Bingley Music Live 2013,PiL Live Review @ Myrtle Park (Bradford) - 04 Sep 2010

Photos: Simon Godley link

Live Review

Here comes Johnny. And he ain't that pleased. He is faced with the ignominy of being second on the bill to James and his band Public Image Limited is only scheduled to play for an hour. To add injury to insult he admits his voice is perhaps not all it could be today and some idiot has just thrown a drink at him. The fact that the drink is an Alcopop, not even a proper alcoholic beverage, only seems to add to his sense of grievance. He berates the offender, seamlessly incorporating his profane, scathing attack on him (or her) into the lyrics of "Albatross". Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is John Lydon.

Once Ash had pulled out and PiL had been added to Saturday's line-up for the fourth annual outing of this festival, it was always going to be an interesting dynamic between these true pioneers of post-punk dub and a crowd largely populated by local families intent on a nice day out in the park and a bunch of boisterous teenagers hell-bent on imbibing as much booze as is humanly possible in the shortest amount of time whilst taking into account the restraints of a strict no alcohol in the arena policy and beer pegged at £3.50 for a paper-cup pint . The fact that PiL were to be on stage at ten past six in the evening was just another factor in this strange, uneasy and unholy alliance.

This was never going to reach those incredibly rarefied heights of the December 2009 reunion shows, where the performances left you grasping for air. It never could do. The time, the place and a mere sixty minutes on stage put paid to that. But it is still magnificently compelling stuff. Mr Lydon tells us "we are here because we love you"; failing to mention that he has blown all of his Country Life earnings on reforming this band he clearly loves after a seventeen year hiatus. They start with "This Is Not a Love Song" segueing into an abridged "Poptones" which, in turn, veers into the taut, thunderous dub of "Albatross" before arriving at a point where a truly sinister "Death Disco" begins. "Flowers of Romance", "Rise" and "Public Image" follow. But this is no lame, greatest hits show. These are huge slabs of industrial strength metal music shifting like glaciers across Myrtle Park on an early evening in late summer. This is uneasy, triumphal listening. Between songs John Lydon lambasts Tony Blair, extols the virtues of football hooliganism and had anybody cared to ask him, would probably have justified his decision to break the artistic boycott of Israel by playing there last month. It will never be to everyone's taste. But as Johnny himself tells us, this music will be here 50 years hence; half a century more of proper music he promises us from this Viking raiding party that is Public Image Limited. Forget about Example, Reef and James, this is the future of music.

Simon Godley