Public Image Ltd at The White Rock Theatre

Public Image Ltd at the White Rock. Outrageous!

Over the years, John Lydon (nee Rotten) has become something of a national treasure. A kind of punk Dame Judi Dench (in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if they shared the same hair stylist.) The forming of Public Image Ltd (or PIL) was initially Lydon’s response to the acrimonious break up and demise of the Sex Pistols in 1978. Andrew Logan saw them recently at the White Rock Theatre.

And what better place than Hastings for this former Sex Pistol to be strutting his stuff. An artiste and a location both capable of unashamedly producing a sharp intelligence, infinite creativity, oodles of avant-garde fashion and that indefinable element summed up in American educationalist Edgar Friedenberg’s quote ‘It takes a kind of shabby arrogance to survive in our time, and a fairly romantic nature to want to.’

For me, there was something beautifully ironic about arriving at a Public Image Limited gig and immediately making headway for the auditorium seating upstairs, to find a comfy seat, kick back and relax. Yay!! Be very afraid, establishment. ‘Anarchy in the UK’ (or perhaps ‘Arthritis in the UK’ would be more appropriate!)

The majority of the audience, mostly in their fifties and sixties, were an up for it crowd of punk pensioners, many dressed for the occasion in fishnets, chains and other elements of kink and bondage which was so popular back in the day. So, here we all were, in the presence of one of the most innovative of post-punk bands ever, pulling in crowds keen to relive their misspent youth of glue sniffing and hanging around street corners, frightening old ladies. And why not?

I was wondering what an appropriate headline might be for such an event? ‘Outrage as old man spits and swears in Hastings Theatre’ perhaps?

John Lydon

On his grand entrance, in an oversized shamrock jacket held together with equally oversized safety pins (‘punk couture’ anybody?) Mr. Lydon suggested that that he would need a tipple to get going, finding himself in such a dead end town as Hastings. ‘Outrageous!’ I thought and so did the rest of the audience who proceeded to boo him with delight.

Throughout the two hour set that followed, Mr. Lydon stomped, gyrated, postured and spat his way through a wonderful array of PIL favourites, both old and new. Backed by his wholly reliable, yet somehow less visible musical support in the form of Lu Edmonds, Scott Firth and Mark Roberts. Each time Mr. Lydon spat (or closed one nostril to deposit the contents of the other) onstage, I thought how it might be to scoop this up and present it to the Institute of Contemporary Arts, framed? Outrageous!

Opening with Order of Death – the last song on PIL’s fourth album (with its intended or otherwise nod to audience expectations – This is what you want, this is what you get – a line taken verbatim from the 1983 film Copkiller, which starred Lydon himself, alongside Harvey Keitel), the 13 track set also included Deeper Water – from 2012’s This is PIL, an exploration into the depths of uncharted oceanic creativity, well placed in its use of the symbolism of the sea, World Destruction – a powerful rendition of the 1984 collaboration between Lydon and Afrika Bambaata’, Death Disco – a kind of dub/dance eulogy to Lydon’s late mother who sadly died of cancer, Flowers of Romance – the angst drenched title track from PIL’s more experimental third studio album, This is not a Love Song – the band’s biggest commercial success, peaking at No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart, The Body – an altogether disturbing exploration of abortion and abuse, with it’s hark back to the Pistols equally unsettling track Bodies and Shoom – the rather excellent, humorous and totally get up and dance if you haven’t already final track from the 2015 album What the World Needs Now… in which we were all invited to join in with a rousing chorus of ‘**** off! **** off! **** off!’ Which everyone seemed to appreciate and enjoy immensely. Outrageous!

PIL closed the set with a phenomenal tub-thumping version of their very first single – Public Image – believed at the time of release to be something of a swipe at Sex Pistols manager, Machiavellian Svengali wannabe, the late Malcolm Mclaren.

At 69, Mr. Lydon still commands an intense stage presence, carrying a maniacal energy and exhibiting an exceptional range of theatrical posturing from cartoonesque musical super-hero to angry and constipated tortoise.

We were treated to a three song encore (after Mr. Lydon had taken a fag break) which included the sublime Bill Laswell collaboration – Rise – a song about Apartheid and Nelson Mandela, which focuses on the phrase ‘may the road rise with you’, a direct translation of the old Irish blessing “go n-éirí an bóthar leat” or may your journey be successful for you.

John Lydon

Without doubt, tonight’s journey at the White Rock Theatre had been immensely successful. The alchemy of both performers and audience was electrifying and the overall energy of all involved made it a real blast of wired rock’n’roll jouissance. Mr. Lydon acted as a human tuning fork whom the entire audience were totally resonating with. Jumping and thrashing about. There was even the whiff of a minor skirmish in the stalls, but nothing that drew blood. Anger is an energy.

By the end of the evening, a little the worse for wear on overpriced lager and dancing like a mad thing on a slightly arthritic knee, I chanced my luck at being granted an audience with the man himself, to find out what he really thought of Hastings. But after being passed up the venue’s food chain as far as the theatre stage manager, I was politely informed that tonight, this would sadly not be possible. ****ing outrageous!!

* Photos by Andrew Logan

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