SEX PISTOLS
London Brixton Academy
November 8th
2/5
So here we go again. Third time lucky? After the Pistols original reformation was a triumph at Finsbury Park, the next one at Crystal Palace was a sloppy, unrehearsed show. And so what about tonight at Brixton? Well from the moment a country squire attired John Lydon takes the stage it seems they haven’t really bothered putting a lot into this. Lydon’s vocals now exaggerate ‘Pretty Vacant’ to torture point and the once cool as fuck Steve Jones hunches his bulking frame over the guitar to spew out, at the best, mid paced pub rock. In fact, a voice close to Big Cheese reliably tells us they only bothered ‘rehearsing’ 4 songs before tonight. So yes, it is the Sex Pistols, but it is also a load of bollocks. Having seen the Ruts reform recently, they would have wiped the floor with these Pistols, even though one of their members was dying! No, tonight was a simple cash-in – and none of Lydon’s sarcasm can hide the fact that they were terribly average. Apparently they got better as their residency went on but if this is the future then England is Dreaming. At £45 a ticket, ever got the feeling you’ve been cheated? Oh, and why, oh why, did they get the Cribs to support them?
John Damon
