Hot contender for gig of the year….
Frank Carter and three Sex Pistols: Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock in Brum on Saturday night to play the infamous “Never Mind The Bollocks” album, and a few more numbers including assorted B-sides, to a rammed to the rafters 3,000+ capacity 02 Academy.
No John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten. No problem. For those old punks and/or keyboard warriors who whine, “But he’s not John”, I will say this: So what? Most of the whingers have not actually seen this lineup live. If they had, they’d probably change their tune sharpish and shut up.
No, Frank Carter is not John Lydon/Rotten and nor is he trying to be. Carter is Carter through and through; the same as he is with his own band The Rattlesnakes. And that works like a frigging dream for these Pistols gigs.
Within just one song, the set and album opener “Holidays In The Sun”, I’d guess pretty much everyone in the gaff on Saturday night cleared the cache in their mind of comparisons and thoughts of the band’s former lead singer, and soaked up this glorious noise and the fabulous sight of Jones, Cook, Matlock and Carter in the flesh and all on equal terms.
Frank’s usual snarling, aggressive, punky vocals in his own right are a snug fit to deliver these iconic songs on his own terms, and no sign of trying to mimic the other chap. He is a perfect choice to front this pioneering band in 2024.
Frank is visibly in his element and there is instant palpable chemistry between him and the three original pistols [ok, ok, I know Glen Matlock is not the original bassist, but that bloke was not available].
What’s more, this ain’t no horrible vintage act churning it out just for the cheque and no longer possessing the chops they once had. No. Steve’s guitar licks cut through like a b*tch and he still sounds awesome.
Paul’s skills on the skins are ace and Glen’s bass playing is spot on. If Matlock’s bass playing is good enough for the legendary Blondie this past three years touring the globe, including Glastonbury festival, then you know he’s still got it.
Try as most critics might, I cannot fault one second of the 14 songs and two encore numbers. It was one of those gigs which you will eventually chat about to mates or family and use this phrase: “I was there”. Yes, it was that special and I am dead chuffed that I was there!
This lineup was put together to do one benefit show at Bush Hall in London to save it from closing. A second was added after a five-minute sell out and then a third show at another larger London venue, the 02 Kentish Town Forum.
All three sold out and masses of fans not able to get tickets. Then to the delight of many, four more shows were added around the UK. Friday they were in Nottingham, then this West Mids gig, up to Glasgow, then Manchester and finishing up with that third London gig this Thursday.
* EXCLUSIVE NEWS FROM GLEN MATLOCK *
But do not weep if you missed out on seeing them, I can exclusively reveal that there are many more shows and festivals booked for next year, which comes from the horse’s mouth Glen Matlock, speaking to me the day after the Birmingham gig, on the ‘phone from the band’s Glasgow hotel. [Watch out for that full interview coming very soon in our “Features Zone” to preview Glen’s solo tour with his own band in November].
Back to this stonking show in Birmingham, the band walk on at 9.10pm to deafening cheers after a lovely half hour set from the talented young trio of The Molotovs [who this magazine has tipped since 2022].
Glen and Steve plug in, Paul plops himself down on his stool and Frank yells “Let’s go”.
From the first words of “Holidays In The Sun” to the final track, “Anarchy In The UK”, every single person in that room sang almost every word of all 16 songs. Loudly. Very loud.
There was this glorious wall of sound from the stage and then thrown back to the band from this mass 3,000+ choir of backing singers. Quite something.
Early on in the show, Frank jumps down into the pit and sings to the crowd along the barrier, and then back on stage, before he comes back a bit later to climb over the barrier for a spot of crowd surfing, still singing on top of and then in the middle of the fans, who bloody loved it.
He does this in his own shows and it is always a highlight. In the third or maybe start of the fourth song, he stops the band while there was some sort of medical emergency in the crowd. Normal service resumed he is then back on stage for a rousing “No Feelings”. [Or the dentists’ version, “No Fillings”. I’ll get my coat!]
Added to the set are The Stooges song , “No Fun” – which Glen Matlock tells me is his favourite to play on, and by then Frank had his shirt off and the place was hot and sweaty – and the Claude François song, with English lyrics by Paul Anka, “My Way”, the cover made famous by Mr Sinatra and of course the off the wall version sung by Mr Vicious. Now sung by another Frank in fine style.
Friday night at this same Birmingham venue was a double bill of tributes to AC/DC and Thin Lizzy. Here we are the next night and I can tell you categorically, this ain’t no no Sex Pistols tribute. This is the real thing even minus Mr Rotten.
I told Glen Matlock that Frank actually adds value and energy to what the trio of original punk pioneers in Cook, Jones and Matlock deliver. During our chat on Sunday, he revealed that Frank was not first choice for the singer’s vacancy for these dates… You can read more about that in the imminent feature and how they came to choose Frank in the end.
Lovely to see such a wide age range at the gig, from young school kids on dad’s (and maybe even grandad’s) shoulders to those who used their bus pass to get there. Mohicans, safety pins and at least one male in bondage trousers and torn Pistols’ tee shirt van be spotted.
Steve Jones wearing a God Save The Queen tee on stage. Matlock draping his bass amp with a Queens Park Rangers (QPR) flag, in honour of his fave footie team.
Young and old resurrecting the traditional punk dance move, the pogo…and after all that leaping about, it’s a good bet there were a few thousand sore backs and pulled muscles next day. A case of Never Mind the Ralgex?
Funny thing, Glen does a few rock and roll poses with his foot up on a monitor cabinet at the front of the stage during the show, and when I mention this looks good on the photographs our ace lensman Jason took at the gig, Glen laughs and tells me: “Oh that’s an old thing; to stretch your back out. I’m 68!”
I reply with the Never Mind The Ralgex gag [ courtesy of our snapper Jason Sheldon] and Glen laughs and changes it to “Never Mind The Voltarol”.
If we take the three Pistols’ ages and add them together, there is a total of 205 years [Steve is 69 and Paul and Glen are both 68] on that stage. Frank’s a young whipper snapper at 40, which clearly gives him the energy to leap high in the air in the set a few times and to dive down into the crowd.
After seeing PiL [Public Image Ltd] in recent times, I can tell you that John Lydon is as stationary as a bus stop these days and he stands at the mic’ with his specs on, reading the lyrics on a black metal music stand for the whole set, with the occasional lip curling sneer that actually comes across as gurning! You just cannot do that with music this incendiary, to be Frank [see what I did there?]
The only slight downer of the night is because the original songs were all short, the set is over and done with in around an hour. But what an hour. The most enjoyable 60 minutes I can think of with my clothes on.
At least we all got to the pub well before last orders and thus avoiding selling a kidney for a second pint in the venue. So what did Glen do after the gig, I asked him: “Dodged the autograph hunters, got back to the hotel, had a cheese sandwich and got into bed as we had an early start to Glasgow in the morning”.
So no sex and drugs and rock and roll like back in the 70s then. It’s probably more like “Never Mind The Horlicks” these days…
Photos by Jason Sheldon
Words by Steve Best
