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Glen Matlock live at The Ruby Lounge, Manchester
A warm night out at The Ruby Lounge in Manchester. This was my first visit to the venue, located just off Market Street. It's a smart, modern set-up, very impressive. Even more impressive was Glen's performance. After a decade of live acoustic performances (and yes, I was at the very first one at Borders in London), Glen delivers his set with an assured confidence that can only come through the experience he has gained over the years. Glen's voice was particularly strong; he puts passion and power into his delivery which betrays his self belief. Of course, he is blessed with some terrific songs which means he can vary the set from night to night (although you'll always get certain classics). First up was one of four “yet to be released” songs performed tonight, all of which will be included on his forthcoming album, due in the New Year. Somewhere Somehow is a tasty affair with the swagger required to get the show off to a rousing start. Other new songs were spread throughout the set. Yeah Right with its sing-along refrain was thrown into the mix early on as Glen demanded participation from the crowd; and he got it. Nowheresville made its live debut tonight. With more than a hint of punk sensibility, this one can be traced all the way back to Pretty Vacant with a melody befitting of the connection.
Another Matlock masterpiece, which I've raved about for years, is On Something. One of my favourite songs, full stop. It's always a treat to hear this one. No Pistols fan should be missing this from their collection. Glen threw in more nuggets spanning his solo albums; Story of Your Life and A Different World (from Who's He Think He Is When He's At Home?); Mugs Game and Ambition (from Open Mind). Glen introduced Ambition as the “bluesy” moment from his promise of giving us “Something old, something new, something borrowed and something a little bit bluesy.” He reminded us that Iggy Pop regarded this song of his so highly that he recorded it himself. There was more old and borrowed to be had. From his Rich Kids catalogue, a full throttle Burning Sounds (“for those who went to Manchester's Electric Circus in 76 and 77”) and classic single Ghosts Of Princes In Towers, delighted the enthusiastic crowd. What of the Sex Pistols? God Save The Queen was given the rockabilly makeover that's proved popular in Glen's live shows, incorporating audience handclaps. Stepping Stone always galvanises the crowd, how can it fail? Unlike the Steve Jones Pistols version, Glen sticks to the middle eight of the original song, which gives it extra bounce in an acoustic setting. Pretty Vacant closed the set in rousing style. Let's face it, what else could close a Glen Matlock show? Actually, in this instance it was an encore of All Or Nothing! Demands for more brought about this classic Small Faces song. I confess I bought a Small Faces compilation a few years back purely on the strength of hearing Glen perform the song live. One of a rare breed of songs you feel you've known for years the first time you hear it. Sound familiar? A certain Mr Matlock has used this template as inspiration for his own music. One of the greatest song writers of the punk generation, performing songs stripped back to their acoustic glory. Another terrific night of Matlock magic. Review and photographs by Phil Singleton (16th October 2009) Glen Matlock live at Hammersmith Apollo, London (support to Mott The Hoople) Great to see Glen back on this famous stage where the Sex Pistols finally got to play last September. Takes a lot of bottle to be on your own with an acoustic guitar upon this huge space, but Glen went down well. Eight songs in his 30 minutes set of old and new. Lots of the crowd greeted; "this is a song by the Rich Kids" with loud cheers. Always keen to push his more recent material - it all went down well - including brand new track Born Running from the upcoming album. Glen got all the crowd to sing along to a great finale of Pretty Vacant. Set list: Somewhere Somehow, Burning Sounds, Yeah Right, On Something, Ambition, Stepping Stone, Born Running, Pretty Vacant. Glen's UK tour starts next week. Review by Ray Morrissey Glen Matlock
live at The Water Rats,
London
As a lifelong Pistols fan it was with some trepidation that I waited for Glen to come on stage knowing that this was an acoustic show. I need not have worried as he bounded on stage with the enthusiasm of someone half his age and from the off it was clear this was going to be an amazing gig. Running through his catalogue of songs spanning 30 years he entertained the crowd with, as he said, something new, something old, something borrowed and something blue, interspersed with his inimitable humor which won over the crowd immediately and kept everyone riveted to the front of the stage until the final rousing encore of the Small Faces classic All or Nothing. The acoustic versions of God Save the Queen and Pretty Vacant will rank as highlights in my musical memory banks and to hear there Rich Kids classic Ghost of Princes in Towers again after all this time brought a tear to my eye. Best of all though was a song called Born Running which he mentioned as being from his new album. A classic guitar intro and one of his strongest tunes to date makes me excited to hear the full band version and the whole of the new album. Rumour has it there is a British tour in the offing for the Autumn which will be the acoustic show and I urge you to get out and support Glen as he is keeping the spirit of Rock and Roll alive. Punk Rock Lives!
Review by Steve Smith Glen Matlock, Mick Jones and Steve Diggle.
Review 1 For the first time for around a year, Glen joined Mick Jones for a jaunty review of their favourite songs. The occasion was the Benefit show for Terry Rawlings held on Sunday at the ever sweaty 100 Club. Earlier had seen a raucous set by the Bermondsey Joyriders followed by the pumped up Steve Diggle. Mr Diggle joined Glen and Mick for a rocking set, which the capacity crowd clearly enjoyed. So did the band & we were entertained royally. There was even homage to the Shadows, where the band joked their way through the famous stepping dance. For the last song, the Kinks' drummer, Mick Avory jumped on stage for a hot version of You Really Got Me. Afterwards the opinion of the audience was we demand to see this band again and again. Pure magic. Review by Sid Boggle
Review by Simon Leppington
A trek out to deepest South London to see Glen's first London show since he drew a massive crowd at the Isle Of Wight Festival a couple of weeks ago. The venue is a big old pub with rock 'n' roll stamped all over it. Glen is on stage for just under an hour and the crowd are very receptive. A great mix of solo material along with Sex Pistols, Rich Kids and a couple of covers. Glen has a knack of giving a great introduction to each song that makes the crowd want to sing along with him. This means the crowd end up singing along just as loud to solo material as Pistols classics. Glen added a new song to his acoustic set, Rock Chick, that went down well. A very enjoyable evening. Full setlist: Somewhere Somehow, A Different World, Burning Sounds, Yeah Right, Ambition, God Save The Queen, Idiot, On Something, Rock Chick, Stepping Stone, Pretty Vacant. Encore: All Or Nothing. Glen's next London show is at The Monto Water Rats, Kings Cross on Monday 3rd Aug 2009. |
Born Running, which is under consideration for the forthcoming album title, is set to be regarded as a Matlock masterpiece. This motors with a power chord sequence that takes you back beyond Punk to the days of Glam Rock. Glen knows how to harness energy, and when it's contained in a song like Born Running the outcome is a killer. 
After a long wait in a sweaty club in Kings Cross enduring several very loud support acts the stage was finally cleared for the headline act Glen Matlock.
