Thursday, January 5, 1978 Great Southeast Music Hall
The Sex Pistols played to about 500 people at their first American show. In attendance were fans, journalists, onlookers, and law enforcement agents. Future R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck snuck into the concert, but was kicked out after only a few songs. Many people in attendance had heard stories about British punk rock but were not familiar with the Sex Pistols in particular. There was a rumor that the band killed hamsters onstage, among other far-fetched suggestions. A good number of people expected grubby street punks with mohawk hairdos to walk onstage. Only Sid lived up to most people's expectations, and even he was relatively well-behaved tonight. "See what kind of fine, upstanding youth England is chucking out these days?," Johnny said about himself and his band. "You can all stop staring at us now. We're ugly and we know it." "Johnny Rotten's stare was demonic, his expression sneering, and his shoulders ominously hunched," reported Tony Schwartz in Newsweek. "Sid Vicious, pasty-skinned and anemic-looking, seemed more catatonic than cantankerous, rousing himself only to blow his nose stage right. Guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook looked clean-cut enough to have played in the '50s style band that opened the show." "You bleedin' bunch of statues!," Johnny said to the unanimated crowd at one point. "I have never seen an audience like you bleedin' rotters." Overall, the first show of the tour was seen as a disappointment. Steve's guitar was out of tune, and the band didn't hold together very well. The crowd also remained quite contolled, nothing compared to what was in store for the Pistols later in the tour.
Set list
God Save the Queen
I Wanna Be Me Seventeen
New York
Bodies
Submission
Holidays in the Sun
EMI
No Feelings
Problems
Pretty Vacant
Anarchy in the U.S.A.
Friday, January 6, 1978 Taliesyn Ballroom
Over 900 tickets were sold for the Memphis gig. Unfortunately, the ballroom's full capacity was 725. A small riot ensued outside the venue when fans were denied seeing the Sex Pistols. Sid went on a search for drugs hours before the band was supposed to play. The show was delayed a couple hours. When they did go on about 11 PM, the band gave an average show with minimal violence and verbal abuse. "I hear you all listen to Dolly Parton down here," Johnny Rotten said. "Are you still celebrating Elvis's birthday?" During the show, audience members began throwing various objects onstage. Johnny responded: "I'm not here for your amusement, you're here for mine. So behave yourself and don't throw things at me. I don't like it." Dave Schulps gave the performance a glowing review in Sounds. "The Sex Pistols gave what I consider one of the best rock 'n' roll shows I've ever seen. Most of the audience seemed to agree, reacting wildly to every move they made. Johnny Rotten leered manically into the mass before him and danced spasmodically, at times resembling a chimp swinging from vine to vine. Sid Vicious constantly spat on the stage and occasionally jumped up like a kewpie doll in shock treatment. A few shook their heads and left quietly. There was no violence. Not a single person was injured... or corrupted." At the end of the show, a SWAT team invaded the ballroom to control any possible outbreaks of violence. Again, a relatively controlled show, downright tame compared to the next performance. Intrestingly enough, the Taliesyn Ballroom is now a Taco Bell.
Set list
God Save the Queen
I Wanna Be Me
Seventeen
New York
EMI
Bodies
Belsen Was a Gas
Submission
Holidays in the Sun
No Feelings Problems
Pretty Vacant Anarchy in the U.S.A.
No Fun
Sunday, January 8, 1978 Randy's Rodeo
On Sunday night, this former bowling alley was packed with 2,200 rowdy Texans waiting to see what this thing called punk music was all about. Johnny came out wearing a T-shirt depicting two homosexual cowboys, and Sid greeted the crowd with some very unkind remarks. The audience hurled anything onstage that they could get their hands on. Items of choice were spit, popcorn, beer cups, cans, hot dogs, whipped cream, bottles, and pies. Steve and Paul did their best to hold the show together while Sid and Johnny took every possible opportunity to insult and infuriate the crowd. The message carved into Sid's chest summed up his plight: "Gimme A Fix." Johnny blew snot into the crowd, and Steve used his guitar as a weapon against threatening audience members. The audience fought amongst themselves, and one heckler decided to go after the band. He started yelling at Johnny, but John ignored him. The heckler decided to antagonize the next easiest target, Sid. When Sid was hit in the face with a can of beer, the man mocked him. Sid unstrapped his bass and attempted to club him. Instead he hit an innocent bystander. The lights went off and the show was delayed for several minutes. After being escorted out of Randy's, the heckler said, "I don't like what they stand for. They are just sewer rats with guitars." Later in the show, Sid was hit hard enough to receive a bloody nose. The next day, the local paper read: "Sex Pistols win the San Antonio Shoot-Out."
Set list
God Save the Queen
I Wanna Be Me
Seventeen
New York
EMI
Holidays in the Sun
Bodies Belsen Was a Gas
Submission
No Feelings
Problems
Pretty Vacant
Anarchy in the U.S.A.
Monday, January 9, 1978 Kingfish Club
By the time they got to Baton Rouge, the Sex Pistols found themselves in a rut. How could they top the San Antonio Shoot-Out? They wouldn't come close tonight. The audience tonight was comprised mostly of college kids. Although there was still verbal warfare between the audience and the band, the performance at the Kingfish Club was much less assaultive than the show at Randy's the night before. In fact, Sid even got some play from a female fan during "New York." Most of the audience seemed fairly interested in the Sex Pistols' music, and "EMI" even inspired a sing-along. Despite this, apathy plagued the band. Steve seemed particularly bored tonight, introducing the songs without a shred of enthusiasm. Instead of throwing food and trash, the audience threw money. After getting hit with a handful of coins, Johnny said, "If you're gonna throw money, throw dollar bills." During the encores, Sid and Johnny collected over 15 dollars. After the concert, Steve expressed his frustration by refusing to travel with the band on the tour bus.
Set list
God Save the Queen
I Wanna Be Me
Seventeen
New York
EMI
Bodies
Belsen Was a Gas
Submission
Holidays in the Sun
No Feelings
Problems Pretty
Vacant
Anarchy in the U.S.A.
No Fun
Liar
Tuesday, January 10, 1978 Longhorn Ballroom
By this point in the tour, Sid Vicious, the least talented member of the band, was the center of attention onstage. Other members of the band were getting fed up with his narcissistic attitude. Before the show, Steve threatened to punch him for focusing on himself and not the music. Sid had a bit too much to drink before the show tonight. Johnny Rotten remarked, "Look at that, a living circus." Being in Texas once again, Johnny and Sid found it appropriate to mock the "cowboys" in attendance. About half of the 1800 in the crowd were fans, and the other half were country fans defending their territory against these British punks. There were also about 100 police on hand. Tonight's performance was more of a circus than a rock show. John wore an ugly pink shirt and a black glove for most of the show. Steve wore all black, including boots with spurs. With "Gimme A Fix" on his bare chest, Sid barely played a note and seemed more interested in insulting the crowd instead of entertaining them. The show was all about spectacle; music was secondary. Halfway through the set, Sid got head-butted by a rabid fan and received a bloody nose. Instead of wiping up the mess, he let the blood flow all over his face and body. He also spat it into the crowd. As if this wasn't enough, he took a broken bottle and vehemently carved his chest. Iggy would've been proud. He removed the pus-soaked bandage from his arm and threw it into the crowd. The other band members continued the show. Only one string remained on Sid's bass, but it didn't matter: he knew that he was a rock star. He was receiving loads of attention and stealing Johnny Rotten's limelight. The next morning, the Dallas newpaper read: "Most of the people last night came to see the people who came to see the Sex Pistols."
Set list
God Save the Queen
I Wanna Be Me
Seventeen
New York
EMI
Bodies
Belsen Was a Gas
Holidays in the Sun
No Feelings
Problems
Pretty Vacant
Anarchy in the U.S.A.
No Fun
Thursday, January 12, 1978 Cain's Ballroom
By the time they got to Oklahoma, the band was clearly split into two groups: Steve and Paul, who contributed the band's only sense of musical unity, and Johnny and Sid, the instigators of the group. At the beginning of the tour, both John and Sid wanted to offend America any way they could. But the more Sid hogged the spotlight, the more John withdrew. Everyone expected John to outrage every American crowd he performed in front of, but, in true punk fashion, he defied the public's expectations. After the Longhorn fiasco, he had given up trying to shock America. The band's show in Tulsa was picketed by 30 protestors including a Baptist pastor, who said, "There is a Johnny Rotten inside each of us, and he doesn't need to be liberated, he needs to be crucified." There were no major brawls at the performance, and the audience of 600 was fairly enthusiastic. As always, objects were thrown at the band, various remarks were exchanged between band and audience, and Steve and Paul provided the band's musical backbone. Steve, obviously not concerned about his rock star image, wore a heavy coat onstage. (He was fighting a cold.) Sid tried hitting an audience member with his bass again but was stopped by the stage crew. After the show, the band travelled to California for what would be their last performance together.
Set list Not available
Saturday, January 14, 1978 Winterland Ballroom
The Sex Pistols played in front of over 5,000 people at the Winterland Ballroom, more people than at all of their previous American dates put together. The audience was comprised of mostly hippies, with a few hundred punks in front, some of whom threw syringes onstage. The crowd was again enthusiastic, but the band was tired of performing and sick of each other. They barely recognized each other's presence onstage. Greil Marcus said the following about the show in Rolling Stone: "The music was all bite: you could reach out and touch every jagged note. It was Steve Jones and Paul Cook who made the noise, and together they were likely the only great two-man band in the history of rock & roll. Spraying the crowd with spit, beer, and mucus, Sid Vicious looked like an English Charlie Starkweather. What was most surprising about Johnny Rotten was his intelligence: intelligence you could read most clearly in his eyes." The All-Music Guide calls this show a "tuneless, tempoless onslaught," and that sums it up pretty effectively. The Sex Pistols didn't invent punk rock, but they almost killed it off tonight. Completely wasted, Sid was on a different planet. He opened the show with a couple of Ramones riffs; it turned out to be the best he could offer musically tonight. He failed to play a single song correctly, and, a couple times, his attempt to play almost disrupted Steve and Paul. Steve's guitar cut out several times during the show, and the overall sound was very poor. In the middle of "Belsen Was a Gas," Johnny let out a scream of horror as if he had just been informed that his mother was the Queen. "Do you want your ears blown out more?," Johnny asked the crowd. "Tell us what it's like to have bad taste." After trudging through the intro to "Bodies," Steve and Paul raced through the song as if their lives depended on it, leaving Sid to senselessly pound his bass strings. During the home stretch of the song, Steve's guitar cut out, leaving Paul to attack his drum kit and Johnny to remark: "I'm not an animal / I'm an abortion... What does that make you?" The band stumbled through "Anarchy in the U.S.A." without a bit of spirit: the Sex Pistols were unravelling right in front of the crowd's eyes. During the final song, "No Fun," Johnny's voice gave out. By the end of the song, instead of singing, he sat on the stage, stared into the crowd, and uttered: "No fun, this is no fun, no fun, it is no fun at all, no fun." When the song ended, Johnny asked the crowd, "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?," said goodnight, and walked offstage. The Sex Pistols were over, and it was the beginning of the end for punk rock. Set list God Save the Queen I Wanna Be Me Seventeen New York EMI Belsen Was a Gas Bodies Holidays in the Sun Liar No Feelings Problems Pretty Vacant Anarchy in the U.S.A. No Fun The band broke up a few days after the Winterland show. Johnny formed a band called Public Image Limited. Steve and Paul continued to play music together. Sid continued down his path of self-destruction. On February 2, 1979, he died of a heroin overdose while awaiting trial for the murder of his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen. He was 21.