Sex Pistols gig ‘splenetic, spitting drizzle’ say reviewers

THE Sex Pistols snarled and shouted their way through their greatest hits at the start of a brief reunion tour, and early reviews praised the 50-somethings for maintaining the filth and fury.

“Half a century young,” a defiant lead singer John Lydon shouted to thousands of fans at a packed Brixton Academy in south London.

Sporting his trademark spiky orange hair, the performer best known as Johnny Rotten wasted no time in poking fun at the British establishment.

He wore a pheasant shooting outfit, which caused him several wardrobe malfunctions when his trousers kept slipping down, and the patriotic war-time song There’ll Always Be An England blasted over the speakers before the set began.

The four punk pioneers opened with Pretty Vacant and raced through most of their best-known numbers in a gig that lasted just over an hour.

The capacity crowd united Pistols contemporaries, most of them male and balding, with younger listeners keen to find out what all the fuss was about.

“Anyone under 40 in the crowd?” Lydon joked.

When the Pistols burst onto the music scene in the late 1970s they caused a sensation, and their album Never Mind the Bollocks ... Here’s the Sex Pistols, released 30 years ago, is considered one of the most influential in rock ’n’ roll history.

Early reviews were positive. The Guardian called the show “hugely entertaining” and the Times described Lydon’s performance as “a splenetic, spitting drizzle of gurning invective”.

Lydon, 51, was performing alongside guitarist Steve Jones, 52, bass player Glen Matlock and drummer Paul Cook, both 51.

Pistols fans making their way to the comeback gig were not put off by the classical music at Brixton Underground train station.

Touts near the station were offering the £37.50 (€53) tickets for £70.

Fans filled The Beehive and The Goose pubs on the way to the Academy, though many were not so anarchic as to flout the indoor smoking ban.

Red tartan trousers, heavy boots, bright yellow Never Mind the Bollocks T-shirts, spiky dyed hair, tattoos, piercings, denim jackets, badges, Union Jack tops, drawn-on swastikas and some shocking dental work were all on show.

Greg, from Ireland, jetted in for the concert. He paid £75 for his ticket on an auction website.

“I’ll be getting drunk after. There’s no point getting drunk before. It’s like having sex with a beautiful woman. If you won’t remember it, what’s the point?” he said.