Stadium
Bombay, India
Cancelled
Mar 1980 (undated)
(venue unspecified)
Delhi, India
Cancelled
Mar 1980 (undated)
(venue unspecified)
Cairo, Egypt
Cancelled
21 Mar 1980 🎙️
Capital Radio
London
Jet Black interview; recording archive source
03 Apr 1980 🎙️
The Rainbow
London
Performed without Hugh Cornwell, who was in prison at the time (jailed 21 Mar 1980, on remand for a possible 8 weeks). Support from Monochrome Set and UB40. Ticket price was £3.50; the band were paid £7000 per show for this date and the following night
Forum thread →Forum thread →
04 Apr 1980 🎙️
The Rainbow
London
Performed without Hugh Cornwell, who was in prison at the time. Support from Joy Division, Section 25, and The Soul Boys
joydiv.org — Joy Division gig list →Forum thread →Forum thread →
25 Apr 1980 🎙️
Capital Radio
London
Hugh Cornwell released from prison after serving 5 weeks of a possible 8-week sentence (jailed 21 Mar 1980); a Capital Radio interview recording exists from the day of release, in which he describes it: "the first thing he did was to say hello to his girlfriend and to kiss an old lady on the street." He then went on holiday to Italy for a week with Hazel O'Connor before returning to work
Forum thread →
11 Jun 1980
(venue unspecified)
Caen, France
Doubtful — a recording of the following evening's show states that gig was the tour opener
12 Jun 1980 🎙️
(venue unspecified)
Rouen, France
13 Jun 1980
(venue unspecified)
Paris, France
15 Jun 1980 🎙️
Parc Départemental, Courneuve Festival
La Courneuve, Paris, France
Corrected from 14 Jun — confirmed via setlist.fm and Aural Sculptors (Fête du PSU festival). Source thread lists this as 14.6.80 ("could be the 15th") — an outdoor festival organized by the "Parti Socialiste Unifié": "This 'Fete du PSU' was an outdoor festival and the Stranglers were scheduled on the main stage, but rain started to fall, and the gig was moved to a big tent. When the fans entered the tent, a sort of french female folk singer, Anne Syvestre, was on stage ; as you may guess, her style of acoustic music was the exact opposite of the Stranglers music ! So the fans started to boo at this singer... without any result ! Then they threw 'water bombs' (plastic bags full of - hopefully - water...) at her ; one of these bombs fell on her guitar ; she said : - Oh no, not on my guitar ! ... and immediately a second bomb was thrown right onto her face ! This time she stopped singing. I have the vision of her, walking off stage, her hair and clothes all wet... That was a cruel situation, but that's the way it happened in those days..."
setlist.fm →
18 Jun 1980
(venue unspecified)
Montpellier, France
20 Jun 1980
Nice University
Nice, France
Band arrested onstage during the show — power was cut twice, restored, then cut again. Hugh Cornwell recalled in 2024: "We did 2 numbers before the power went, they fixed it, we did another 2 then it happened again....but when we were onstage I couldn't believe how good we sounded. I'd never really noticed it or thought about it before. But that gig maybe because the sound acoustics were good and I could hear it properly. We finished the first number and I thought 'my god that sounded great' For some reason that show we sounded so good and I felt very proud at that moment. That was my finest moment." The band were released from custody on 27 Jun 1980; photos from Nice show them walking down the "promenade to freedom" with lawyer Henry Treal
26 Jun 1980
(venue unspecified)
Athens, Greece
Cancelled — band in prison following the Nice arrest
29 Jun 1980
(venue unspecified)
Thessaloniki, Greece
Cancelled
30 Jun 1980
Radio Punto
Source thread lists this with a "???" — uncertain what this event was (possibly a radio session)
02 Jul 1980 🎙️
Castel St. Angelo
Rome, Italy
themeninblack forums thread →
03 Jul 1980 🎙️
Palasport
Parma, Italy
05 Jul 1980
Open Air
Milan, Italy
Cancelled at the last minute
07 Jul 1980
The Rainbow
London
08 Jul 1980 🎙️
The Rainbow
London
09 Jul 1980
The Rainbow
London
Support from The Tea Set for this tour
The Tea Set gigography →
10 Jul 1980 🎙️
Leisure Centre
Crawley
11 Jul 1980 🎙️
Colston Hall
Bristol
12 Jul 1980
Beezlebub's
St. Austell, Cornwall
Billed as the "New Cornish Riviera"
13 Jul 1980
Gaumont
Southampton
14 Jul 1980
Gaumont
Ipswich
16 Jul 1980
Odeon
Birmingham
Forum thread →
17 Jul 1980
Locarno
Sunderland
A young Baz Warne — future Stranglers guitarist/vocalist — was in the crowd
18 Jul 1980
Apollo
Glasgow
Source lists this as "18.1.80" elsewhere — treated as 18 Jul per surrounding tour sequence
20 Jul 1980
Playhouse
Edinburgh
20 Jul 1980 🎙️
BBC Radio Scotland
Scotland
JJ Burnel interview; recording archive source
21 Jul 1980
King George's Hall
Blackburn
22 Jul 1980
Apollo
Manchester
23 Jul 1980 🎙️
Festival Hall
Corby, Northants
Steel Workers Benefit
24 Jul 1980
Kings Hall
Stoke
25 Jul 1980
New Theatre
Oxford
27 Jul 1980 🎙️
Lyceum Ballroom
London
Forum thread →
14 Aug 1980
Coronmeuse (Halle Des Foires)
Liège, Belgium
Source thread lists this date as "14.8.83" — almost certainly a typo for 14 Aug 1980 given its position in the 1980 tour sequence. Part of an "Inside" festival
16 Aug 1980 🎙️
Bilzen Festival
Bilzen, Belgium
Corrected from 17 Aug — confirmed via setlist.fm, Aural Sculptors, and Concert Archives, resolving a same-date conflict with the Guildford show below. Source thread lists this as 17.8.80. Festival lineup also included Urban Heroes, Katchies, Dexys Midnight Runners, Girlschool, Lambrettas, The Shirts, and The Kids
setlist.fm →
17 Aug 1980 🎙️
Civic Hall
Guildford
Support from The Tea Set and Hazel O'Connor
18 Aug 1980 🎙️
Pavilion
Bath
Support from The Tea Set
19 Aug 1980 🎙️
Theatre Royal
Nottingham
TV "Rockstage" gig — support from Hazel O'Connor
20 Aug 1980
Brady's Club
Liverpool
Opening night — support from The Tea Set
10 Oct 1980 🎙️
Emerald City
Cherry Hill, NJ, USA
11 Oct 1980
Fast Lane
Asbury Park, NJ, USA
12 Oct 1980
J.B. Scott's
Albany, NY, USA
13 Oct 1980
Rahar's
Northampton/Amherst, MA, USA
14 Oct 1980 🎙️
The Channel
Boston, MA, USA
Rider was beer, fruit, and M&Ms
15 Oct 1980
(venue unspecified)
Willimantic, CT, USA
16 Oct 1980 🎙️
Aldo's Hideaway
Lyndhurst, NJ, USA
17 Oct 1980
Club 57, Irving Plaza
New York, NY, USA
Skafish support
Tumblr post →
18 Oct 1980
Club 57, Irving Plaza
New York, NY, USA
Skafish support
Getty Images →Twitter photo →
19 Oct 1980
(venue unspecified)
Denver, CO, USA
20 Oct 1980
(venue unspecified)
Roslyn, Long Island, NY, USA
21 Oct 1980 🎙️
Ritz Club
New York, NY, USA
The band's equipment was stolen after the gig
themeninblack forums thread →Forum thread →Forum thread →
22 Oct 1980 🎙️
Ontario Theatre
Washington, DC, USA
Cancelled/rescheduled to 28 Nov. Support was to be The Monochrome Set and Bad Brains (tickets $8.50). JJ and Hugh appeared on WHFS Radio
23 Oct 1980
(venue unspecified)
Raleigh, NC, USA
24 Oct 1980
688 Club
Atlanta, GA, USA
25 Oct 1980
688 Club
Atlanta, GA, USA
26 Oct 1980 🎙️
Ole Man Rivers
Avondale, LA, USA
27 Oct 1980
Spit, 2775 Fondren
Houston, TX, USA
Corrected from "New Orleans, LA" (venue unspecified), per James
28 Oct 1980
110 Club
Austin, TX, USA
29 Oct 1980
Clubfoot
Austin, TX, USA
"Their only Austin appearance was at brand new punk club called Club Foot. Formerly the 404 Club, one of Austin's first gay hotspots, Club Foot's opening night had the Stranglers as headliners. But the show was poorly publicized, the club was unknown, and nobody seemed to have told the former patrons of the change in the club's business model, making me glad I had left my studded leather Ramones jacket at home."
30 Oct 1980
(venue unspecified)
Dallas, TX, USA
31 Oct 1980
(venue unspecified)
Tulsa, OK, USA
01 Nov 1980
(venue unspecified)
Norman, OK, USA
02 Nov 1980
(venue unspecified)
Lubbock, TX, USA
06 Nov 1980
Whisky A Go Go
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Four-night stand; support from The Humans
07 Nov 1980 🎙️
Whisky A Go Go
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Four-night stand; support from The Humans. "The Stranglers, the British band which opened a four-night stand at the Whisky Friday night, didn't waste any time in letting the packed house know who was boss. Bassist Jean Jacques Burnel abruptly cut the opening number short after a few bars while the lighting man was informed that colored lights weren't necessary: 'This isn't a big show-business extravaganza,' said one of the Stranglers"
08 Nov 1980 🎙️
Whisky A Go Go
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Four-night stand; support from The Humans
09 Nov 1980
Whisky A Go Go
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Four-night stand; support from The Humans
10 Nov 1980
(venue unspecified)
San Diego, CA, USA
Nov 1980 (undated)
Perkins Palace
CA, USA
Source thread notes this gig fits "here somewhere" in the tour sequence without a specific date; support from Robert Williams
12 Nov 1980
(venue unspecified)
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
13 Nov 1980 🎙️
Keystone
Berkeley, CA, USA
Forum thread →
14 Nov 1980 🎙️
Keystone
Palo Alto, CA, USA
The source thread confirms Palo Alto as a distinct date/city from the 13 Nov Berkeley show; venue name from external concert databases, not the source thread itself
Men in Black gallery →
15 Nov 1980
The Stone
San Francisco, CA, USA
17 Nov 1980
(venue unspecified)
Seattle, WA, USA
18 Nov 1980
(venue unspecified)
Vancouver, BC, Canada
21 Nov 1980 🎙️
Duffy's
Minneapolis, MN, USA
22 Nov 1980
(venue unspecified)
Madison, WI, USA
"The Stranglers were truly scary, not faux-badasses like Fear. Although do I recall that they ridiculed Wisconsin beer drinkers as wimps, as opposed to their hard cider drinking toughness. I didn't quite understand that insult."
23 Nov 1980 🎙️
Stages/Metro
Chicago, IL, USA
Bootleg recording exists
24 Nov 1980
Bogart's
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Ticket stub →
25 Nov 1980 🎙️
Concert Hall
Toronto, Canada
YouTube →
26 Nov 1980 🎙️
Masonic Temple
Toronto, Canada
Corrected city from "Montreal" — Masonic Temple is a Toronto venue, confirmed via setlist.fm and independent recordings
setlist.fm →Forum thread →Forum thread →Forum thread →Forum thread →
28 Nov 1980
Ontario Theatre
Washington, DC, USA
Rescheduled from 22 Oct
29 Nov 1980
Privates, Irving Plaza
New York, NY, USA
Diana Ross and Gene Simmons showed up backstage
Undated
Bonds
New York, NY, USA
Described as final gig of the US tour; band went onstage at 1am

Source: themeninblack forums thread