PIL

Never in my life would I have guessed that I would get another chance to see Johnny "Rotten" Lydon in concert. Back in the late 90's, Chris bought me Sex Pistols tickets for my birthday or some such occasion. It was a reunion concert minus Sid Vicious who commited suicide in the 70's. Anyway, the concert was cancelled (no reason given) and the money was refunded. I was disappointed.

I get the Detroit News but usually just go through the ads and maybe the headlines. I decided to read it cover to cover last Monday and saw the listing for the PIL concert. The price was right and it was at a small venue which sounded promising. Chris went to Pontiac and bought the tickets and my MIL graciously agreed to babysit. We were all set.

My best friend, Sarah purchased a ticket for herself. We picked her up on the way there and waited outside in the setting sun and nipply cold. The show was set to start at 8pm but there was no opening band and we were finally let in closer to 9pm.

Sarah and I headed to the rest room and Chris found us a prime place to watch Johnny belt it out. The show was standing room only which was a different experience for me. The awesome thing was, we were about as close to the stage as we could get.

I had a side convo with the two guys on our right about Doc Martens. And the guy on our left took pictures continuously through the show. You would think that he might want to actually watch the concert but apparently he was good with living vicariously through his digital camera. I don't get it.

We had a fun time. I can now say I have seen Johnny Rotten in person. He lived up to the typical raucous punk name with snot rockets, spitting and gargling liquor between songs. Not to be left out was some swearing at a couple guys in the audience and telling the security guard to bugger off his stage. I did almost get kicked in the head by a wannabe crowd surfer. She was donned in an old police hat, plantinum blond hair and punk make-up. Me, Sarah and a few others moved out of her initial crowd dive. Chris was the only one there to catch her which he did and set her down.

My ears didn't really ring like Sarah's and Chris' did. I enjoyed myself and can't wait until my next concert, June 10th. Psychedelic Furs is one of my favorite bands from back in the day.