THE SEX PISTOLS PUNK ALL DAYER 2025 - LIVE REVIEW
At the end of the last Sex Pistols concert, Winterland Theater, San Francisco, California 1978, John Lydon said “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?”as an adieu to 1977 and the time of the punk’s intercontinental domination. Now, 47 years later, The Sex Pistols & Frank Carter used it as their tagline for the hodgepodge Glasgow Punk All Dayer. How’s that worked out?
The Punk All Dayer - 21st of June 2025 - fell on the summer equinox and was the undeniable expected “day of the year” for punks and pretty weirdos from all over Scotland and beyond. The heat thrashed down on leather trousers, sweat permeated the air like a noxious gas before the doors had even opened - but the anticipation was palpable - you could see the buzz in the air around a plethora of baldies stood two by two in a coiled line towards the entry gate. When that gate finally opened, there was a rush, and air blew out towards the queue like a breeze from Valhalla. Upon finally entering, a lot of this buzz fizzled out—pints priced at a piss-take £7.30 led punters to rely on spliffs and pills for thrills. The promised market consisted of four dinky gazebos (one of which was a massage provider from the Barras Market) and a merch stall for £35 t-shirts. You could decry this as too judgmental, maybe even whiny, perhaps even you’ll call this review woke, but regardless, those first few steps into the high-walled Bellahouston punk palace were signs of what to come. As the time ticked on, the sky turned grey, and The Rezillos took the stage.
REZILLOS - Cutting through the worry from the troublesome first steps into that uncertain place, The Rezillos were great. Fay Fife was at her rawest & angriest for a while - and no wonder, their slot was beset with surprise rain and a generally ungroovy crowd at the front. on top of being the only woman on stage for the entire day - but this didn’t matter, Fay Fife commanded a crowd to coalesce, and by “Somebody’s gonna get their head kicked in”, a mass had gathered in their thousands to hear the sci-fi fantasy on stage. Their new content was a fantastic preview of what’s to come, and we got a date announced for the new album! April!- There couldn’t be anything to bring them down. - 7.5/10
SKIDS - Then came the Skids, the only other Scottish group of the day. They had a Great set and were very aware of their position. Richard Jobson gave his condolences towards the deceased ex-Skids member & Big Country virtuoso, Stuart Adamson, in a very melancholic and heartfelt moment, but beyond that, there wasn’t a lot to be said for his crowd work. His voice was wavering towards the end but Jobson still belted them out until he announced that the band was no longer going to indulge the crowd, and instead indulge themselves with a cover, they started teasing U2, then quickly said “fuck U2” and launched into The Clash’s Complete Control which was well appreciated. 7/10
After the Skids, the sun came back. Bellies were rumbling, tongues were parched- so the hunt began round Bellahouston for decent grub & drink, while the long wait for the highly anticipated Buzzcocks commenced
BUZZCOCKS - How the mighty have fallen. It is very clear that Steve Diggle has either recently rediscovered the illustrious tool - the guitar pedal - or is just simply excited to show off; he tried, but he certainly didn’t show off, if anything, he put off. The set was riddled with self-indulgent Oasis-esque guitar solos that bled on for too long and sounded like a dying cat. He’s not trying to be Pete Shelley, and I can respect that, but he doesn’t have to be one of the Gallagher brothers. The set ended with a guitar solo that went on ad nauseam and just left a foul, frothy taste in the mouth. - 3/10.
UNDERTONES - Unexpected phenomena. The Undertones outperformed nearly every band there. Most of these groups rarely hold to their original lineups and just narrowly avoid being tribute acts, not the Undertones. Paul McLoone is better than Fearghal Sharkey. I’m not even really an Undertones fan, neither were most punters, going by who used their set to evacuate to the (egregiously priced) bar. The Undertones showed them all up. Back-to-back hits & deep cuts, left the crowd wondering what more they could even play as they barrelled through a significant chunk of their discography. Teenage Kicks then came on, and the day seemed saved. Crowd surfing commenced, and proper punk etiquette finally came to fruition - All the while Paul Mcloone gyrated like a red-faced Morrissey in his prime and brazenly launched his jazz hands to the front. Perfect. - 9/10
STRANGLERS - 10/10
“It was like I lost my virginity for the second or maybe even third time”, spouted Daz, the rattus norvegicus wearing head honcho of The Stranglers massive at the front and centre of the crowd. They say your first is never your best, but you can’t put the stranglers in that box, they were the best of the day- no one can dispute that, and if they do then they’re simply wrong- it’s an objective fact, just as the world is round and that the planet is going to sh*t. 73-year-old JJ Burnell was not only personable, but also massively performative and keyed into the crowd. The rowdiest set of the night, involving an incident in the front row, the stranglers were the perfect soundtrack to the dawning day on that beautiful summer solstice.
Still reeling from the highs of Golden Brown, The NWT crew took refuge with like-minded compatriots while Get a Grip on Yourself by The Stranglers kept ringing through the group's eager Sex Pistols set Speculation. If ever there was a line from a song that could precipitate the dizzying fall we were about to experience, “But the money’s no good, just get a grip on yourself”
The Sex Pistols with Frank Carter - 4/10
I rarely find myself agreeing with GB News resident Jon Lydon; this is an instance of one of those rarities. Frank Carter is a good frontman, especially for Gallows and his other previous engagements, but he’s just not a frontman for the modern age. I’d heard a lot from pistols aficionados throughout the day, saying they were sceptical but that Carter was the man for the job- how wrong could they be? Turns out, very. The winking, swaggering and mic-stand rattling peacock was absurd. Frank Karaoke Carter is a good guy, but he’s not a sex pistol. The only good pistol is a dead pistol (and even then, that one was a cat-killing bastard). The Sex Pistols lyrics have aged, they were subversive in the seventies but theyre just not relevant to today- I appreciate the gang for cutting down the occasional slur, but to replace New York’s F——t with “You fucking little loser” was cringe worthy at best, and abhorrently idiotic at worst. “Frank Farter”, remarked a young woman sitting in my central vicinity. I couldn’t agree more. The imagery was irking, John Lydon was awkwardly removed from archive footage while other deceased figures like Jordan Mooney were paraded like circus animals behind the generally silent, money-grabbing coffin-dodging coots on stage. The intention behind the gig was well and truly clear - money. You can’t fault an artist for wanting to make money, but you can fault an artist for blatantly milking it, appropriating revolutionary ideals into marketable “rebellion”.
And that was that. Bellahouston emptied, the Happy Bus was packed, and Punks took to the streets of Glasgow in a mental mish-mash of pride celebrators, farmers en route home from the Royal Highland Show & ageing pistol-punks gagging for a worthwhile, fairly-priced drink after a day of hot ups and downs. Overall, as a day, I can’t fault the price I paid to see many of these bands, but I can fault the purpose, the intent, and the organisation itself. The money was certainly made, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see another Punk All Dayer as early as next year. Let’s hope that future punk all dayers can truly live up as - at the very least - a homage to that wonderful youth explosion half a century ago.
