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Sex Pistols / Dropkick Murphys / Reverend Horton Heat

live in Long Island
2003
live show

Review by: Billy Taint
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Published on August 26th 2003

So the Sex Pistols reunion tour. I admit it, I'm a sucker and I shelled out $47.50 to check it out. Being born 5 years too late, I figured this was my one chance to check the Pistols out live for myself. Finally see what all the fuss is about. Not to mention the one and only Dropkick Murphys were opening.

So I get to the Jones Beach Amphitheater and the first thing I notice is how empty it is. Not even close to being half way filled. Ticket sales were so poor, in fact, that they issused a buy 1 get 1 free ticket sale for the past few weeks. I guess Johnny Rotten doesn't have the drawing power he would like to think he has.

Reverend Horton Heat opened up with a rather lackluster performance. Not that anyone noticed. Only a few hundred people had gotten to their seats by this time and it's safe to say that most of those weren't there for RHH. In general, Reverend Horton Heat was basically nothing more than a distraction to everyone's conversations. If you're into psychobilly, you might wanna check these guys out, but the popular preference tonight was definitely not towards psychobilly.

Next up were the Dropkick Murphys. This was my 10th time seeing them and, despite being confined to a chair, easily one of the best. They opened with "For Boston" and went right from that into "Gonna Be A Blackout Tonight". Seeing as it was New York, I was disappointed they didn't make a corny blackout joke afterwards. Either way, kids gradually starting making their way up to the front as the band went into "Upstarts & Broken Hearts", "Barroom Hero" and "Caught in a Jar". Quite a way to begin a performance. Everyone made the best of the situation as they sang along and danced in the little aisle space there was.

However, they then played 6 straight songs off of Blackout. Not taking anything away from Dropkick, but Blackout is probably their weakest album. So you can imagine how sitting through 6 straight songs off of it was.

Highlight of the set was during "Time To Go", a song written for the Boston Bruins, when an Islander fan started taunting the band. They didn't miss a beat, however, and played the entire song while getting in this poor guy's face and giving him the finger. And a big "the Islanders fucking suck" right before the chrous. All in good fun I suppose.

After that, they closed with a cover of a song I have never heard in my life. I hate leaving out things like that in reviews, but no one seemed to know what song it was. The band got off stage and that's when something strange started happening...all of the kids who were singing and dancing for the Murphys began slowly disappearing. They were being replaced with balding men in their mid 40's and their overweight wives. I mean that in the nicest way of course. Besides, as a whole they made for much better than crowd than Dropkick had.

Eventually, the Sex Pistols came up on stage opening with "Bodies". My first observation? Wow do they look old. Glen Matlock looked like he was right out of a cock rock band as he swayed his hips with the music and winked at the women in the front row. Steve Jones and Paul Cook, not suprisingly, made up the backbone of the band as they provided the only real talent the band ever had. Johnny Rotten was....well...Johnny Rotten.

He strutted around like he was King Shit. He blew 2 of the biggest snot rockets I've ever seen in my life onto a security guard. He cursed. He acted obnoxious. Everything you would expect Johnny Rotten to do. And each time he was greeted with a 45 year old round of applause. The crowd ate it all right up.

In a classic Johnny moment, he stopped "God Save the Queen" after 2 lines to state the following:

"We spend all this time writing these classic songs for you, and that's the response we get?"

When the song was restarted (with a much louder crowd response), he ended up forgetting the words and having Glen Matlock take over.

All in all, yeah the Pistols were entertaining, but no way where they $47.50 entertaining. Not to mention I still don't get all the hype. I guess it's like one of those jokes you had to be there for to find funny. If this tour comes to your city, it's worth checking out if you get cheaper seats than I did. The Dropkick Murphys are a great live band that are perfect for an arena and I guess the Sex Pistols deserve an hour of your time. But you WILL feel like you're doing it out of respect and not out of desire to see a good band play.

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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, August 30, 2003 at 7:45 PM (EDT)
My Score:

Though I kind of agree, don't say that to one of these rabid Cursive fans.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, August 30, 2003 at 5:06 PM (EDT)
My Score:

the sex pistols are the only punk rock band around today. everything else is hogwash.

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, August 30, 2003 at 3:41 AM (EDT)
My Score:

"is it just me or do the sex pistols suck ass"

Its just you and your fellow NFG fanclub members

Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, August 30, 2003 at 2:51 AM (EDT)
My Score:

they suck ass, unlike the band assuck.

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, August 28, 2003 at 10:35 PM (EDT)
My Score:

is it just me or do the sex pistols suck ass

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, August 28, 2003 at 10:00 PM (EDT)
My Score:

The Professionals:

The guitarist and drummer of the Pistols in glam make up. No thank you.

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, August 28, 2003 at 8:45 PM (EDT)
My Score:

I saw the Sex Pistols live at the Fleetboston Pavillion in Boston, first gig of their reunion tour. They were fucking brilliant and proved just how shitty the newer generation of punk rock music is.

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, August 28, 2003 at 8:01 PM (EDT)
My Score:

the professionals soooooooo didn't suck!!

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, August 28, 2003 at 5:56 PM (EDT)
My Score:

is the runioun tour over?!?! how come i didn't hear about this? is it coming to atlanta...someone tell me!!!

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, August 28, 2003 at 5:15 PM (EDT)
My Score:

To the guy below:

It may have to do with the fact that they were a guy like Iggy Pop. They might figure they might get a big crowd, and draw big money and get away with shit like that.

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, August 28, 2003 at 1:18 AM (EDT)
My Score:

i saw thursday open up for iggy pop a couple weeks ago at the same venue- jones beach-- thursday tshirts were 30 bucks and so were the trucker hats--- needless to say no one was on the line- id say there was maybe 200 people there max when thursday played it was empty and after they played a good portion of them left-- i got 4th row seats day of the show for 10 bucks-- how are shows like this profitable?

Posted by LushJ on 2003-08-27 21:16:24
My Score:

I saw that 1996 tour down at the suburban San Francisco show. They were solid as all get out- sonically it's a good thing Sid's not around to muck up their tunes. Johnny was really entertaining, showing why he essentially trademarked the descriptioin "snotty frontman". They played "Never Mind The Bullocks" and one or 2 non-LP covers, and that was that. It was like seeing a live, better-produced version of that record.
No use in seeing it again, especially not for $45 (!), even though this time there's 2 rad openers (the first time was... Goldfinger). That 1996 show was not in the top 50 shows I've seen by any stretch of the imagination. Maybe in the top 150. The other survivors of the class of 77 like The Ramones and Joe Strummer/Mescaleros and The Damned and Johnny Thunders were all much much more entertaining in the last decade or so.

Stay home, buy some beer, and blast "Never Mind The Bollocks"- why fuck with perfection?

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 at 7:11 AM (EDT)
My Score:

OOH WHOOOO!! A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY GOES OUT TO GLEN MATLOCK, who on this, the 27th day of August, turns 47!!!
-Janelle

...yes you can count on me for the not-so-relevant facts...

Hey oh yeah, a birthday wish to my Spaniard Carlos Moya too; good luck at the Open today, my friend! Viva la Armada Espana!!!

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 at 2:07 AM (EDT)
My Score:

lengthy review to say the least. but intresting

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 at 12:59 AM (EDT)
My Score:

Why do you think Blackout is such a pussy excuse for an album? For arena tours of course.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 9:49 PM (EDT)
My Score:

"Dropkick Murphys are a great live band that are perfect for an arena"

perfect for an arena? what the fuck are you talking about?

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 8:58 PM (EDT)
My Score:

rhh was descent, dkm sucked which made me sad, and i left half way through the sex pistols, cause i knew they would blow.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 6:51 PM (EDT)
My Score:

how much was merch at this show. last night in toronto pistols were charging 45$!!! for a shirt

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 6:01 PM (EDT)
My Score:

"Glen Matlock looked like he was right out of a cock rock band as he swayed his hips with the music and winked at the women in the front row. Steve Jones and Paul Cook, not suprisingly, made up the backbone of the band as they provided the only real talent the band ever had."

Hmmm. I didn't read that. Now it's evident that you know very little about the band you paid nearly 50 bucks to see... If they ever had very little talent... Glenn Matlock was that talent. He is actually a great bass player, and his post-Pistols band the Rich Kids make a great debut LP... Steve Jones and Paul, are, of course, much more entertaining, and his cock rockiness is probably what got him kicked out of the band, but Glenn is the most talented of them all, musically. That's why the Professionals sucked.

-BSD

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 5:23 PM (EDT)
My Score:

I'd see this of course if they came anywhere near where I lived, because I'm not so strapped for cash. Yes, sit down shows suck. Yes, Johnny Rotten is a big hypocrite who never admits he is one. But if you actually apply the rules of your favorite modern bands to the entire bill, you come up with probably one of the best line ups ever... I'm not crazy about DKM, but they're a good Sham 69 type band... And the Pistols, as I said, are all fakes, but when it comes down to it, their "political" (if you can call them that) songs were basically jokes... Read the lyrics and you know that... Musically, they're tighter than ever... Sounds like a great show.

-BSD

Posted by TheOneTrueBill on 2003-08-26 15:22:51
My Score:

"despite being confined to a chair" $47.50 charge = No me at the show.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 2:49 PM (EDT)
My Score:

"The DKM cover song was most likely "If I Was A Carpenter" by Johnny Cash. Stephanie (Merch girl and singer on The Dirty Glass) sings that song with Al."

so they do have taste in music.
that's probably the best duet ever written.

Posted by OnTheAttack on 2003-08-26 13:30:24
My Score:

The DKM cover song was most likely "If I Was A Carpenter" by Johnny Cash. Stephanie (Merch girl and singer on The Dirty Glass) sings that song with Al.

Posted by Shindo on 2003-08-26 13:10:22
My Score:

I saw them in toronto last night and had a great time. Rotten has quite the stage presence. It sucks that you americans got stuck with such a high ticket price. I wouldn't have paid that.

-adam

Posted by BeaArthur on 2003-08-26 12:53:05
My Score:

So the Sex Pistols reunion tour. I admit it, I'm a sucker and I shelled out $47.50 to check it out. Being born 5 years too late, I figured this was my one chance to check the Pistols out live for myself. Finally see what all the fuss is about.

How old are you? They did a reunion in '96. Seeing them on that tour taught me not to go see this one.

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 at 12:48 PM (EDT)
My Score:

Musical backbone = Glen Matlock, my friend. Well, at least back in the early days. Steve and Paul are fine musicians now, but back then - Matlock all the way!!!! And he never had hard feelings when they kicked him out (supposedly for liking The Beatles, or so the story goes) and ole Sid took his place. He even played bass with Sid, when he was doing his little solo schtick.
-Janelle