|  Author | Topic: Sex Pistols - MEN Arena 17.11.07 (Read 806 times) |
neilcrud
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|  | Sex Pistols - MEN Arena 17.11.07
« Thread Started on Nov 18, 2007, 6:38pm » | |
Sex Pistols
‘Holidays In The Sun 30 Year Anniversary Tour’
Manchester MEN Arena 17 / 11 / 07
(review n pix by Paul Scouse Hammond)
“This is not nostalgia, This is not a reunion, There has never been nothing like and there never will be anything like the Sex Pistols!” – John Lydon Website prior to this 30 Year Anniversary Tour.
![[image]](http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n112/neilcrud/1.jpg "[image]")
It only seems like yesterday when these 4 now middle aged men burst onto the music scene in late 76 snarling, spitting & swearing at everyone and everything that stood before them. A parents & politicians nightmare! I remember my dad being appalled when I bought their records when I was just a 14 year old spikey haired schoolboy!
When PUNK happened, it was different, it was colourful and it kicked the entire country and music business up the arse and changed it forever. It didn’t matter if you could play, it was an attitude, forming a band gave you a voice to express an opinion. Bands exploded from everywhere with their three chord songs, ripped clothes & safety pins speaking out and sticking 2 fingers up to the government, the monarchy & anything that pissed them off!
![[image]](http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n112/neilcrud/8.jpg "[image]")
The Sex Pistols weren’t the 1st to release a punk record, The Damned beat them to it with ‘New Rose’ in late 1976. The Pistols released 'Anarchy In The UK’ soon after with a young Johnny Rotten proclaiming himself an antichrist!
The record hit the top 30 but the band got banned nationally and couldn’t play anywhere live due to the horrified press reaction to the spitting, puking and fights at gigs. ‘Pretty Vacant’ & ‘Holidays In The Sun’ followed before the band upset what seemed just about everybody (except their fans) with the superb ‘God Save The Queen’ released just in time for the jubilee celebrations. The record hit No.2 in the charts even though it was banned and the pistols suddenly found themselves public enemy number one. The infamous Bill Grundy show followed just after and the national news headlines that followed ensured the Pistols were run out of the country to the USA.
The US tour spiralled into farce, Sid Vicious had replaced Glen Matlock who’d been sacked for reportedly liking The Beatles and having smelly feet! More fights, bad press, Sid out of it on heroin culminated in the inevitable split with Johns famous words on stage at the bands last gig in San Fransisco “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?”. Shortly after Sid was dead aged just 21 following a drugs overdose whilst on bail from prison after being charged with the murder of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen.
The Sex Pistols initial career lasted less than 2 years, They made just one album ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’ and a few singles. These however, have stood the test of time and the songs still remain popular today with the new & old generation of punks.
If someone had said to Johnny Rotten 30 years ago, you will do this again he would have told you to FUCK OFF, but here he is tonight in Manchester with the original line up of Paul Cook, Steve Jones, and Glen Matlock as part of a 6 date sold out anniversary tour.
The audience was completely mixed – old punks (like me!) & beer swigging scallies mixed with mums & dads with their kids complete with spikey hair and BOLLOCKS T shirts. Strange, but that’s the appeal and it’s the Pistols history that makes this a must see event for all ages.
![[image]](http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n112/neilcrud/6.jpg "[image]")
The band opened with ‘Pretty Vacant’ and performed all of the Bollocks album plus a few b – sides. Steve Jones is overweight these days but so what he’s a great guitarist. Paul Cook has aged too, he’s still small but a great drummer and Glen Matlock still looks too slick to be a Sex Pistol but always was and still is a fantastic bass player (I wonder if he washed his feet!). Johnny Rotten has still got it all, he looked the best of them all and his razor sharp tongue and wild stare can still cut you in half! He is the Sex Pistols.
It was all great, loud in your face Punk Rock. Highlights were definitely ‘Anarchy’ ‘Bodies’ & ‘God Save The Queen’ during which 2 punters even managed to get on stage and have a fight!
I had some of my friends question why go see them? Some people say it’s not the same. No it’s not the same, but the Pistols were around as a band for such a short time that a chance to see the original line up playing one of the all time great albums live was something that may not come again. I read an interview by Johnny some years ago when he said that because of all the controversy and bad headlines a lot of people actually missed the fact that not only were they an important band, they were a damn good one musically too until they got rid of Glen. Tonight I, and a few thousand others would have to have agree with him.
What has come along since in the last 30 years that comes anywhere near?…….Nothing!
There has never been nothing like and there never will be anything like the Sex Pistols.
![[image]](http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n112/neilcrud/4.jpg "[image]")
Watch Anarchy In The UK Live At The MEN on YouTube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uClck3vtJGI
http://www.youtube.com/PSSTControl
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iwan
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| | Re: Sex Pistols - MEN Arena 17.11.07
« Reply #1 on Nov 19, 2007, 12:02am » | |
Glad you enjoyed the gig Paul but hope you don't mind me correcting a few innacuracies ? The Pistols appeared on the Bill Grundy show in December 76 & at that time had only released Anarchy In The UK,God Save The Queen was their 2nd single predating Pretty Vacant & Holidays In The Sun,they released 2 albums not 1 (Bollocks & The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle) & they weren't driven to America because of controversy in the UK,it was all part Malcolms masterplan to create as much controversy as possible by having them play to cowboy bars full of rednecks ready to kill them instead of the regular venues & they'd already played abroad in other countries (France,Sweden etc).
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davecox
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| | Re: Sex Pistols - MEN Arena 17.11.07
« Reply #2 on Nov 19, 2007, 2:22am » | |
in my opinion... nothing has hit the mainstream in 30 years like the sex pistols did, if you look deeper though, look to the gigs where the dedicated music fans are, look past the mainstream, look past the MEN arena gigs where its £40 a ticket (shouldnt a venue like that have really cheap tickets when theres such a big capacity?), look to the gigs without all the corporate rats out to make money, or the trendy wankers that want to improve their status by liking a certain kind of music thats 'in' that year, thats where you'll find the stuff that is just as good, if not better. personally, i think if it wasnt nostalgic they'd have played some new songs. just my opinion though.
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neilcrud
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| | Re: Sex Pistols - MEN Arena 17.11.07
« Reply #3 on Nov 19, 2007, 7:17am » | |
I watched 'Sid & Nancy' last night for the first time. I put it off this long cos John Lydon had said if he had the money he'd have sued Alex Cox for defamatory.
On seeing the film my only opinion is, what a load of fucking shite.
Gary Oldham did his homework pretty well and aped Sid down to a tee when it cam eto facial expressions - but Johnny Rotten? My word! The dialogue!?
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bloodandlipstick
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| | Re: Sex Pistols - MEN Arena 17.11.07
« Reply #4 on Nov 19, 2007, 11:01am » | |
I always find it quite interesting that people view the Grundy TV show as the watershed moment as far as the Pistols-as-cultural-earthquake idea is concerned.
The Grundy show was the moment when the band members, and Lydon in particular, lost control of the situation and McLaren was able to turn the whole thing into the "Cash From Chaos" moneyspinner that ultimately benefitted Richard Branson more than anyone else.
Those of us around then who were TRULY changed forever by the Pistols had already been done so by the band's appearance on Tony Wilson's So It Goes TV show (no swearing, just a live performance to a TV crew who were quite literally too stunned to react) and by Jonh Ingham's remarkable feature/interview with the band in Sounds in May '76.
The Grundy show may have been an unveiling as far as the general public were concerned but for some of us it soon felt like a funeral.
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paulscouse65
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| | Re: Sex Pistols - MEN Arena 17.11.07
« Reply #5 on Nov 19, 2007, 11:31am » | |
Thanks Iwan for pointing out a couple of things. The reason i said one album was because the Bollocks was THE one true album they made. When Sid came in who couldn't play they didn't really write much else after that, the Swindle album was basically Malcom cashing in. The was loads more shite after that like Flogging a dead horse, Some Product etc but Never Mind The Bollocks was a true Sex Pistols album. You're right about the release dates, forgive me i had a very late night! 
I'VE UPLOADED SOME MORE VIDEO FROM THE GIG -
Its on You Tube NOW!
God Save The Queen - Check out the onstage ruck!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSGhk_UND7s
http://www.youtube.com/PSSTControl
With love Mr.Git x 
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Duncan
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| | Re: Sex Pistols - MEN Arena 17.11.07
« Reply #6 on Nov 19, 2007, 10:22pm » | |
I'm currently teaching music in Kent. Several of my students have been missing lectures to go and see the Sex Pistols. I think that's a better education than anything I could offer. They all said the support band were shit (The Cribs - bloody awful!). It's restored my faith in youth culture.
Re:Glen Matlock. He wrote an awful lot of the music. He may have been less obnoxious than the rest of the band, but without Glen half those songs wouldn't exist. It's easy to take the piss out of the bloke, but give credit where it's due (actually, you have done in your review).
Check out the recent videos of the Sex Pistols on youtube. Good stuff!
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Matt
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| | Re: Sex Pistols - MEN Arena 17.11.07
« Reply #7 on Nov 19, 2007, 10:55pm » | |
Quote:I watched 'Sid & Nancy' last night for the first time. I put it off this long cos John Lydon had said if he had the money he'd have sued Alex Cox for defamatory.
On seeing the film my only opinion is, what a load of fucking shite.
Gary Oldham did his homework pretty well and aped Sid down to a tee when it cam eto facial expressions - but Johnny Rotten? My word! The dialogue!? |
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I loved that film as a kid. It made me act like a stupid prick whilst i was drunk. Then i grew up and realised it was a massive pile of wank. Shit acting, over-acting, shit script, portrayed punks as stupid idiots, made Sid look like a total dick when he was actually quite a nice fella.
The Sex Pistols reunion? Yea right. What are we going to see from this "reunion" apart from this string of overpriced gigs and a group of guys pretending they are still what they were?
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tomp
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| | Re: Sex Pistols - MEN Arena 17.11.07
« Reply #8 on Nov 23, 2007, 1:27am » | |
I "like it" for the fact that Cortney Love (something that might havve gone unnoticed apart from a few in the Liverpool scene) is in Sid and Nancy and more importantly in that she lost out on the part of Nancy Spungen to Chloe Webb, ending up as the character of Nancy's friend.
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neilcrud
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| | Re: Sex Pistols - MEN Arena 17.11.07
« Reply #9 on Nov 23, 2007, 8:29pm » | |
The part Courtney played was made up cos she told the producers she'd kill them if she didn't get the part of Nancy. The film company said they wanted a proper actress so she was given the part for appeasement
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iwan
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| | Re: Sex Pistols - MEN Arena 17.11.07
« Reply #10 on Nov 23, 2007, 11:42pm » | |
Fancy that...Courtney Cox wanting someone killed & a heroin addict idolised my millions...hmmm
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