Sex Pistols - January 10, 1978 Longhorn Ballroom

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Pavilion/9373/dallas.html

Tuesday, January 10, 1978
Dallas, Texas - Longhorn Ballroom



"They said no one could be more bizarre than Alice Cooper, or more destructive than Kiss... they have not seen the Sex Pistols. Tuesday night, Stone City Attractions presents live, the Sex Pistols. Banned in their own home country, England's Sex Pistols, denied admittance to the United States, the Sex Pistols bring the new wave to the Metroplex this Tuesday night, in the Longhorn Ballroom. They said it couldn't happen, but it happens Tuesday night: the Sex Pistols, live." - Radio promo

By this point in the tour, Sid Vicious, the least talented member of the band, was receiving most of the 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 hit the bottle hard before the show tonight. Being in Texas once again, he and Johnny found it appropriate to mock the "cowboys" in attendance. About half of the 1,800 in the crowd were fans, and the other half were country & western 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, a love-fest compared to the volatile San Antonio show. John wore an ugly pink shirt and a black glove for most of the show, while Steve wore all black, including boots, spurs, and a sheriff's star. With "Gimme a Fix" on his bare chest, Sid barely played his bass and seemed more interested in jumping around instead of performing music. Plastic cups and other assorted objects flew toward the stage for the duration of the performance. (No glass bottles were sold.) The show was all about spectacle; music was secondary.

At the end of "Holidays in the Sun," Sid got head-butted by a overzealous fan and received a bloody nose. Instead of wiping up the mess, he let the blood flow down his body, smearing it on his face and spitting it into the crowd. Johnny remarked, "Look at that... a living circus." During "Pretty Vacant," Sid 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 hapless crowd. The other band members continued the show. Although he contributed next to nothing musically, Sid knew he was stealing Johnny Rotten's limelight, which was more important to him at that point.

After a blistering version of "Anarchy in the U.S.A.," the band left the stage, and, surprisingly, the crowd yelled for more. As the band reappeared for an encore, Sid showed the audience an obscene gesture and Steve yelled, "You must be mad to want more of us!" In the middle of "No Fun," Steve confronted a heckler by throwing a couple punches and jabbing him with the headstock of his guitar.

The next morning, the Dallas newspaper 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

According to wikipedia...

'In January 1978 the Sex Pistols embarked on a US tour, consisting mainly of dates in America's Deep South. Though originally scheduled for December 1977, it was delayed due the US authorities reluctance to issue visas to band members with criminal records.[48] Though highly anticipated by fans and media, the tour was plagued by in-fighting,[48] poor planning and physically hostile audiences.[49] Malcolm McLaren has admitted that he purposely booked redneck bars to create those hostile situations.[28]

Over the course of the two-weeks, Vicious, by now chronically addicted to heroin,[50] began to live up to his stage name. According to Rotten: "He finally had an audience of people who would behave with shock and horror. Sid was easily led by the nose."[11] Early in the tour, Sid wandered off from his Holiday Inn in Memphis, Tennessee, looking for drugs. He was found in a Memphis hospital with the words "Gimme a fix" self-carved in his chest with a razor. During a concert in San Antonio, Texas, Vicious called the audience "a bunch of fa***ts", before striking a member of the audience across the head with his bass guitar.[50] In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he received simulated oral sex on stage, later declaring "that’s the kind of girl I like".[51]

Suffering withdrawal symptoms from heroin, Vicious appeared onstage in Dallas, Texas, with the words "Gimme a Fix" still cut into his chest, and spat blood at a female who had climbed on stage and punched him in the face.[11] He was admitted to hospital later that night to treat injuries resulting from his wounds. Offstage he is said to have kicked a female photographer, attacked a security guard, and was eventually beaten by one of his own bodyguards.[27]

(Picture taken moments before the concert in Dallas)

About half of the show is available on YouTube. The band came out and did an encore performance of No Fun--one of the greatest performances EVER--but the video was removed just a few days ago.


EMI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqzU5AygmJM

Bodies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjyqpxkKJCM

Belsen Was A Gas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Yf_ZxXugPo

Holidays In The Sun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iB-eetwPPJA
Sid is head-butted by a fan at the END of this song.

No Feelings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfdaW1BMtu0

Problems
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lQfyEeIIXU
'This song's called problems for all you Cowboys.'

Pretty Vacant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yhlx0-LLDE0

Anarchy In The UK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5azestHEYIg
This is the best performance I've EVER seen/heard of this..plus, Sid and Steve's taunting of the crowd is sooo priceless.

I'm not sure if I should tell the journalist who wrote the first review you posted to fuck off, or if I should be laughing along with some sort of joke I looked over. Sid Vicious owns.

Well, Sid DOES pwn. You're correct about that. But...the "joke" is that he hardly knew how to play the bass at all--or any other instrument for that matter. His amp was often unplugged during concerts () and Jones recorded the bass parts for the albums.

'In his time with the Sex Pistols, Sid was renowned for his lack of ability to play the bass. When Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones was asked why he instead of Vicious recorded the bass parts of Never Mind The Bollocks, Jones responded "Sid was in a hospital with hepatitis so he couldn't really play, not that he could play anyway". At times during performances, other band members would unplug Sid's bass because his playing was so bad. [3] Lemmy, the bassist of Motörhead, was asked by Sid to teach him how to play bass with the words, "I can't play bass," to which Lemmy replied "I know." In another interview Lemmy stated "Yeah. It was all uphill. And he still couldn't play bass when he died." [-wiki]

"When Sid joined he couldn't play guitar but his craziness fit into the structure of the band. He was the knight in shining armour with a giant fist."[27] Lydon later recalled: "The first rehearsals with Sid were hellish. Everyone agreed he had the look. Sid tried real hard... but boy, he couldn't play bass."[11] [-wiki]

I'm well aware, but that's part of the beauty of punk rock. If he had any sort of musicianship, charisma, or even charm, he'd probably lose half of his appeal.

EDIT: By the way, I wasn't pissed off that the guy was attacking his bass skills (or lack there of), but the comments about him being more concerned with his ego than the band.

Ya, I figured you're aware of that, llc. I was just using the opportunity to interject the information for those who aren't.

Well, I think we should still find out where this journalist lives and kill his dog.

I dunno where he lives but I think his name is Michael George.

Hey LLC, have you ever seen the Pistols final song of their final performance?? Lydon hints that he's tired of the band and is ready to leave. It's very interesting..

Sex Pistols the Last gig 14.1.1978 - No Fun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP71Kzdm6-8

The fucker. Sounds like a dope-smoking Lebanese bastard that would sell cigarettes to minors.



I haven't seen it. Thanks for the heads up.