Public Image Limited - Glasgow, 02 Academy 18th December 2009.
Exclusive reviews by John Murphy and Steven Black

Review by Steven Black: Like everyone else heading to Glasgow I was curious, excited and hoping for a concert that would last in my memory for years to come. As the night unfolded it was obvious to a PiL fan like myself this was going to be a special evening. Met up with a few like minded PiL fans pre gig for a few beers then off to the venue. Had the pleasure of meeting Bobe from the God Save The Sex Pistols Forum as well just before the band came on. Concert started with Public Image with John complaining to the sound guys as he could not hear himself on the monitors. It did not seem to bother anyone inside the hall as it become apparent most people, not all I may add, were here to see PiL and not Johnny Rotten who in days gone by always played a Pistols number at any PiL gig I had been to. The songs flowed from an excellent band; Lu was every bit as good as any previous PiL guitarist, in fact he stepped up to the mark and other members were forgotten as he played a varied amount of instruments throughout. Bruce and Scott were powerful in their delivery as well....the band sounded as good as the original line up in this live arena. John...well he is the ultimate performer, he has a knack of making you feel part of the emotion of the whole evening. Everything from laughter to hate, some of his delivery was jaw dropping. Death Disco was haunting yet danceable with all four members contributing to an excellent sound. The usual set list from all the other gigs...stand outs - and there were many - when it would have been so easy to churn out a greatest hits tour; Careering, Poptones, Albatross, Flowers, Warrior a quite outstanding Religion... more bass Walter ha ha! Another thing that I really enjoyed were Lydon solo; Psycopath and Sun were different but still most people were singing along to these songs. Of course a bit of Lydon banter always keeps the punters going as well... during Warrior he said "I am a real Warrior, not like that wanker Mel Gibson"; laughs all around. Various others throughout the night... mainly having a go at the Scotland football team that was met with a loud chorus of boos... only in Glasgow would John get away with that! The songs came to an end with the usual encore... and I was buzzing with what I had just witnessed - well my eardrums were from that bass on Religion! I went for a bite to eat and saw the tour bus. Me and my mate Tich decided we would wait a little while on the off chance we could maybe meet some of the band for pics and signing any memorbilia we had. It was a very cold evening and just as we were about to give up hope a few people started to board the bus. Lu Edmonds was first out and he spoke to everyone who waited. John appeared and took his time to speak to everyone who waited; he seemed geniuinely appreciative of those of us who waited. A lad next to me got his armed signed and he told John he was going to get it tattooed in the morning; thats when John asked if anyone saw the tattoo of Claude (see Leeds review page). I said I had seen it but it looked quite sore; he agreed! Got pic taken by Rambo, thanks Rambo!... John and the rest of the band signed my ticket - John also signed my PiL t-shirt. He was excellent with everyone... The lad that got his arm signed had no camera so I obliged and took a pic of him and John as well and gave him my email address. On a freezing night about 12.15am John and the band spent a good half hour before they boarded the bus that was leaving for Manchester... as he made his way to the bus he started to sing to the fans that were left a stirring rendition of "You take the high road and I will Take the low road...I will get to Scotland before thee.." It was one of those moments! The whole evening from start to finish was a success. PiL have in my eyes proven the doubters wrong with excellent live shows throughout the country. I honestly hope this band stay together and tour a little more.The live cds of the shows are an excellent idea, I will purchase a few, just a pity Glasgow was not recorded. Above: Steven Black pictured with John
Review Two Below
Review by John Murphy: I set out last night on a bitterly cold 'Black Friday' from my home city of Edinburgh to Glasgow to witness John Lydon's return with PIL, who I never saw live in any of their previous incarnations. Arriving off the train at 8pm I had envisaged jumping straight in a cab outside Queen St Station to the O2 Academy but with the streets being full of drunken office workers the 15 minute wait was making me nervous so I tried walking along the street to catch a cab but none were about. I returned to the rank at the train station, where the girl who had been immediately behind me in the queue was stepping into a cab-bollocks! As I waited again I was growing more and more frustrated by 8.30 and got talking to another two PIL fans in the queue. Finally a cab appeared, picked me and the other two PIL fans I'd just met, and crawled through the busy streets. The typical Glaswegian taxi driver's lively banter might have appealed at another time but under these circumstances I felt like shouting 'just fucking drive please'! Finally (you'll be glad to read) I arrived at the venue at 8.45 and walked in to hear no music (phew, what a relief). Pint procured I made my way through the full but not packed main floor to a vantage point about 80% to the stage. I noted a slightly different type of crowd to the Pistols reunions with more what I would call Guardian types in attendance . Lights down and the band enter and hit Public Image. Just like the Pistols shows though John fucks the lyrics up several times and then moans about the monitors through the song (oh dear is this going to go tits up I think to myself). After the opener John requests a breather for the sound to be sorted but it appears it never was as John commented later that he would carry on regardless. A superb rendition of Poptones follows (I think, I'm not going to recheck the running order) and then merges into a brilliant This Is Not A Love Song which has me and the rest of the audience swaying and singing with glee. Right now ha ha ha ha the band are oiled up and smoothly running! There then follows one of the best and most memorable gigs I shall ever witness. One thing which hit me was John looks so much better with PIL than he does with the Pistols. I have to say I felt at the last two Pistols outings he was starting to look hammy and a bit pantomime especially with his country life outfit at Brixton. He looks much more powerful and relevant with PIL however and it dawns on me I am watching him saving his career and regaining his place in history! Death Disco was the highlight of the night. It was a phenomenal experience with the crescendo at the climax taking me out of this world. The rest of the audience must have felt it too as a wave of euphoria swept through the crowd towards the end of the song. I'm not sure if John's tears were all that genuine but it did add to the performance, incredible. The balance of the set was great with later classics like Disappointed and Warrior merging well with the well represented Metal Box material and surprises like Psychopath and Sun from John's 1997 solo album (I was surprised how many in the crowd knew these songs as I've never met anyone else who has the solo album before). The awesome finale of Rise and Open up topped off a long two hour set which I felt did not drag on at any point. Annalisa and Religion had come as welcome forgotten classics near the end of the main set and roused the crowd out of any tiredness. A simply fantastic gig. Only down side was the two twats who kept shouting 'Anarchy' after every song. Fuck sake guys the Pistols have toured enough. Give it a rest! Why would you want to pay £45 to go to a gig and shout and moan all the way through it! ? It said Public Image Ltd on the tickets you doughballs. Quick exit from venue without missing a note of music and I caught a taxi to the station where I even managed a pint before the last train. A top night!
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