Sex Pistols to release legendary 1978 concerts for the first time

Three full concerts will be released independently on vinyl and as a 3 CD set

Sex Pistols fans will finally be able to judge for themselves with the release for the first time of three full live albums from the band’s legendary 1978 US tour on April 25th via UMG. Frontman Johnny Rotten signed off with the immortal words on stage at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco on January 14, 1978 – the band’s final show until they reformed in 1996.

This year will see the San Francisco show and performances in Atlanta at South East Music on January 5, 1978, and Dallas at Longhorns Ballroom on January 10, 1978, given special edition colored vinyl releases before all three are made available in a 3 CD set and for digital download entitled Live in the USA 1978.

John Rotten (aka Lydon), Paul Cook, Steve Jones, and Sid Vicious were sent into venues primed for confrontation, police ready to clamp down on any signs of anarchy and religious protesters rallying to see off the unholy Brits.

Audiences were provoked, objects flew, tensions brewed, and cracks widened among the Pistols themselves – but amidst it, all was delivered some of the rawest and most honest music that the country that birthed rock and roll had ever seen. “God Save the Queen,” “Bodies,” and the re-targeted “Anarchy in the USA” – all launched at the crowds and the onlooking authorities.

“Now, we came to dance – what did you come for?” says Rotten before the band ripped into “God Save The Queen” in Atlanta, and then: “That was the new British National Anthem.”

The newly mastered recordings put the listener right amongst the sweating, bellowing crowd. “Aren’t we the worst thing you’ve ever seen?” asks Rotten – but in truth the roar of Jones’s guitar and the raw snarl of his vocals are exactly what they want.

A radio advert for the Dallas show proclaims, “They said no one could be more bizarre than Alice Cooper or more destructive than Kiss. They have not seen the Sex Pistols…Banned in their own home country, England’s Sex Pistols denied admittance to the United States – the Sex Pistols bring the new wave to the Metroplex this Tuesday night in the Longhorn Ballroom.”

After the band crashed through The Stooges’ “No Fun” in San Francisco, Rotten challenged the crowd directly: “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?”

Within days, he announced his departure, and the Sex Pistols explosion, detonated in the turmoil of the late 1970s, was over. These primal recordings document the final shockwaves of a band that changed pop culture forever.

CD 1: 5th Jan – 1978 Atlanta, South East Music Hall, USA