Leather jackets and bright coloured, albeit thinning Mohawks are strewn up and down Oxford Road in Manchester, all belonging to those waiting to cram into Manchester Academy 1 for a night of raucous punk rock, for tonight’s entertainment; the Sex Pistols. Tonight’s show is a gathering of past and present. The iconic band are down a member, however they’re up on and much more entertaining frontman. The ever electric Frank Carter slots into the role perfectly. Tonight they are performing the iconic album that initiated the punk movement in the UK, Never Mind The Bollocks.
Up first for the night are Liverpudlian band, The Kairos. A fun, punchy and riff heavy troupe that delivers us some good old rock and roll to start off the night’s frivolities. Taking influence from the likes of bands such as The Buzzcocks and at times early Arctic Monkeys, they hold the audience’s attention throughout a short but sweet set. Engaging in geographical based banter between Liverpool and Manchester toward the audience brings a few laughs toward the crowd as they cruise through their set. It’s an energetic performance with great vocals and new single Punchline Fistfight is definitely a track that shouldn’t be slept on. They’re a band with a bright future.
Just before the Sex Pistols take the stage, the venue is groaning. The audience is a wonderful blend of young and old punks, no matter what you think of the Sex Pistols, it’s apparent that their influence and appeal stretches over generations. Shortly after 9pm, the band took to the stage, ready to take the majority of the crowd back to their youth. An orchestral version of God Save The Queen plays over the speakers as the godfathers of punk rock take to stage before launching into Holiday In The Sun that instantly has the audience in fine voice. For a band where the majority of the members are approaching seventy, they give off high energy performances and don’t miss a beat, it’s great to see. Frank Carter however does a lot of the heavy lifting throughout the night. These songs are the perfect fit for him as his snarling and confrontational style of performing compliments the iconic lyrics perfectly. He conducts the crowd effortlessly, particularly with the track Seventeen in which he has fun with the audience in a call and response moment getting everyone to shout “I’M A LAZY SOD”. Throughout the night he prowls the stage like a predator and in true Frank Carter style finds himself atop the crowd for a rousing rendition of the classic tune Pretty Vacant.
One of the night’s highlights was the grizzly track, Bodies. Still in the crowd Carter galvanises the crowd into a small circle pit whirling the crowd around him as they do their best to keep up with his energy singing out the lyrics at the top of their lungs. Following this was another stand out moment of the night with the song Silly Thing, not on the original album but feels right at home in the setlist for the night. Expectedly, the iconic track God Save The Queen gets one of the biggest receptions of the night. With the lyrics throughout the track interchanging with “God save the King”. The audience definitely took things up a notch and shouted the lyrics back just as loudly as the band was playing. After this moment however, there was a slight lull in the set where a couple of songs could easily have been the same. It wasn’t until the track Satellite where Carter once again found himself within the crowd, this time demanding an even bigger circle pit than the one before, which the audience obliged. A cover of The Stooges no fun sees all the band members have their moment in the sun throughout a series of fun introductions. Bassist Glen Matlock throughout the night was effortlessly cool and didn’t seem to break a sweat as he plucked the night away. Steve Jones was an absolute powerhouse on guitar, as he furiously blasted out the famous riffs all night long. Most impressively however was Paul Cook holding everything down on the drums, gave an excellent performance, not only being able to keep up with Jones and Matlock, but also Frank Carter.
Bringing the main set to a close is E.M.I which sees the crowd rally once more for one final singalong before the encore. Opening the encore is a punk rendition that starts off slow, allowing Carter flex his impressive crooning singing, before ramping up the pace for a raucous outro of the song, it’s something you’d never expect to see but it’s full of humour and bombast. The final song for the night was the moment everyone was waiting for, Anarchy In The UK brings the night to a triumphant close with both band and crowd giving their all one last time. It’s a truly special moment and even when the music has stopped, Carter was conducting the crowd in acapella with them bellowing “AND I WANNA BE, ANARCHY” before leaving the stage.
You’d have been forgiven before the show for taking the night with a pinch of salt as to whether or not it would be good or not. But all doubts were cast aside instantly. The band themselves felt revitalised, they made the right choice by selecting someone like Frank Carter to be frontman. Throughout the night he looked like a kid at Christmas, it’s easy to tell from his early days that he based his sound and performances on Johnny Rotten. Each member on the stage seemed like they were genuinely enjoying every minute on stage. The whole evening itself felt special, it’s clear to see that the songs still mean a lot to so many people and a clear indication that punk rock itself will never die.
Words by Ed Walton
