“I'm a fat bastard in the best of British tradition!”

Nearly hot off the press comes this Nov. 10 Sex Pistols show, the third night of last week’s stand at the Brixton Academy in London.

These shows kicked off the Pistols’ “Holidays in the Sun 2007” tour, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Never Mind the Bollocks...Here’s the Sex Pistols.

Reviews of this latest tour (the Pistols also briefly reunited in 1996) have been mixed: The British press have had a field day, particularly with the couple of extra pounds the erstwhile Johnny Rotten is now sporting. “Sex Pistols front man Johnny Rotten was back on stage last night and while he's lost none of his bad boy edge, he's certainly gained some extra pounds,” wrote the Daily Mail.

A lot of coverage has concerned itself with whether the Sex Pistols are sell-outs or subversives. The media seem dubious, while most of those attending the shows are glad to see the Pistols back in action. “They are one of a kind,” a reader named Michael posted to the London Times Web site. “Gone are the ridiculous haircuts and tasteless clothes of previous comeback and back are the blond spikes of ‘76 and white shirts and waist coats. Lydon interestingly walks a thin line that retains the edge of yore without being nasty and the touches of vaudeville are just on the right side of buffoon.”

The show I’m posting is pretty typical, set-wise, of the five-night stand at Brixton. Johnny is still stumbling over some of the words, more than once improvising or just letting the audience take over. Another recurring feature is Johnny’s rants against Malcolm McLaren. During one diatribe, Johnny suggests Malcolm “chew on a one-eyed snake.”

Again, I’ll give you the song list, along with a couple of samples, then a RapidShare link for the whole show.

Intro
Pretty Vacant.mp3
Seventeen
No Feelings
New York
Did You No Wrong
Liar
Holidays In The Sun
Submission
Stepping Stone.mp3
No Fun
Problems
God Save The Queen
EMI
Encore 1: Bodies
Anarchy in the UK.mp3
Encore 2: Roadrunner.

Unzip ‘em all here

Labels: live music, punk

posted by aikin @ 9:30 PM