One album. Just one. “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols.” A title like a slap in the face, a rebellion against any form of seriousness. They already performed at Exit Festival back in 2008, during that “(Gypsy-)punk Exit” which featured a wave of similar acts, and the Pistols were set to “crown” the whole thing on Sunday. That was the Filthy Lucre tour, and Johnny Rotten was still on the mic. It wasn\u2019t bad, but it wasn\u2019t glorious either, as any punk would tell you. This time, things are entirely different. A much younger Frank Carter, and incomparably more energetic, has taken Johnny\u2019s place in a change that many initially described as blasphemous. Punks being against blasphemy? That\u2019s a contradiction in itself. Because punk is blasphemy.<\/p>\n
From the very first song, “Holiday in the Sun,” it was clear that things would take on a local political flavor, as the other band members joined in on backing vocals in Serbian: \u201cPumpaj, pumpaj!\u201d The song itself is a protest against \u201cbread and circuses,\u201d the dumbing down of the British working class through package deals to Benidorm while everything at home was coming apart at the seams. Simply put, in the ’70s, Britain was going through a structural crisis, and young people couldn\u2019t take being obedient anymore. Their hope had been taken away, their economy gutted, and they invented punk as an insult, both musically and stylistically, as a way to say “No.” \u201cWe\u2019re not the old boys from the ’40s, going off to war for you only to become your obedient servants again in peacetime,\u201d they said in their own way.<\/p>\n
Frank Carter immediately proves he has boundless energy and an incredible connection with the audience \u2013 he jumps off the stage and persuades the most loyal fans to do something typically punk, yelling, \u201cLet\u2019s all run in a circle!\u201d He\u2019s in the crowd, surrounded by people; he\u2019s one of us. The legendary “Pretty Vacant” kicks in \u2013 pretty vacant, and I don\u2019t care. Frank climbs back onto the Main Stage platform, clearly thrilled with the crowd, as shown by the smile on his otherwise deadpan face.<\/p>\n
They go on to perform all the songs from “Never Mind the Bollocks” \u2013 in the crowd, there\u2019s the old guard, those born shortly after these songs came out, and even people barely in their twenties. Striking are the young women with perfect fashion-punk styling, jumping along with their glam-looking friends, ones you\u2019d never peg as fans of this aesthetic and sound. Rebellion and refusal to accept injustice transcend generations. Because even though it\u2019s often said that Britain \u201ccolonized the whole world,\u201d people forget that its rulers first colonized their own population, inflicting the most harm on their own citizens. Oscar Wilde once said, \u201cThe East End is the problem of slavery, and we solve it by entertaining the slaves.\u201d Well, the slaves were no longer amused, and to the horror of the ruling class, they invented punk aesthetics, punk poetry, and punk melodies.<\/p>\n
Frank Carter picks up a cardboard sign from the crowd that says, \u201cGive me an autograph,\u201d and with a smile, carries it to every band member for their signature. Carter is the charismatic driver of this new incarnation of the band. He convinced the Pistols not only that replacing Rotten wasn\u2019t impossible but that someone else could be just as good, or, as heretical voices whisper, \u201ceven better.\u201d Paul Cook on drums, Glen Matlock on bass, and Steve Jones on guitar now have the energy they\u2019d been missing. They say they sound more like a band now than they did in 1977, when they were \u201ca group of individuals on stage.\u201d In fact, Carter seems \u201cmore Rotten than Rotten,\u201d and whatever the reason for the original lineup\u2019s fallout, it seems paradoxical to be replaced by someone who\u2019s \u201cmore you than you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
I look around. The punks no longer aim to shock, but the place is full of young people who uphold the values of punk that actually matter. No more safety pins in mouths, no more swastika shirts meant to horrify the establishment. Now it\u2019s all filtered through fashion statements. After all, the Pistols themselves were a fashion project by Vivienne Westwood and the band\u2019s manager, Malcolm McLaren, who used the band\u2019s aesthetic to promote clothing and accessories from their London boutique, \u201cSex.\u201d Aesthetics and ethics are directly linked, with one flowing from the other.<\/p>\n
Rotten is gone, but a much more muscular and equally wild-eyed Carter energetically jumps around the stage, singing his heart out to \u201cGod Save the Queen\/King\u201d with the iconic visuals of the Queen behind the band. No future, and England\u2019s dreaming \u2013 the words hit us and cut our hearts like blades. Substitute your own country into any of the songs in place of England, and there\u2019s your connection \u2013 that\u2019s the genius of the Pistols. \u201cNo Fun,\u201d a cover of The Stooges, whose frontman Iggy Pop is dubbed \u201cthe Godfather of Punk,\u201d sounds just as fresh as it did in 1977 or 1969.<\/p>\n
Frank, by the way, is neither Rotten (who reportedly dropped out of the picture after Danny Boyle\u2019s series “Pistol” saw the light of day and made Johnny angry) nor Sid Vicious, but he still managed to perform Frank Sinatra\u2019s classic \u201cMy Way\u201d in a way that paid tribute to Sid\u2019s vocal version. Then came the introductions and a heartfelt reflection on the band\u2019s history. Frank mentioned that he was the only one who hadn\u2019t been at the 2008 concert, but was told that EXIT was an amazing place to play. During the introductions, the band even weaves the now-iconic \u201cPumpaj!\u201d into their melodies \u2013 their engagement is local, too. They know exactly where they are.<\/p>\n
It all wraps up with \u201cAnarchy in the UK\u201d in a storm of ecstatic energy. I finally understand the story about a sparsely attended Sex Pistols show at Manchester\u2019s Lesser Free Trade Hall in June 1976, where \u201c18 and a half people\u201d (in actual fact about 40) were in the crowd, and every single one of them was so overtaken by the band\u2019s energy that they went on to form a legendary band of their own. Without the Pistols, there would be no modern scene. Their seed has long since sprouted into \u201cchildren,\u201d \u201cgrandchildren,\u201d and \u201cgreat-grandchildren.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because they were among the first to say: \u201cI refuse.\u201d And that refusal is powerful enough to topple an (unjust) world.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Author<\/strong>: \u017dikica Milo\u0161evi\u0107<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One album. Just one. “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols.” A title like a slap in the face, a rebellion against any form of seriousness. They already performed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":301336,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4277,184,23],"tags":[224,4420],"class_list":["post-301345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exit-2025-en","category-featured","category-news","tag-exit-festival-en","tag-sex-pistols-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n