There was anticipation on Oxford Street in London as the Sex Pistols rocked the 100 Club for the first time in more than half a century, playing classic tunes for a crowd of creaking punks.
In a hot and sweaty venue, which harkened back to the band’s glory days, they darted on stage like squaddies on a march, to roars from the audience. They were celebrated by stars and superfans such as Noel Gallagher, Bobby Gillespie and the Jam frontman, Paul Weller.
Band members in attendance included the guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook and bassist Glen Matlock, minus John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, who unsuccessfully tried to block the band using songs in a Disney+ series about their story, called Pistol.
The former Gallows and Rattlesnakes lead singer Frank Carter filled in for Rotten as he has done since Jones, Cook and Matlock reunited in 2024 for a series of shows at Bush Hall.
The 100 Club is also the venue where the late bass player Sid Vicious was alleged to have whipped the NME journalist Nick Kent with a bicycle chain and where Vicious was arrested for leaving a girl blind in one eye after hurling a glass that shattered.
The quartet opened with Holidays In The Sun, which was met with clouds of beer mist unleashed from flying plastic cups as a sea of hands reached up towards the musicians. After the Pistols performed a version of New York, Carter asked the crowd: “How many of you lot were here the first time?” After a roar from the crowd, he shouted: “It’s a pleasure and a privilege to be here with these legends tonight.” He then joked: “Right, who wants to call it there?”
Jones then launched into the strings of Pretty Vacant. The crowd was reaching fever pitch. Then, Bodies sent them over the top, singing “I’m not an animal” from the chorus in unison. Matlock and Jones shared a microphone to belt out the lyrics while Carter scaled the top of the 100 Club.
God Save The Queen, a song which prompted major controversy on its release during Queen Elizabeth II’s silver jubilee in 1977, transported the older audience members back to their younger days as they bopped like they were in their 20s again.
As they finished their main set, Carter told the crowd: “Five fucking decades later, and they’re back,” before teasing: “Five decades, and that’s all you’ve got?”
The Pistols closed with a rendition of EMI and Anarchy In The UK, prompting the crowd to surge to the front. Carter saw off a possible stage invasion by hurling himself from the stage into the crowd. Afterwards, he remarked: “Oh fuck, I forgot you’re all fucking 60.”
The group will perform on Monday for a gig at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust.
