REVIEW: Never mind 50 years – Sex Pistols prove punk’s still full of anarchy at Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Half a century after they exploded onto the music scene, Sex Pistols still pack a ferocious punk punch with Frank Carter out front, as lifelong fan Neil Anderson discovered.
There is an obvious question hanging over any Sex Pistols show without John Lydon: can it really be the Sex Pistols
Within seconds of the opening barrage at Scarborough Open Air Theatre, the question felt largely irrelevant.
The outdoor setting could hardly have been more different from the cramped, sweaty clubs where punk first took root.
Yet beneath the evening sky, with thousands gathered in the open air amphitheatre, the songs lost none of their menace.
The Undertones opened proceedings with a sharp, joyous reminder of punk’s melodic side.
Teenage Kicks remains one of the most perfect singles ever committed to vinyl, while Here Comes the Summer and My Perfect Cousin brought an irresistible burst of youthful energy to the Scarborough crowd.
The Stranglers followed with a darker and more muscular performance. Their catalogue has always sat slightly apart from punk’s accepted boundaries, and songs including Peaches, No More Heroes and Always The Sun demonstrated both their range and their enduring ability to command a large audience.
Then came the main event.
With original Pistols Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock supplying the unmistakable musical backline, and Frank Carter attacking the songs with the of a man who has spent his life waiting for this opportunity, this was less a tribute to punk’s past than a full-blooded celebration of its survival.
Carter wisely makes no attempt to imitate Johnny Rotten’s sneer. Instead, he brings his own personality: part street preacher, part ringmaster and part human hand grenade.
He prowled the stage and injected songs approaching their 50th birthday with startling urgency.
Holidays in the Sun, Bodies, Pretty Vacant, God Save the Queen and Anarchy in the UK arrived like cultural depth charges, Jones’s guitar still possessing that thick, brutal wallop while Cook and Matlock powered everything forward with magnificent economy.
For those of us who discovered the Pistols as teenagers, the emotional impact was considerable.
Hearing these songs thunder across a packed seaside amphitheatre should perhaps have felt like nostalgia. Instead, it felt strangely current.
Purists may continue arguing over whether the Pistols can exist without Lydon.
Let them.
On a summer evening in Scarborough, Jones, Cook, Matlock and Carter delivered the most persuasive answer possible: a thrilling rock ’n’ roll show.
Never mind 50 years. Punk sounded gloriously alive beneath the open sky.
BUY TICKETS: View more great shows heading to Scarborough Open Air Theatre and to buy tickets visit www.scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Also visit promoters Cuff And Taylor’s website at www.cuffeandtaylor.com.
Sex Pistol 2026 dates:
Dec 9, Wed: Edinburgh Corn Exchange
Dec 10, Thu: O2 Academy Glasgow
Dec 18, Fri: London, O2 Academy Brixton
Dec 20, Sun: London, Eventim Apollo
Tickets for all venues at www.ticketmaster.co.uk.
READ MORE: