There really is something for everyone in this year’s summer season at the Open Air Theatre in Scarborough – whether it’s Billy Ocean or Deacon Blue, Alanis Morissette or Tom Jones or maybe Richard Ashcroft, Teddy Swims or the Hollywood Vampires; whatever your taste, there’s a night for you.
Even old Punks are catered for, and what a lineup tonight: Punk legends, Sex Pistols headlining, with an impressive cast in support.
The Undertones
First up, Northern Ireland’s The Undertones, featuring most of their original lineup, with only Feargal Sharkey missing, and with Paul McLoone in post for nigh on 30 years, this is as close to the real thing as you could get.
Armed with a bunch of classics from opener “Jimmy Jimmy”, “It’s Going To Happen”, the rather appropriate “Here Comes The Summer” and the closing “My Perfect Cousin,” they had more than enough in their back pockets to kick off the evening with a bang. With a few deep album cuts too, including “When Saturday Comes” and “Get Over You” keeping the hardcore happy, it was left to “Teenage Kicks” to deliver the sucker punch.
The Stranglers
Always unfairly labelled as Punk, The Stranglers had something more to them than their three-chord rabblerousing peers. Whether that was the strong melodies, musical variety or the swirling keyboards of the late Dave Greenfield, they stood out from the crowd, but their black leather attire and moody looks won them legions of fans.
They may be down to just original bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel, but in Sunderland’s Baz Warne, they have a consummate frontman, who for the last 20 years has made the position his own.
The Stranglers have an enviable catalogue of hits to roll out throughout their set, with classics “(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)”, the swirling keyboard-driven “Duchess” and a suitably grimy “Nice ‘n’ Sleazy” coming early on.
The moody “Relentless” and “White Stallion”, with Burnel on lead vocals, from their recent Dark Matters album, see them still creating music beyond their classic lineup period and capable of matching anything from their glory days.
“Golden Brown” and “Always The Sun” brought the hits coming thick and fast while “Walk On By” showed a band capable of turning an old Burt Bacharach standard into something uniquely theirs.
With Burnel’s rasping bass on “Hanging Around”, a pummelling “Tank” and the evergreen “No More Heroes”, the Stranglers simply couldn’t fail to take the atmosphere a notch higher.
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols don’t play that many shows, so tonight was a rare opportunity to catch them out in the wild.
Although still featuring three original members, Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock, the big question was how they would be without Johnny Rotten? Well, Frank Carter allayed any fears right from the start with a snarling, caustic performance packed with energy and rebellious attitude.
In keeping with the Punk ethos, the Pistols kept things pretty short and to the point, kicking off with “Holidays In The Sun” before heading straight into “Seventeen” and “New York”.
Carter headed right into the moshpit for a wonderfully chaotic “Pretty Vacant” as he was carried on his back across the crowd while Steve Jones delivered the sleazy riffs, followed by the establishment-shaking “God Save The Queen” backed by the crowd hollering “No future” as the song came to its cataclysmic climax.
A suitably spiky take on the Stooges’ “No Fun” preceded “No Feelings,” where Carter created a ladies-only mosh pit swiftly followed by “E.M.I”, the Pistols’ ode to their old record label.
A touching tribute to Carter’s father was followed by an initially sympathetic take on Sinatra’s classic “My Way” where the whole crowd lit up the night time sky with their mobile phones making this more Coldplay than anarchy before normal service was resumed, exploding into a fireball of angst leaving “Anarchy In The U.K.” to finish off the exhausted crowd, punch drunk from 50 years worth of Punk Rock fury.
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