- Title: UNITED KINGDOM: SEX PISTOLS PLAY THEIR FIRST CONCERT AFTER 19 YEARS
- Date: 23rd June 1996
- Summary: NEWS CONFERENCE ROTTEN SAYING THE SEX PISTOLS NEVER REALLY FINISHED PROPERLY. THAT'S WHAT THIS IS ABOUT. PUT A FUCKING FULLSTOP ON IT (ENGLISH)
- Embargoed: 8th July 1996 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA732PM6BNXUP2GFZC51M9NDSV1
- Story Text: Legendary punk rock group the Sex Pistols took to the stage in London on Sunday (June 23) to play their first concert in Britain in 19 years.
Led by singer Johnny Rotten (John Lydon), the group headed a bill that included punk group the Buzzcocks and Iggy Pop -- an artist credited with being a major influence on many late 1970s bands.
England soccer hero Stuart Pearce introduced the Sex Pistols who bounded onstage to a trademark backdrop of enlarged newspaper cuttings from their infamous outburst of swearing on tea-time television 20 years ago.
The Pistols, now pushing 40, rolled back the years to recreate the energy of their first explosion on the music scene.
Johnny Rotten immediately caused a headache for radio stations transmitting the concert live with a four-letter outburst.
"Thank you all for coming to our little fucking party," he sneered.
The lyrics of the song which followed were in a similar vein.
The concert, the second in a tour of European and United States cities, drew 30,000 fans old and new -- six times the number who managed to see the Sex Pistols live in Britain during their heyday.
Rotten was clearly triumphant at the achievement of the band in playing together once more.
He often said the band hated each other too much to get on and critics said they were too old.
But on Sunday he crowed: "Fat, 40 and back. "Well, we are not that bad after all.
"Any journalists in the audience? Send the fuckers up here. I will deal with them." Fans sang along as the Pistols ran through their old repertoire -- God Save The Queen, No Feelings, Pretty Vacant and Submission.
Without Sid Vicious, who died of a drug overdose in 1979, the line-up for the concert was the original one, with Rotten on vocals, guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook and bassist Glen Matlock.
The years did not seem to have marked them too much.
Mindful of his expanding waistline, the once whippet-thin Rotten wore a green tartan suit, his hair a stylised crown of spikes.
Jones, resplendent in silver lurex trousers, was emboldened to take his shirt off.
The Finsbury Park event was a curious mix of nostalgia and triumph at survival.
Many in the crowd displayed tell-tale receding hairlines and covered their crows feet with sunglasses.
The old punks in the audience didn't die before they got old, but they had obviously mellowed. The pogo dancing was unrestrained, but anyone trying to get to the front tended to say "excuse me".
The Pistols UK appearance is part of the group's comeback "Filthy Lucre" tour, which will see them play 20 concerts in 14 countries. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None