35 Years ago today
The Sex Pistols played their final performance of their US Tour which ended up being their final gig as a band. It was in
front of over 5,000 people at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, CA.
Manager Malcolm McLaren
had deliberately booked their 2 week US tour into places that he knew the
audience would hate the band…and the band would hate them right back. By the
time they got to San Francisco promoter Bill Graham convinced McLaren that the
band was big enough to fill the Winterland Ballroom.
The following piece Greil Marcus wrote in Rolling Stone pretty
much sums up the end of The Sex Pistols as we had known them:
"During the
encore, "No Fun," John's voice finally gave out. By the end of the
song, instead of singing, he sat on the stage, stared into the crowd blankly,
and grumbled: "This is no fun, no fun, it is no fun at all, no fun."
The band played on, finishing in complete shambles. When the noise ceased,
Rotten uttered that famous line, "Ever get the feeling you've been
cheated?," said goodnight, and walked offstage. In an instant, the Sex
Pistols were over."
Love them or hate them The Sex Pistols an important part in
Rock N' Roll history……here is the complete video of that last performance.
Johnny Rotten - lead vocals
Sid Vicious - bass, vocals
Steve Jones - guitar, vocals
Paul Cook – drums
