Frank Carter and the Sex Pistols at the Forum

It’s pretty amazing to be standing in the Kentish Town Forum in 2024 waiting for Britain’s most influential punk band the Sex Pistols to come on stage. That is, the Sex Pistols minus their original frontman John Lydon AKA Johnny Rotten, however. While his presence is notably missed, it’s hard to think of a better present-day replacement than the impressive stage presence of Rattlesnakes singer Frank Carter.

Playing their sole and genre-defining album Never Mind the Bollocks in full, Paul Cook, Glen Matlock, Steve Jones and Carter are late on stage tonight, but that’s through no fault of their own. We are informed at around 9.15pm that there’s been a medical emergency but the show will start very soon – what the medical emergency is and who it involved is unclear, but the band are all fine. Having to wait that little bit longer doesn’t matter, it just makes it all the more exciting when the band eventually appear.

Carter is suitably ferocious in his delivery, while the band sound even better than you could imagine. When you think of live punk music it can conjure up a tinny stripped-back experience, but tonight the Sex Pistols songs sound fuller and louder than ever, and the atmosphere is electric.

Opener Holidays in the Sun is met with a palpable and euphoric release from the audience, and all the anxiety from the band’s delay instantly dissipates. Pretty Vacant is a considerable highlight, as Carter snarls “Oh we’re so pretty / Oh so pretty / We’re vacant”. The song was written by bass player Matlock, inspired by the desperation and hopelessness of a young generation growing up in the 70s, and looking around tonight it’s clear most of the crowd is from that very generation – with no less energy it seems.

God Save the Queen plays perfectly to an already giddied-up mob, and there’s a welcome cover of The Stooges’s 1969 song No Fun. It’s a relief that the band can play their full set even though they came on stage about half an hour late. After Carter gives a heartfelt performance of the infamous Sex Pistols cover of My Way, the set closes with the explosive Anarchy in the UK.

While there has been pre-emptive talk amongst the fans that tonight won’t be the same without Lydon, it doesn’t feel like it could have been any better. Luckily, Carter has managed to fill Lydon’s boots easily, and Cook, Jones and Matlock have played superbly. As fists start to fly and another paramedic is called for a crowd member, the set ends with chaos all around it, but everything that happened on stage tonight was immeasurable. For tonight at least, punk was alive and well.

Hannah Broughton
Photo: Courtesy of the Sex Pistols

For further information and future events visit the Sex Pistols’s website here.

Watch the video for the single God Save the Queen here: