Now I’ve been a bit down on these album in full gigs of late, but I’ll make an exception for this one, plus it’s not done in order which is always better. Never did I ever imagine I’d hear the Sex Pistols playing Never Mind the Bollocks. Cynics will say I’ve still not, that it’s not the Pistols without Rotten, but the rest of the band are here. Lydon’s not, I’m guessing because the rest of the band don’t like him. I’ve no opinion, but he does strike me as divisive. I’m sure others in the band have come out with questionable stuff in the past, but this isn’t unusual is it. In fact there’s plenty of current bands I love who talk absolute, well, bollocks half the time. I tell you who I don’t find divisive, that’s Frank Carter. He seems like a lovely chap, a fucking amazing frontman and he’s a great choice to front this. Needless to say it’s rammed, but the Academy is a pretty basic venue, it’s a big wide black box, so you’re fine pretty much wherever you stand. That’s unless you want to see the whites of the bands eyes or bounce around in the pit. I’m intrigued to see what the energy is like though. Paul Cook, Steve Jones & Glen Matlock are no spring chickens and most of the crowd look to have just as many candles on the cake. The energy question is answered quickly. The crowd aren’t gonna move too much but they are gonna sing! Loud! Well, when they want to. Carter sounds fucking brilliant. He always does, but his voice sits perfectly with opener ‘Holidays in the Sun’. There’s no fluff. They have stumped up for a nice pink and yellow backdrop and some matching Marshall stacks, but aside that it’s a straight up smash through one of the most iconic albums ever recorded. Carter though it has to be said is doing a lot of the heavy lifting “Manchester, put your hands together for the best fucking punk band of all time”. I do raise an eyebrow at this statement, but then they hit us with ‘Pretty Vacant’ and yeah, he might have a point. He’s soon crowdsurfing, whipping things up before standing on peoples shoulders to deliver the defiant chorus with everyone in the room joining in, before he then vanishes in his self orchestrated circle pit for ‘Bodies’. This is normal behaviour for Frank. If you’ve not seen him with the Rattlesnakes you’re really missing out. Emerging back on stage he quips “I’ll make you a trade. Have a look around on the floor for my radio pack… and I’ll give you your Apple Watch back.” How do the Pistols sound though? Well pretty fucking tight to be fair. ‘Silly Thing’ is brilliant and Jones’ solo is perfect. In fact I’d forgotten just how many great songs they put out! ‘Liar’ and ‘Submission’ have always been favourites and both sound phenomenal. Want proof how good they are? There must be hundreds of clips of ‘God Save The Queen’ all over Elmo’s Hell Site by now, honestly I’ve never seen so many people recording at a gig. Put it away Grandad! Still it’s undeniably a brilliant highlight. Bless Frank, he’s working his arse off. “Show me what you’ve got Manchester!!”. He knows what this room can do, I’ve seen him reduce it to a writhing sweat pit of hedonistic joy… but this crowd just want to hear the tunes. He’s not giving up though and pops up all over the shop, making it all the way to the sound desk on ‘No Feeling’. It’s not complicated stuff. That’s the point, just solid sharp riffs and simple nihilistic lyrics. The only slight duff move is ‘No Fun’. It’s a bit too slow and sludgy, but has clearly been chosen as a breather, with Frank introducing the band, incase anyone wasn’t sure. It’s telling though that Frank gets as big a cheer as any of the band. Maybe it’s getting late for some. The room should explode for ‘Problems’, but it stays pretty civilised. The band explode though, I guess that’s enough, but the problem is definitely us. ‘EMI’s sign off “EMI, good, bye” marks the theatrical break, before they return for the one that everyone knows is still missing. But first we have to endure ‘My Way’. I fucking hate this song. Even with the chugging riff behind it, it’s still awful. It’s then time for the big one. It should’ve been how it is for ‘Anarchy in The UK’ all the way through tonight. A room in full voice, arms in the air, still not much movement and less phones would’ve been good, but it’s still quite a thing to witness. The crowd scored badly tonight. With the city’s connection to the band and the infamous first Pistols gig (that I won’t claim I was at), it would’ve been nice to reward them with a proper raucous welcome. The Sex Pistols were amazing regardless and Mr Frank Carter, well he absolutely nailed it!
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