Neil Tennant remembers the first time he saw the Sex Pistols

The frontman of Pet Shop Boys, Neil Tennantpublished on his Instagram channel the memory of the first concert of Sex Pistols which he had the good fortune to witness. It was Friday 23 April 1976, the band of John Lydon performed at Nashville Rooms Of London with i The 101erswhich also boasted among their ranks the future singer and guitarist of Clash, Joe Strummer. Among the audience that evening was the twenty-two-year-old Tennant, future editor of the magazine Smash Hits and frontman of Pet Shop Boys.

As he highlights Loudersoundhere is what Tennant reported on social media: “Fifty years ago, I went with my friend Eric Watson to a concert of a new rock band called the Sex Pistols at the Nashville pub in West Kensington. The Pistols were impressive – they reminded me a little of the Ramones, whose first album I had listened to – but then a concertgoer was beaten up by a friend of the group, a horrible episode. Eric and I left the concert upset and I wrote a letter about what happened to the NME. To my surprise, the NME published my letter as a small news article with a photo of Joe Stevens. Later, in 1976, the Pistols achieved fame with a controversial television interview. A series of brilliant and subversive singles and an album followed that still resonate today. Of course the album Tennant is referring to is “Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols” (read the review here).

In his post,
Neil Tennant
he included the letter he wrote to the NME. In his write-up he described the Pistols as “three good, clean, middle-class art students” – a description that must have amused the guitarist a lot.
Steve Jones
who didn’t fit into any of these descriptions – “and a real dementoid, Johnny Rotten. On Friday night, El Dementoid wasn’t exactly in top form, although the rest of the band were doing their best to compensate. Johnny wasn’t putting his heart into it. His lack of interest was naturally reflected in the audience, who, disappointed, didn’t react enough to the band. So, how do the Pistols set the mood when their music isn’t working? By beating up an audience member. In which any other way?”.

Tennant went on to describe a fight between two girls in the audience, which led to one girl’s boyfriend being attacked by band members and their friends. “Mr. Rotten joins the brawl to kick the victim. He’s giggling, leering, the amps are cranked up. He’s satisfied. The Pistols end another unforgettable concert.”