PUBLIC IMAGE LTD + THE GULPS – CHALK, BRIGHTON 27.5.25
Who’d have guessed it, that exactly 48 years to the day after the Sex Pistols released their classic ‘God Save The Queen’ single – which Rolling Stone Magazine ranked a lowly No.175 on their list of the ‘500 Greatest Songs of All Time’, plus the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named it as one of the ‘500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll’ – that here is John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) still on the case literally a few feet in front of us! It’s astonishing really, how he and his Public Image Ltd chums Scott Firth (bass), Lu Edmonds (guitar, saz, banjo) and new boy Mark Roberts (drums, percussion, programming) can still captivate a full capacity audience.
It’s been 15,182 days since my first live encounter with PiL, which back then was at Brighton’s Top Rank Suite (recently PRYZM) on 2nd November 1983. I can still recall certain aspects of that concert. It’s certain that in 15,182 days time, I won’t recall tonight’s performance, as I will be just a memory.
I have been desperately trying to think of one more person who I feel the same way about as I do and have done in the past about Rotten/Lydon, and to be honest, I’m really struggling. I have gone through the full range of emotions with him, from absolute legend to an irritant! But he has been pushing the boundaries and thought processes of myself and the masses, and is far from being swept under the carpet and generally being considered a hasbeen. John’s a complicated person that says things to suit himself at that very time, but can if he so desires do a 180 turnaround if it suits him in the now. He has engineered himself from Public Enemy No.1 to becoming a British Treasure – now that takes some doing, so whatever you may think of him, you have to admire him, unless you’re an emu!
When a PiL tour is announced and it includes a Sussex concert, then anticipation is high, maybe sometimes too high, as in I’ve seen some blinding PiL performances and some average ones. But with “his baby” PiL, he is more proud than anything else! I can remember hearing the debut ‘Public Image’ single and snapping up myself a copy of the 7” wrapped in a mock newspaper and thinking that this one tune is better than anything the Sex Pistols ever did! (Ooh controversial!). But you know what, I STILL think that to this very day! With the arrival of the first trio of PiL albums ‘Public Image: First Issue’ (1978), ‘Metal Box’ (1979) and ‘The Flowers Of Romance’ (1981), the man was well ahead of the game, and what was then a shock to the system, is now considered trailblazing, especially ‘Metal Box’. I think the same goes for the two Joy Division albums. What folk tend to forget is actually how surprisingly funky PiL material can actually be! This evening I have my dancing boots on and the metal crowd barrier for support.
Tonight, PiL played the first of their two Sussex concerts on their current ‘This Is Not The Last Tour 2025’, this being here in Brighton at the popular Chalk venue in Pool Valley. The second date will be taking place at the White Rock Theatre in Hastings on Thursday 26th June. Tickets for that night still currently appear to be available – Find yours HERE.
We are treated to a sizeable 17 song set which ran for 98 minutes, from 8:05pm to 9:43pm. In front of me (stage left, our right) is Scott on bass, who also occasionally takes care of keys and a thin double bass; centre rear is new drummer Mark Roberts who has replaced Bruce Smith this year; on the far side (stage right, our left) is the Geoffrey Bayldon-esque (‘Catweazle’) Lu Edmonds on guitar, saz and banjo; and finally centre front on lead vocals we have John, who is today sporting a baggy look. Interestingly they all have laptops which I think are showing the beats, and John has his stand which he rests his A4 folder with the lyrics on, from which he is going to address the faithful from. Behind him is a large black bin covered in a black sack for him to spit into. I know he gob’s quite a bit, but I’m certain that he wouldn’t have been able to fill this to the top, not even if we added all of his previous gigs together! There is alcoholic refreshment to hand for him as well as water. For some reason he is wearing a watch on each wrist, maybe it’s a fashion statement. My eyes are instinctively drawn to the left corner (stage right) of the expansive stage, where on the previous occasions John’s companion/manager/minder John “Rambo” Stevens has stood, but he departed on 11th December 2023, eight months after John’s wife Nora Maier Forster (6th April 2023). Both of whom get a mention during tonight’s performance.
The quartet open with a handful of songs which haven’t been performed live on tour for quite some time, these being ‘The Order Of Death’ (from 1984’s ‘This Is What You Want… This Is What You Get’ album) last played in 2016, ‘Home’ (from 1986’s ‘Album’ album) last played 2011, ‘Know Now’ (from 2015’s ‘What The World Needs Now…’ album) last played 2016, ‘Deeper Water’ (from 2012’s ‘This Is PiL’ album) last played 2018 and ‘World Destruction’ (a 1984 Time Zone single) not played since 1989. These certainly spiced things up! We had John’s usual facial expressions, grimaces and just a little amount of banter, which was begun by a fella behind me shouting “You’re f*cking sh*t”, and then John retorting that the punter had paid anyway.
I have to say that ‘World Destruction’ was certainly one of this evening’s set highlights and it was pure joy as I bopped along. This track was the first of five absolute bangers, the others being ‘This Is Not A Love Song’ (from 1984’s ‘This Is What You Want… This Is What You Get’ album), which very neatly segued straight into ‘Poptones’ (from 1979 ‘Metal Box Second Edition’ album), and this was arguably THE song of the set, as it was so ahead of its time. ‘Death Disco’ (from 1979’s ‘Metal Box Second Edition’ album) was up next and was the long version with an Arabic dance vibe, and this too was epic. Rounding off the corker quintet was the tribal electronic drums, normal drums, keys and bass combination of ‘Flowers Of Romance’ (from 1981’s ‘The Flowers Of Romance’ album).
There was a Run DMC style intro on ‘The Body’ (from 1987’s ‘Happy?’ album), then the dancey ‘Warrior’ (from 1989’s ‘9’ album) was unleashed and to be honest dragged on a bit, as did ‘Shoom’ (from 2015’s ‘What The World Needs Now…’ album), which John hinted that the first words were about his “daddy”...“F*ck you, f*ck off”. If only the lads had cut short these two tunes, then they would have had plenty of time for another song! During ‘Shoom’, John noted that a guy in the crowd was unwell, he had probably fainted, but it did actually take the security staff a little while to deal with this, which John noted, the man was whisked past behind me to the medical room.
My fave Lydon number ‘Public Image’ (from 1978’s ‘Public Image First Issue’ album) was up next, but was a slightly ragged affair and sadly not as good as the record. The lads left the stage for John to have a smoke and on their return Scott switched to keys for the Leftfield Lydon 1993 single and boy did he play some fab notes. This tune was too short and could have arguably gone on longer! The classic “I could be wrong, I could be right”, signalled the arrival of ‘Rise’ (from 1986’s ‘Album’ album), which was pleasant. The final two tunes seemed odd choices to me and not the highest way to end a concert on, these being ‘Bags’ (from 1986’s ‘Album’ album) which segued into ‘Chant’ (from 1979’s ‘Metal Box Second Edition’ album). After these John explained the thought process behind the much maligned new PiL logo, which is a tribute to people they have lost. He signed off by singing the line “Tell Laura I love her” from Ray Peterson’s 1958 single, and they departed.
Yes I did indeed enjoy this concert bar, the two dragged out numbers, and thankfully there wasn’t much drivel statements between band and fans, and so the music did all the talking. But by memory, I don’t quite think it was as great as their 14th June 2022 at Chalk – Review HERE.
Public Image Ltd:
John Lydon – vocals
Scott Firth – bass, double-bass, keys, backing vocals
Mark Roberts – drums, percussion, programming
Lu Edmonds – guitar, saz, banjo, backing vocals
Public Image Ltd setlist:
‘The Order Of Death’ (from 1984 ‘This Is What You Want… This Is What You Get’ album)
‘Home’ (from 1986 ‘Album’ album)
‘Know Now’ (from 2015 ‘What The World Needs Now…’ album)
‘Deeper Water’ (from 2012 ‘This Is PiL’ album)
‘World Destruction’ (a 1984 Time Zone single)
‘This Is Not A Love Song’ (from 1984 ‘This Is What You Want… This Is What You Get’ album)
‘Poptones’ (from 1979 ‘Metal Box Second Edition’ album)
‘Death Disco’ (from 1979 ‘Metal Box Second Edition’ album (as ‘Swan Lake’) & ‘Death Disco’ single)
‘Flowers Of Romance’ (from 1981 ‘The Flowers Of Romance’ album)
‘The Body’ (from 1987 ‘Happy?’ album)
‘Warrior’ (from 1989 ‘9’ album)
‘Shoom’ (from 2015 ‘What The World Needs Now…’ album)
‘Public Image’ (from 1978 ‘Public Image First Issue’ album)
‘Open Up’ (from 1993 ‘Open Up’ single) (Leftfield Lydon tune)
(encore)
‘Rise’ (from 1986 ‘Album’ album)
‘Bags’ (from 1986 ‘Album’ album)
‘Chant’ (from 1979 ‘Metal Box Second Edition’ album)
PiL fans might like to note that there are 13 different photos on our sister website Sussex News – which you can find HERE.
Support this evening came from Camden based The Gulps who are a rather busy bunch having just come off of some support slots for The Brian Jonestown Massacre, and are currently now playing a selection of dates with PiL and then from next month are also supporting Happy Mondays on 7 dates. Their personnel have come together from the four corners of Europe and the Middle East. We aren’t too sure about how many people are normally in the band at the moment, but I have seen photos of five of them, but tonight there are in fact six of them, plus a further two assist at various points during their 31 minute set which ran from 6:58pm to 7:29pm.
The Gulps have been delivering their own brand of rock’n’roll since early 2017. Fusing classic influences with a modern edge, they’ve learnt from the best, influenced in their songwriting by The Beatles, their performance by the Rolling Stones and their attitude by the Sex Pistols. As far as I can tell they have thus far released five singles: ‘Someone Like You’ (2017), ‘The King’s House’ (2019), ‘Candy’ (2022), and ‘Mirror Mirror’ and ‘Surrender’ both in 2023.
Our team last reviewed The Gulps at The Lower Third in London on 15th February 2023, although this is my debut encounter with the band. Their lineup that night featured frontman Javier Sola and guitarist Juan Carlos Ruiz who are both from La Rioja, Spain; bassist Simon Mouchard is from Nantes in France, rhythm guitarist Francesco Antonio Buffone is from Calabria in Italy, and drummer Raoul Khayat is from Beirut in Lebanon.
The lineup tonight is quite possibly almost virtually the same, but the bassist is a woman. This evening they have a lead vocalist, someone on Gibson guitar, a bassist who is using a Epiphone as well as offering backing vocals when needed, there’s a drummer, a guy on a tambourine who hits it with a drumstick and also offers backing vocals, there’s a second guitarist, and a guy sneaks on and off stage when required to play the occasional Yamaha CS1X keys, plus on their final number another joint lead vocalist appears. It’s a busy stage.
Their Rolling Stones sound is evident as they rocked on out on their opening number, which segued into tune two which was a faster number which was more ‘Vertigo’ era U2 but with a rough edge. The following track had a Pulp vibe going on. For selection four, there was a more urgent feeling with a punk vibe and they were rather tight on this one and as a result it went down well. There was more of the same for tune five, which sounded as though the lead vocalist was singing ‘Stuck In The City’, and you could feel the punters warming to the band, and this was their best track thus far. For their penultimate number, there was more of that heavy U2 feeling going on. They signed off with a tune I think was called ‘King Of The Disco’ which not surprisingly was their most danceable selection. I had watched a few of their YouTube videos prior to the gig, and I must say that they are better live in the flesh. We did request the correct group lineup and their setlist from the band for this review, but sadly these haven’t been forthcoming thus far.
