I never thought I would write these words, but here we are: the Sex Pistols are playing Glasgow and Edinburgh in December, and I am genuinely excited about it.
The Anarchy In The UK Tour celebrates 50 years of punk, which is a sentence that should make every person over 40 feel ancient. The band, featuring original members Steve Jones, Paul Cook, and Glen Matlock with Frank Carter on vocals, will play Edinburgh’s Corn Exchange on December 9 and Glasgow’s O2 Academy on December 10.
Paul Cook has been talking about the early days with the kind of fondness that only comes with distance: “It was kind of like a commando raid. I don’t even think a lot of places knew we were playing there. We just turned up and set up.”
He added: “With Anarchy, I think we tapped into a feeling of unrest around the country at the time. The message was pretty simple: just have a go and get out there and do whatever you want to do. It was a new world.”
Frank Carter and the Question of Authenticity
The obvious elephant in the room is that Johnny Rotten is not involved. Frank Carter joined in 2024, initially to help save London’s Bush Hall, and has since made the role his own. The reviews have been strong. Louder magazine described the current lineup as sounding “like the world’s greatest punk band once more,” and The Standard called them “the slickest garage band you’ve ever heard.”
My take? Punk was never about one person. It was about energy, anger, and the refusal to be told what to do. If Carter brings that, and by all accounts he does, then the name on the poster matters less than what happens when the lights go down.
The band has been tearing through venues across the globe since reforming: Australia, Japan, European festivals, and a legendary show at the Royal Albert Hall for Teenage Cancer Trust where Carter apparently got the entire crowd into a circle pit. In the Royal Albert Hall. That alone earns my respect.
Scotland and Punk
Scotland has always had a complicated relationship with punk. We embraced the attitude long before 1976, mind you. There is something fundamentally punk about Scottish culture: the directness, the refusal to be impressed by authority, the instinct to call things out. The Pistols just gave it a soundtrack.
Glasgow’s O2 Academy is the right venue for this. It is big enough to draw a crowd but small enough to feel dangerous, which is exactly what a Pistols gig should be. Edinburgh’s Corn Exchange is a slightly odder choice, but punk was always about playing places that were not designed for it.
Cook says: “We’ve had a blast. People want to come and see us play live. If I must say so myself, we are a great live band.”
I believe him. And if the idea of paying money to watch three men in their late sixties play three chord songs about anarchy seems absurd, well, absurdity was always the point.
Tickets are on sale now. Bring earplugs. Or don’t. Punk never cared about your hearing.
