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Edinburgh Reporter
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Reporter
Review – Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter live ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A rare occurrence happened at an outdoor event for the Sex Pistols return to Scotland – it didn't rain. And so Holidays In The Sun was the perfect opener for their front-man Frank Carter to grab his performance by the throat. Heavily tattooed in a black vest, flowing white shirt and Levi denims, he grabbed the mike stand and offered an immediately punchy vocal and stage performance. The 41-year-old got close to hardcore fans down the front and chewed up the occasional negative comment from punk purists. No disrespect to John Lydon, who remains one of the greatest front-men of all time but this potential last run out for the Pistols is potent, especially during these cash-strapped times laced with a sense of injustice and danger from foreign governments. Paul Cook hammered the kit while delivering his melodic drum style that suited the Pistols so well. To hear Steve Jones play the iconic riffs and licks from Never Mind The Bollocks nearly fifty years later is an absolute joy. Sid Vicious might have become the most iconic member of the band but it was Matlock who made an essential musical contribution to tracks such as Pretty Vacant. The backing vocals provided Jones, Cook and Matlock are vital to the sound and they are readily backed up by the crowd while Carter bounded up and down every inch of the Glasgow stage. The mosh pit swirled in full flow during Bodies as fans were dragged over the barrier. God Save The Queen was amplified by the late Jamie Reed's iconic imagery that featured on the 1977 single and an explosion of colour on the big screens. The 'No Future' sing-along ending is sublime. Cook, while drumming, looks out at the reaction with a massive smile on his face while savouring the moment. During No Fun, Steve Jones successfully recreates the unmistakable sound of his hero Mick Ronson nodding to Ziggy Stardust's last concert at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1973. The set closer is what else but Anarchy In The U.K, the song has lost none of its rousing energy. Most fans in the park were youngsters in 1976 but despite arriving for this all day event in the afternoon they were energised and going for it right to the end. It's phantasmagoria of colour and exhilaration between the flashing big screens, the skies starting to bruise and fans going for it one last time. Steve Jones thanked the enthusiastic audience telling them they were 'the best' while looking very much in awe at the reaction of the fans, who continued singing as they headed home in their hundreds on a balmy summer night. Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter, Punk All-Dayer, Bellahouston Park Frank Carter ALL PHOTOS Richard Purden Bellahouston Park Glen Matlock Like this: Like Related
The Herald Scotland
22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Sex Pistols and Stranglers draw Glasgow's pensioner punks
"I've been enjoying seeing all the old punks in town," the driver laughs. "They've got all the gear... well, everything except the hair." Yes, it's probably worth noting at this stage that it is not, in fact, 1978 and both on stage and in the crowd the passage of time is evident. The line-up offers the first clue: Skids (without Stuart Adamson, deceased), Buzzcocks (without Pete Shelley, deceased), The Undertones (without Feargal Sharkey, campaigning for clean rivers), The Stranglers (without Hugh Cornwell, estranged, also without Dave Greenfield and Jet Black, deceased), Sex Pistols (without Johnny Rotten, legal troubles). Read More: The second clue is the number of camping chairs deployed for the occasion, something you probably didn't get in the Bungalow Bar back in the day. At this point it would be easy to just start riffing on pensioner punks: age against against the machine. Granarchy in the UK. No future? You ain't kidding. It's clear though that there's a real sense of community here. Fans at Bellahouston Park for the punk all-dayer (Image: Newsquest) At the bar, someone catches another punter's Belfast accent and strikes up a conversation. "I'm William," the Irishman says. "... or Liam depending on your point of view!". The two men laugh and offer hearty backslaps. Punk is famously prone to gatekeeping but there's little of that on display at Bellahouston Park, where just about every punk or punk-adjacent band is represented in t-shirt form, from The Stooges and Television all the way through to Green Day and Rancid. One man, sporting a Bauhaus 'Bela Lugosi is Dead' t-shirt, has overcome follicular challenges by gluing a mohawk to a swimming cap which bears the legend 'Glasgow punk all-dayer 2025' in sharpie on either side. You'd be hard-pushed to detect revolution in the air. This is, after all, an outdoor mega-gig where a pint will set you back £7.30 and a t-shirt £35: I am an antichrist/please buy our merchandise, to borrow a quip. Quibbles aside there are lovely moments wherever you look. A girl who can be no older than 12 at the barrier with her parents, all three in matching Sex Pistols t-shirts, a young woman with pink and green hair helping her father, who is traversing Bellahouston on a crutch, to the bar. As Buzzcocks take the stage a man to my right lights up a frankly ridiculous Cuban cigar. His t-shirt, an homage to the two buses promotional poster for 'Pretty Vacant' reads "punk's not dead but I'm not far away". As the band launch into opener 'What Do I Get?' two of his companions begin dancing enthusiastically and, despite the heat, they keep it up all the way to the one-two closing punch of 'Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've?)' and 'Harmony In My Head'. Between acts the screens alternate some punk favourites with adverts for TRNSMT, which it's probably fair to say is a different demographic altogether even if I do spot a grey-haired woman in a 'Free Mo Chara' Kneecap t-shirt. The Undertones are next up, and in the front circle someone even indulges in a spot of crowd surfing for 'Teenage Kicks'. "You should know better," guitarist Damian O'Neill chuckles. The Derry group are known for two-minute pop-punk tunes and singer Paul McLoone admits they've miscalculated how many it'll take to fill an hour - they play an extra three which weren't on the setlist - and perhaps it wasn't a joke when they declared, two songs in, that they'd just do 'Jimmy Jimmy' twice. Fans at Bellahouston Park for the punk all-dayer (Image: Newsquest) After a half hour break The Stranglers take the stage to the strains of 'Waltzinblack'. Before their entrance I speak to some punters in 'Rattus Norvegicus' shirts, some have seen the band more than 50 times while one, Tom, has never had the pleasure at the age of 47. Some use the break to visit the facilities, one man declaiming: "See at ma age, if ye want a pish you need to plan it 20 minutes in advance - then ye get there and ye don't even need wan anyway." Bassist JJ Burnel is the only original Strangler left but singer and guitarist Baz Warne has been playing with them for 25 years at this point and they sound tight. Their set is mostly built on their early output - 'Duchess' is an early highlight - but Warne gives a knowing smile as they run through 2006's 'Relentless' and he delivers the line: "I saw my love today/she's looking old but so am I". They finish, of course, with 'No More Heroes' and then it's time for the Frank Carter fronted Sex Pistols. The former Gallows man does a pretty good Johnny Rotten, and the band make enough noise I'm reliably informed it could be heard as far away as Bearsden. They may be, as Steve Diggle noted earlier in the day, "all the pensioners" but it turns out these bands can still create an almighty racket. Fill in your own hearing aid jokes...
Wales Online
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Sex Pistols' John Lydon gives the reason why he will never appear on Celebrity Big Brother
Sex Pistols' John Lydon gives the reason why he will never appear on Celebrity Big Brother The Pretty Vacant singer has vowed to never enter the CBB house He left the jungle just a few days into the competition (Image: ITV ) Former Sex Pistols singer John Lydon will never appear on Celebrity Big Brother because the programme is beneath him. The 69-year-old musician - who was known as Johnny Rotten during his time in the iconic punk band - gets offered opportunities to appear on television but is usually uninterested in the shows offered to him. The Pretty Vacant singer has vowed to never enter the CBB house because he doesn't want to be known as a celebrity. When asked if he would ever consider going on Celebrity Big Brother, he said: "That's too low for me, that's silly. "I'm not trying to be a celebrity. Whatever I am it's always been done in spite of that nonsense. I'm the accidental celebrity." John did appear on ITV reality show I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! in 2004 and earned many new fans due to his non-nonsense approach to jungle life and his clashes with former glamour model Katie Price, who used the name Jordan for her photo shoots and work at that time. He famously branded Katie a "Page 3 blow-up balloon" during one bust-up. Article continues below Although Lydon quit after a few days, storming out of camp in the middle of the night after he wasn't voted off by the British public, the programme proved to be a significant moment in his later career and he appeared in a series of advertisements promoting Country Life butter afterwards. John - who is currently on tour with his band Public Image Ltd - is grateful he got the chance to appear on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! because it allowed people to see who he really is as a man as opposed what they perceived him to be because of his Johnny Rotten persona. In an interview with website Contact Music, he said: "Things like I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! helped. "That gave people the chance to see me for how I really was 24/7 with a camera on me. "I'm practical in life. If it's cold I'll light a fire. You can't drink the water in the jungle so you boil it, common sense things. That's just how I am." John did not accept a fee for his time in Australia on the show, instead asking ITV to give money to several charities he supported. Article continues below He said: "My god, they bothered me for years, and I wouldn't do it, but they guaranteed they would pay certain charities that I was affectionate towards. So I did it for that."
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sex Pistols rocker John Lydon brands Donald Trump a ‘breath of fresh air'
Sex Pistols rocker John Lydon has branded Donald Trump a 'breath of fresh air'. The 69-year-old singer shocked fans when he started championing the widely-hated US president, and has now doubled down on his support for the former reality TV judge. He told when asked for his views on Trump: 'It might be hard for socialist Britain to understand but Donald Trump is like a breath of fresh air, because he's not a politician. That's it. 'I don't like the man, I don't care about the man, but he might create something interesting that as of up to now business as usual in politics has not done. Bring a wrecking ball, by all means, to it. 'A couple of years ago I was asked what I thought of him and I said I thought he was The Sex Pistols of politics. 'Then I tried to take it back and then I thought, 'No, actually Johnny, that sounds f****** right.' John also opened up about his support of the idea of UFC fighter Conor McGregor, 36, getting involved in politics. He said when asked if he agreed with Conor's recent statement the era of the politician is over: 'I'm in total agreement with Conor. 'He's the kind of fella I could sit and talk to for hours because he tells it as he sees it, so there's no (messing around) with him.' His remark comes after John admitted Conor is a 'little on the violent side'. The 'Pretty Vacant' singer appeared on 'The Michael Anthony Show' where he discussed his political views, grieving after the loss of his beloved wife Nora and his rocky childhood. Speaking about the issue of illegal immigrants living in the UK and Ireland, he said: 'Come on Conor' – referring to the Donald Trump-supporting fighter's rants on social media about Ireland's immigration laws. When host Michael asked him: 'Are you serious about the McGregor s***?,' John replied: 'I believe what he's saying when he says, 'The time for politicians has ended'. 'This is a nice slogan, but I'm not quite sure I'd like to follow him into the next situation, because he's a little on the violent side.' The rocker is still grief-stricken over the loss of his wife Nora Foster, who died in April 2023 aged 80, five years after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. He said about his last days with her: 'She died so painfully. Gasping. 'They call it the death whistle.' John's band Public Image Ltd are on tour until August and tickets are on sale now, available from all venues and Ticketmaster.
Perth Now
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Sex Pistols rocker John Lydon brands Donald Trump a ‘breath of fresh air'
Sex Pistols rocker John Lydon has branded Donald Trump a 'breath of fresh air'. The 69-year-old singer shocked fans when he started championing the widely-hated US president, and has now doubled down on his support for the former reality TV judge. He told when asked for his views on Trump: 'It might be hard for socialist Britain to understand but Donald Trump is like a breath of fresh air, because he's not a politician. That's it. 'I don't like the man, I don't care about the man, but he might create something interesting that as of up to now business as usual in politics has not done. Bring a wrecking ball, by all means, to it. 'A couple of years ago I was asked what I thought of him and I said I thought he was The Sex Pistols of politics. 'Then I tried to take it back and then I thought, 'No, actually Johnny, that sounds f****** right.' John also opened up about his support of the idea of UFC fighter Conor McGregor, 36, getting involved in politics. He said when asked if he agreed with Conor's recent statement the era of the politician is over: 'I'm in total agreement with Conor. 'He's the kind of fella I could sit and talk to for hours because he tells it as he sees it, so there's no (messing around) with him.' His remark comes after John admitted Conor is a 'little on the violent side'. The 'Pretty Vacant' singer appeared on 'The Michael Anthony Show' where he discussed his political views, grieving after the loss of his beloved wife Nora and his rocky childhood. Speaking about the issue of illegal immigrants living in the UK and Ireland, he said: 'Come on Conor' – referring to the Donald Trump-supporting fighter's rants on social media about Ireland's immigration laws. When host Michael asked him: 'Are you serious about the McGregor s***?,' John replied: 'I believe what he's saying when he says, 'The time for politicians has ended'. 'This is a nice slogan, but I'm not quite sure I'd like to follow him into the next situation, because he's a little on the violent side.' The rocker is still grief-stricken over the loss of his wife Nora Foster, who died in April 2023 aged 80, five years after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. He said about his last days with her: 'She died so painfully. Gasping. 'They call it the death whistle.' John's band Public Image Ltd are on tour until August and tickets are on sale now, available from all venues and Ticketmaster.
