A final farewell for the Sex Pistols?
By THOMAS BOND
Get Out
Sept. 9, 2003

If you take Johnny Rotten at his word, 700-or-so souls at the Marquee
Theatre were witness to a landmark event.

"This is the last Sex Pistols show ever!" snarled the singer - the very face
of punk rock - part way through his band's blistering set. "Enjoy it!"

And the assembled - ranging from pre-teens to retirement age - did just
that, singing along with all twelve songs from the band's debut, "Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols" which is now, amazingly, 26 years old.

More important, the band seemed to be genuinely enjoying playing the
soundtrack of a musical revolution that reverberates to this day. Hardly an exercise in nostalgia - and certainly not a cash-in playing in such a small venue - the band's first ever show in the Valley was a sheer celebration.

"I can't believe I'm seeing this," said Chris Hansen Orf, 37, of Scottsdale,
a longtime local musician with the Cartwheels and Zen Lunatics. "It's like
Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one."

Taking the stage in colorful and irreverent outfits - bassist Glen Matlock
and guitarist Steve Jones sported a Union Jack and England's St. George's cross flag across their posteriors, respectively - the Pistols broke into "Bodies."

Throughout the night, drummer Paul Cook laid down a strong back beat which Jones locked into with the power chords that launched thousands of bands.

Rotten paced about the stage and threw his classic maniacal stares and blew snot rockets at choice moments. In 2003, he looks more like a dear demented uncle than the threat to the very fabric of society he was viewed as a quarter-century ago, but to his credit he knows as much and plays it up campily.

Highlights of the Pistols' set included "God Save the Queen," which featured an audience sing-along with its "no future" refrain and Rotten sneering his way through "Liar." The band closed strong with the sarcastic "Holidays in the Sun," punk anthem "Pretty Vacant" and record company kiss-off "EMI."

The single encore began with "Anarchy in the UK." The song broke down
shortly into it with Jones needing to switch guitars, but Rotten didn't miss
a beat leading the audience in an a cappella version and substituting "USA" for "UK." With Jones' instrument back in the mix, the song reached a roiling crescendo. Following that fury, "Problems" was anticlimactic and the songs should have been reversed in order.

Should the show actually turn out to be the Sex Pistols final farewell, the
band went out with an appropriate bang and can rest easy in the knowledge that new generations recognize them as the punk progenitors they are.

"This was historical," said Alexandria Bowler of Gilbert, who at 16 wasn't
alive to see the original punk explosion but knows the genre's family tree. "I love the music and traced it back to its source."

Local punk quartet the Glass Heroes turned in a stellar opening set of
original material and showed their affinity for punk's pioneers with covers
of Chelsea and The Saints. For leader Keith Jackson, it was the chance to
perform with his own living, breathing heroes.

"It means a lot," he said after the show. "This comes full circle for Glass
Heroes."

Set list:
Bodies
Seventeen
New York
No Feelings
God Save the Queen
Belsen Was a Gas
No Fun (Stooges cover)
Liar
Submission
Holidays in the Sun
Pretty Vacant
EMI

Encore:
Anarchy in the UK
Problems