Punk and New Wave collided in Boston on a gorgeous evening on Saturday, October 3rd, when the Public Image Ltd concert was moved from the Paradise Club to Big Night Live, the nightclub attached to the Boston Garden. In tow was punk band Plague Vendor.
Public Image Ltd, also known as PiL, was the post-punk New Wave outfit formed by John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten after the dissolution of the Sex Pistols. My big takeaway from the evening was the fact that obviously, Lydon is not one of those singers who is ranked amongst the greats, such as Freddie Mercury, Roger Daltrey or Paul Rodgers. Nor was he ever. But I’ll be damned if his voice is not as important or unique as any of them in the realms of pop history. The snarl and rasp of the punk icon was as influential as any. I don’t need to list what the Pistols did in England in their short time together, or the chaos they caused in the U.K. That’s all been written. But to take that voice and continue it with a project like PiL, a complex blend of punk mixed with the up-and-coming technology that the late 70s led into the 80s, and make it work is outstanding. I have always taken the work of PiL over the Pistols. As intricate and sophisticated as the music is, it still contained an unbridled rawness that can only be the voice of one person. It’s a fascinating juxtaposition unique to them, and the band, albeit with Lydon being the sole original member (it has always been his project), sounds incredible.
Starting the show with 1986’s “Home”, Lydon led the band into a stellar 10-song performance of mostly songs of the classic era, with two songs, “Shoom” and “Know Now” from 2015’s “What The World Needs Now”, which, apart from the lyrical content of “Shoom”, sound like they could have been a part of the classic catalog in the same way that their legendary albums from 40 years ago sound like they could have been recorded today. Absent from the setlist was anything from “End of World,” which ended up in my Top 3 favorite albums released
in 2023.
There was a bit of a twist on the classic “This is Not A Love Song”, but apart from that the songs stayed quite true. I’d say 1989’s “Warrior” was the highlight of a show full of them, and gave the truly authentic ambience of a performance of the era, hypnotizing the standing-room-only crowd at the foot of the stage. Closing the set was Leftfield cover “Open Up”, before, in truly Lydon fashion, he said that he needed to take a break to smoke a cigarette, which I know he genuinely did. The ensuing line, “40 years of smoking Marlboros and they still won’t f***ing sponsor me. And if they did, then I wouldn’t smoke them!”, reminded me of the classic Groucho Marx quip of “I would never belong to a club that would have me as a member,” and that line showed the REAL punk spirit of John Lydon. And that he is as authentic as they come, which is what led to my reaction in 2021 when he appeared as a Jester in the US version of the reality show “The Masked Singer.” The epitome of anti-establishment was right there on the most family-friendly, corporate TV show in America. But outside of his “rotten” core, he tenderly did it for his ailing wife of 44 years, and performed a love song for her, just two years before she died.
But his “rotten” colors came out after the encore of the classic “Rise” and “Religion” medley, when he asked the crowd to yell the most vulgar words and phrases that they could think of at him instead of cheering. Every vulgarity you could think of was screamed, and Lydon looked back at the band and declared, “I think they like me!” As the band waved to the crowd while the overhead radio played David Bowie’s “John, I’m Only Dancing”, Lydon shuffled about on stage and said before walking off, “Unlike Madonna, I can actually dance these days.”
That was Johnny Rotten and John Lydon rolled into one. And nobody was disappointed.
California punk band Plague Vendor opened with a ferocious and fast set of songs that tinged modern punk with a slight twist of psychobilly from the guitarist’s orange Gretsch. The audience loved the ferocity and speed and VERY loud output of energy.
Public Image, Ltd. setlist can be found here:
Plague Vendor setlist can be found here:
