The residents of Caerphilly were taking no chances. Pubs and cafes locked doors and boarded windows, the local constabulary called in reinforcements and divine protection was sought by a Pentecostal preacher whose tirade outside the cinema could not have been more furious had Satan himself been about to appear.
The four skinny young men scheduled to perform in the Welsh market town on that cold December evening in 1976 were the Sex Pistols, the punk rockers who were to become one of the most notorious bands in rock 'n' roll history.
But they met their match in the good folk of Caerphilly. Even before Johnny Rotten could scream 'I am an anti-Christ' — from the opening lines of the Pistols' first single Anarchy In The UK — the hundreds gathered outside were belting out Christmas carols as loudly as they could.