LIVE: The SEX PISTOLS Experience – Perth, 11 Dec, 2019

Shane | 29 January 2020 | Reply

LIVE: The SEX PISTOLS Experience – Perth, 11 Dec, 2019
By Melanie Scrafton

There can be no doubt that The Sex Pistols are the biggest name in the original Punk music scene internationally. Unfortunately there is zero chance of those infamous trendsetters ever performing again, some might even argue that, to say they ever ‘performed’ musically is a bit of a stretch!

Back in the day Punk was a culture: the music, the fashion but mostly the headspace. Those original fans are 55yrs plus now, and then there are those that love the legacy the band left.

The SEX PISTOLS Experience are a 4-piece tribute act from UK founded in 2001 who have an excellent reputation, and the performers have spent years perfecting their characters.

The show starts with a backing track of original recordings featuring the Pistol’s comments on news articles from 40-odd years ago, then enter the band and the music begins.

Amongst the classics were all the following and more: Bodies, No Feelings, Pretty Vacant, Steppin’ Stone (originally by Paul Revere and the Raiders), Don’t Give Me No Lip Child (by Dave Berry), EMI, and Belsen Was A Gas.

The Rosemount hasn’t sold out but is at least 85% packed on a Wednesday night in Perth. The ageing audience were taken back to their youth, the most obvious difference being that these guys can hold their own as musicians and as much as Johnny Rotter adlibs obnoxious commentary between tracks there is still that air of certainty & security you could never have enjoyed with the real Johnny Rotten, who was and still is a volatile and unpredictable artist. Both Kid Vicious and Steve Clones maintain their personas throughout the 90 min set, while Paul Crook on drums looks the part, keeps his head down and gets the job done, just like the actual Paul Cook.

This nostalgic journey was a lot cleaner than back in the day, unlike when they were teenagers majority of this crowd had had showers and wore deodorant; there was a gassy wind odor wafting around from the stage front, Johnny Rotter living up to his reputation and claiming full responsibility.

Whilst Johnny has a break from the stage – probably to use the loo – Steve and Kid take turns to perform a few classics covered by Sid Vicious back in the day, including Somethin’ Else and C’mon Everybody, originally by Eddie Cochran. There was no My Way but there was The Greatest Rock n’ Roll Swindle and Silly Thing.

God Save The Queen and Anarchy In The UK are the encore and the show finishes with The Stooges’ No Fun, capping off a fun show – as tributes go it felt like one of the good ones, musically and artistically.