Sex Pistols... Live Recordings 1977

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Fuggle
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Posts: 3,518

Sex Pistols... Live Recordings 1977 Jul 7, 2004 9:16:26 GMT -5

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Post by Fuggle on Jul 7, 2004 9:16:26 GMT -5

(With thanks to God Save The Sex Pistols)

Part Two: 1977
Jan 5, 1977 - Paradiso Club, Amsterdam, Holland

Trt - 40:49
Number of Songs - 11
Format - cassette
Sound Quality - noisy, static filled audience recording
Rating - 6
Official/Semi Official Release - none known

REVIEW
While it isn’t one of the greatest sounding gigs it is Glen’s last (not counting the reunion) and for that alone it should be sought out. It is the last time you will hear “substitute” played live, as Sid could never tackle that one. A pretty well played gig all in all but not played with the ferocity of some of the earlier September 76’gigs. In addition to the playing Glen’s back-ups will also be sadly missed as Steve’s tend to almost be delivered in a joking manner and Sid’s that of a football chant. During “I Wanna be Me” Johnny yells out “EMI” acknowledging the fact that the band already knew the company would release a statement the following day as to the termination of their contract. A relatively short set this time but this would become the norm until the end of the year when they will play some of their longest ones. “God Save the Queen” is quite an interesting version with Johnny and Steve adlibbing parts throughout. All in all worth it as the overall mix is nice and balanced and helps to overcome some of the sonic interferences.

DRAWBACKS
There are some minor sound modulations and it is a generally noisy sounding tape with lots of static. The very first few seconds of “Anarchy” have been clipped but not very bad you probably won’t notice it. The beginning of “Satellite” sounds a bit abrupt but doesn’t really sound like there is an edit, but there does sound like a sonic change after “God Save The Queen”, which may have just been a quick edit to flip the tape.

SETLIST
Anarchy In The UK
I Wanna Be Me
Seventeen
New York
Satellite
God Save The Queen
Substitute
No Feelings
Pretty Vacant
Liar
Problems

April 3rd, 1977 - Screen on the Green, Islington

Trt - 38:19
Number of Songs - 12
Format - cassette
Sound Quality - average audience w/ some modulation, static
Rating - 1-10 (7) 11,12 (6)
Official/Semi Official Release - none known
Video -GSTQ (2 versions) & bits of 17, New York, Liar & Pretty Vacant in Don Letts’ Punk Rock Movie.

REVIEW
Overall this is a pretty good audience tape but it does suffer at times from a bit of modulation in levels, which sounds like the taper either moving in the crowd or fiddling with the recorder. Historically this is an important gig since it marks SID’s debut. At one point during “Pretty Vacant” john shouts, “How many notice the fucking difference?” Well I can..This shows what was to be the beginning of some very loosely played gigs as far as the music is concerned. Sid is trying at this point you can tell but he still manages a few bum notes most notably the intro to “Satellite”. This gig marks the live debut of the song “EMI”. There are actually a couple of versions of this tape, one is more complete and runs all the way from a few bits of the opening showing of “Sex Pistols No. 1” through “Anarchy in the UK” although it is cut at the end. The better quality tape however fades after “No Feelings”. An interesting note on “I Wanna Be me” Johnnie’s voice cracks like a little kids at one point. The encore version of “GSTQ” actually comes from the Punk Rock Movie.

DRAWBACKS
The fact that once again the gig seems to be split over two versions is definitely a drawback. Also this isn’t the best gig the band ever played. It is very loose and there are a couple of false starts, etc. As for sonically there are no real cuts to speak of with the exception of the cutting of the end of “Anarchy”, but the modulation does occur throughout and there is some interference during ‘Satellite”. The final version of “GSTQ” taken from the video of the Punk Rock movie is unfortunately clipped in the middle.

SETLIST
Intro film “Sex Pistols no. 1”<br>God Save The Queen
I Wanna Be Me
Seventeen
New York
Satellite
EMI
Liar
Pretty Vacant
Problems
No Feelings
Anarchy In The UK (cuts)
God Save The Queen (edited in middle)

June 7, 1977- River Thames Boat Trip

Trt - 38:19
Number of Songs - 6 (fake version)/3(dub off video
Format - cassette
Sound Quality - cut and paste audience recording
Rating - 6
Official/Semi Official Release - none known
Video - Anarchy, Pretty vacant, Problems filmed by a French film crew, which has appeared in many various forms.

REVIEW
Basically this is a cut and paste bootleg of a bootleg, where people looked at a set list in the day-by-day book and duplicated it. From what I can tell only the audio from the video exists as the supposed first three songs on the tape seem to be edited from elsewhere, especially GSTQ which sounds suspiciously like a recorded version, and the first “Anarchy” doesn’t even sound like the SID I know playing.

DRAWBACKS
The fact that basically this is just audio off the video and people feel the need to create what doesn’t exist by pasting together hard to distinguish versions of songs and say it is a rare live tape….Which it of course isn’t…The video is great this audio sucks…Too bad the real versions of the other songs they played that day haven’t turned up.

SETLIST
Anarchy In The UK (FAKE)
God Save The Queen (FAKE)
Holidays In The Sun (FAKE)
Anarchy In The UK (inc)
Pretty Vacant (inc)
Problems (inc)

July 13, 1977- Daddy’s Dance Hall Copenhagen, Denmark

Trt - 44:18
Number of Songs - 11
Format - cassette
Sound Quality - muddy audience recording
Rating - 6.5
Official/Semi Official Release - none known

REVIEW
This is the first night of the Scandinavian tour and actually only SID’s second or third real gig with the band (4th if you count the March Notre Dame Halls TV gig & the Boat party). This is also the last time they will play “Satellite” live which is too bad. This gig also marks the proper debut live of the song “Holidays in the Sun”. The sound does suffer at times from various amounts of feedback. This is one of those important ones if only because it is the first night of the tour. Johnny speaks here and there which makes it easy to spot as legit, and Steve does say “See ya tomorrow after “God Save The Queen” ensuring that this is the first nights tape.

DRAWBACKS
The overall sound of this tape is terribly muddy. There are two versions floating around one is quite clear (no static) but is very boomy, and the other one has a good deal of the heavy generated tape hiss but somehow that has softened the bassy quality of the tape and tends to be the one I listen to more often. Both versions seem to suffer from a common problem of the 70’s recorded tapes which is the microphone being used seems to get overloaded once the music starts, so it will sound really clear and perfect until the music starts and then it sounds almost like someone covered your speakers with a blanket giving you a muffled sound. Also the guitar drops out slightly on “I Wanna Be Me” and some versions have a weird edit after “Pretty vacant” where Steve’s talking bit is repeated.

SETLIST
Anarchy In The UK
I Wanna Be Me
Seventeen
New York
Satellite
No Feelings
No Fun
Holidays in the Sun
Problems
Pretty Vacant
God save The Queen

July 14, 1977 - Daddy’s Dance Hall Copenhagen, Denmark

Trt - 35:05
Number of Songs - 10
Format - cassette
Sound Quality - average audience recording
Rating - 6.5
Official/Semi Official Release - none known

REVIEW
Another decent gig with the band playing quite well, and there doesn’t seem to be the sonic problems of the previous night. They have dropped “Satellite” for good and replaced it with the newer “EMI”, also they don’t play “Holidays” at this gig or it is just not on the tape. A decent gig if somewhat not that memorable. Yeah right, that’s just because I wasn’t there.

DRAWBACKS
Well there is the fact that this gig is shorter in length than the previous night and there is a cut in the tape before “God Save The Queen” which could have been where “Holidays” might have been played, or perhaps the taper just flipped sides and didn’t miss anything. There are also some pretty regular sound fluctuations throughout the tape but the overall quality is average at best so that does detract.

SETLIST
Anarchy In The UK
I Wanna be me
Seventeen
New York
EMI
No Feelings
Pretty Vacant
Problems
God Save The Queen
No Fun

July 15, 1977 - Beach Disco, Halmstad, Sweden

Trt - 33:56
Number of Songs - 9
Format - cassette
Sound Quality - slightly bassy audience recording
Rating - 7
Official/Semi Official Release - Tour Of Scandinavia, Power Of The Pistols, others.

REVIEW
This is a gig where you can definitely tell the SID that was to come as he is pretty high in the mix on this tape and plays ….well terrible, just listen to “No Feelings” .P….U. Although on “Problems” you can hear his two bass licks..Ha ha..Thankfully this is one of the gigs that has come out on many bootleg LP’s so it is pretty easy to come by and it’s fairly decent quality considering. The recording for the most part is fairly clear. The band with the exception of Sid plays well. Hell it seems Paul always played well doesn’t it? John says a few noticeable things to document the gig. Before they start he says, “We’ll begin with Anarchy”, then before “EMI” he says “This is about EMI after they sacked us. Also before “Pretty Vacant” he says “Our new single”. All these can help you pinpoint this gig but usually this one is labeled correctly.

DRAWBACKS
The sound quality is unfortunately a drawback as the bassy tone is unfortunate, and obviously Sid’s fuck ups don’t make it one that your gonna want to listen to a lot if you have quite a few Pistols tapes. Thankfully there are no real edits or cuts and sonically it stays the same.

SETLIST
Anarchy In The UK
I Wanna Be Me
Seventeen
New York
EMI
No Feelings
Pretty Vacant
Problems
God Save The Queen

Last Edit: Aug 23, 2004 8:41:28 GMT -5 by Fuggle

Fuggle
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Posts: 3,518

Sex Pistols... Live Recordings 1977 Aug 23, 2004 8:41:40 GMT -5

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Post by Fuggle on Aug 23, 2004 8:41:40 GMT -5

July 16, 1977- Mogambo Disco, Helsingborg, Sweden

Trt - 29:46
Number of Songs - 9
Format - cassette
Sound Quality - average audience recording
Rating - 7
Official/Semi Official Release - none known

REVIEW
Overall this is a pretty decent audience recording and a nice one to hear since there are quite a few famous photos & posters from this gig out there. This also contains what I call the Sid bass solo after “EMI”. Most of the gig goes along pretty decent but something seems to happen around “EMI” as the announcer comes out and says something and then they launch into “Problems”.

DRAWBACKS
The biggest drawback about this tape is there seems to be a series of cuts starting at “Problems” which is actually cut off affecting also the beginning of the next song “No Feelings”, then that finishes, there is another cut. “Pretty Vacant” plays along and the sound gets a tad muffled, then another cut, then “God Save The Queen”. It seems to all sound linear sonically but man was it the taper or the trader that added all those breaks in the tape. Very Annoying…! !

SETLIST
Anarchy In The UK
I Wanna Be Me
Seventeen
New York
EMI
Problems
No Feelings
Pretty Vacant
God Save The Queen

July 20, 1977- Pingvin Club, Oslo, Norway

Trt - 36:06
Number of Songs - 10
Format - cassette
Sound Quality - slightly below average audience recording
Rating - 6.5
Official/Semi Official Release - none known

REVIEW
This is a tape that recently popped up in a “complete” form, which oddly enough sounded exactly like my old version only now there was an extra cut in it after “Anarchy”. The new version was however slightly, and I do mean slightly sonically clearer. To be precise it was brighter, but still just as filled with static and hiss. There are versions out there that seem to be at an incorrect speed as well. The old version while being somewhat clouded sonically was at least at a normal speed. This new one has the band playing a million miles per hour. The gig is notable because during “EMI” someone throws an ashtray and it hits John, who promptly stops the song. They do resume but not before a scolding and warning from John. There is also a guy screaming ‘Anarcheee” throughout which makes it easy to spot as well. A pretty decent gig altogether.

DRAWBACKS
Depending on which version you have there are different drawbacks. The sped up version is one continuous drawback as it is hard to listen to the Chipmunk Pistols and trust me this wasn’t their first gig as the Chipmunk Pistols. All the versions seem to have a series of cuts near the end. The first big one comes after “No Feelings” then again after “Problems”. Others I have found have a weird radio/tape interference in the middle of “Problems” and a tape skip during “God Save The Queen”, but not all. Also some people list this as having 11 songs due to the stopped version of “EMI” so make sure you ask them what the 11 songs are.

SETLIST
Anarchy In The UK
I Wanna Be Me
Seventeen
New York
EMI (false)
EMI
No Fun
No Feelings
Problems
Pretty Vacant
God Save The Queen

July 21, 1977- Studenter Samfundet, Trondheim, Norway
Trt - 29:55
Number of Songs - 9 (incomplete)
Format - CD
Sound Quality - average soundboard recording
Rating - 8
Official/Semi Official Release - Live In Trondheim July 21, 1977 bonus w/ Kiss This box

REVIEW
Well this was one of those nice little surprises that popped when the Kiss This CD was released. A soundboard recording of the Scandinavian tour, which most people, Satellite authors & Virgin included have identified as taking place in Sweden when in fact Trondheim is really in Norway. Hey that’s OK I’m not so smart either, somebody had to tell me that it wasn’t in Sweden, even John at one point during the gig says “Tell them in Swedish”. Anyway the gig is pretty good but soundboard gigs with Sid will only sound so good you know? The nice difference is you can hear what the band members say to each other. It is great also that you can clearly hear John’s vocals. The version of “Problems” seems quite good. They play the intro to “Pretty Vacant” but that is about it, maybe they didn’t play it that night. Overall a pretty good gig but sad if it is incomplete.

DRAWBACKS
The only real drawback is that reports have stated that the band played the same set both nights in Norway yet this recording is missing “Pretty Vacant”, so either it wasn’t fully played, recorded or they still have it There also are a few sonic glitches most notable on “No Fun” it shifts in quality a bit. Not exactly crazy about the comedy ending of the CD.

SETLIST
Anarchy In The UK
I Wanna Be Me
Seventeen
New York
EMI
No Fun
No Feelings
Problems
God Save The Queen

July 28, 1977- Happy House, Student Karen, Stockholm, Sweden (info updated February 2003)

Trt - 38:00
Number of Songs - 11
Format - LP, cassette
Sound Quality - below average soundboard recording
Rating - 7.5
Official/Semi Official Release - Bad Boys in Sweden LP, Anarchy in the UK Live LP
Video - Anarchy, I Wanna be me, Seventeen, New York, Problems, No Fun available on various video comps.

REVIEW-
This is one gig that everyone should have in decent quality at this time. While not as good as the Trondheim gig this is one of the better Scandinavian tapes, as it was apparently from a radio broadcast. Most people recognize this from Johnny's opening "This I Like" comment. The performance is pretty good for the most part and great that 6 of the songs played that night can be viewed from the video that exists. The sound does run a bit hot sonically but is still quite listenable. The tape version from the radio broadcast contains the whole set, where as the LP's leave out "No Feelings" & "No Fun".
DRAWBACKS-
There is an edit in the middle of "No Feelings", so either that is why it was left off the LP's or a trader down the line has edited it to make sure no one gets a complete version. There is a break before and after "No Fun" but it still sounds longer than the video version. The recording is very hot which depending on which version you get can make it either decent or almost unlistenable. Also some LP versions are at a lightning fast speed, which again makes them sound like the Chipmunk Pistols. There does seem to be some glitches on most versions most notably a small flutter on "Anarchy" and a weird radio glitch on "God Save The Queen" but other than that it runs pretty smooth.

SETLIST-
Anarchy In The UK
I Wanna Be Me
Seventeen
New York
EMI
Submission
No Feelings (on radio version only)
Problems
God Save The Queen
Pretty Vacant
No Fun (on video & radio version only)

August 24, 1977 - Outlook Club, Doncaster

Trt - 42:50
Number of Songs - 11 songs
Format - cassette
Sound Quality - below average bass heavy audience recording
Rating - 7
Official/Semi Official Release - none known

REVIEW
This is the gig I affectionately refer to as the Sid gig since you can hear Sid very loud on this tape, louder than the vocals, louder than everything. That should give you an indication as to whether you would want to pull this tape out and listen to it on a regular basis. Sid is still trying at this point for the most part and even spends some good quality time after ‘Seventeen” to tune up. Historically it is very important since it is really the only recording from the SPOTS tour. This gig they were billed under the name the Tax Exiles. After the first song you can hear someone from the club yelling “Keep back”, the band was really getting popular at this point since this mini tour were the first UK gigs in four months and really only the 3rd or 4th (if you count the March 21st gig) ALL YEAR. So the enthusiasm was growing with a whole new crop of fans. The mix notwithstanding the band seemed to play decent enough. This also begins the permanency of the song "Holidays in the Sun" appearing in all future live recordings.

DRAWBACKS
The overall sound quality is a definite drawback even if you are a big Sid fan. It is just too bass heavy. That unfortunately makes a few of the songs just sound horrible. Check out "EMI” ohhh myyyyyy. Tape wise it seems to be pretty unaltered, however there are some incomplete versions out there. There is a break after the song “Problems” and the sound quality changes mainly the volume drops a bit, my guess is it may have been a tape flip. There is also some slight modulation at times most notably on “No Feelings”<br>
SETLIST
Anarchy In The UK
I Wanna Be Me
Seventeen
New York
EMI
Holidays In The Sun
No Feelings
Problems
Pretty Vacant
God Save The Queen
No Fun

Fuggle
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Posts: 3,518

Sex Pistols... Live Recordings 1977 Aug 23, 2004 8:42:41 GMT -5

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Post by Fuggle on Aug 23, 2004 8:42:41 GMT -5

December 10, 1977 - Huize Maas, Groningen, Holland

Trt - 53:05
Number of Songs - 14 songs
Format - cassette
Sound Quality - below average audience recording
Rating - 6.5
Official/Semi Official Release - none known

REVIEW
John seems to sum up what is to become of the Pistols before the encore of “No Fun” when he says something like “This song is about what it’s like being on the road”. A decent enough played gig with the exception of “New York” which is just awful. The final song “Submission” is a somewhat of a different version and Johnny really seems to be spewing some venom at this point. Historical enough since it is one of two gigs from the Holland tour that are floating around and seems to be the first live recording of “Belsen Was A Gas”, besides the mystical soundboard tape alluded to in a few books as the “Dutch” tape, if that ever turns up perhaps that would be the first recording.

DRAWBACK
Basically the level is so low that it has added hiss. The opening song “GSTQ” is cut off and so is the beginning of “I Wanna Be Me”, also there are some weird tape edits on “I Wanna be me” as well which sound like the tape player being turned on and off.. There are quite a few other tape edits one cuts off the end of “Problems” and the beginning of ‘Pretty Vacant”, then another one during “No Fun”, and again in between “No Fun” & “Liar”, and yet again in the middle of “Liar”. There are some slight sound fluctuations throughout. Basically this tape is a frustrating one all throughout.

SETLIST
God Save The Queen (NOT ON THE TAPE)
I Wanna Be Me
Seventeen
New York
EMI
Bodies
Belsen Was A Gas
Holidays In The Sun
No Feelings
Problems
Pretty Vacant
Anarchy In The UK
No Fun
Liar
Submission

December 11, 1977 - Maf Centrum, Maasbree, Holland

Trt - 54:24
Number of Songs - 14 songs
Format - cassette
Sound Quality - average audience recording w/ good loud vocals
Rating - songs 1-10 7/ songs 11-14 8
Official/Semi Official Release - Pretty Vacant, Anarchy, No Fun, Liar were broadcast over Dutch radio and have appeared on Rough Ready Chaotic Live, others.
Video - EMI, Pretty Vacant, & Anarchy were shown on TV.

REVIEW
Definitely the better of the two circulated Holland tapes, and quite nice that there is video available as well. The mix is quite good for an audience tape as you can hear Johnny’s vocals right up there, so much so that you can hear the soundman fucking around with the delay from time to time. Sid has begun yelling things into the mike at this point; my guess would be much to John’s dismay. A good gig overall but I do miss a lot of the older songs. Johnny yells at the audience a lot about being boring and not dancing enough. It is nice to hear the soundboard versions from the radio broadcast, where is the rest of the gig?

DRAWBACKS
While the tape is a decent audience it is still at a low level that creates some hiss and there are slight clips in the songs, one in the middle of “EMI” and another in the middle of “Holidays”, which also has it’s end cut off. The prominence of the vocals at times does cause them to distort a tad. There is some horrible feedback after “No feelings”. Some people have altered versions adding in the radio versions for the last four songs

SETLIST
God Save The Queen
I Wanna Be Me
Seventeen
New York
EMI
Bodies
Belsen Was A Gas
Holidays In The Sun
No Feelings
Problems
Pretty Vacant
Anarchy In The UK
No Fun
Liar

December 16, 1977 - Brunel University, Uxbridge

Trt - 62:10
Number of Songs - 16 songs
Format - cassette
Sound Quality - clear but slightly boomy audience recording
Rating - 7.5
Official/Semi Official Release - I Wanna be Me & 17 on God Save The Sex Pistols LP.

REVIEW
This tape has a very boomy sound to it, which is probably caused by the fact that the band was playing in a very large hall with a PA that was too small, as the tape is quite clear sounding. Actually there are two versions floating around that may be from two different sources. There is a quite bad sounding one w/ lots of hiss that has a complete version of Anarchy but and incomplete EMI. This one however has the full EMI but cuts the final 20 seconds off the end of Anarchy. Overall it is a decent enough gig and nice to have such a long one. Johnny starts the gig by yelling something about the most disorganized gig ever, and “I’ll get the cunt responsible”.

DRAWBACKS
Well the main drawback on the good tape is the fact that Anarchy is clipped at the end, but thankfully it is only about 20 seconds. There is also a small ½ second blank spot in the middle of Submission, but other than that the only drawback is the boomy sound of the tape overall but I feel confident that there is to be no way around that based on the specifics of this particular gig. The old tape was quite a bad one with lots of hiss and cuts here and there especially cutting off half of EMI.

SETLIST
God Save The Queen
I Wanna Be Me
Seventeen
New York
EMI
Bodies
Belsen Was A Gas
Holidays In The Sun
Submission
No Feelings
Problems
Pretty Vacant
Anarchy In The UK
No Fun
Liar
God Save The Queen

December 17, 1977 Mr. George’s, Coventry

Trt - 33:39
Number of Songs - 8 songs
Format - cassette
Sound Quality - average audience recording w/ intermittent phasing
Rating - low 7
Official/Semi Official Release: none known

REVIEW
Well the main thing with this tape is this gig was clearly oversold as the thing you hear the most is Johnny & someone from the club yelling “Please Move back” they stop the show one time after Bodies to apparently try to fix the overcrowding problems, but all this seems to do is unite the crowd in an “Off the Stage” chant.. One look at the pictures in the Dennis Morris books will clue you in to the mess. Since there are such amounts of down time this gig features a couple of the Sid bass solos in between songs. Johnny talks to the audience quite a bit and even slags off the previous nights audience at Brunel University. A decent gig but due to the version you have and the amount of phasing that occurs one you may not listen to all that often.

DRAWBACKS
Well the fact that the tapes seem to be without the first two songs GSTQ & I Wanna be me, perhaps they are still out there somewhere. Also most versions I have found of this tape are horrible, with lots of weird phasing. Sounds like somewhere down the road someone made a copy on a bad deck and got interference from the opposite side of the cassette. I do have one however that seems to have eliminated most of the interference by switching it to one channel and then running it back through as a mono tape. Although it still pops up from time to time most notably on Belsen & Holidays. The ending of Anarchy is cut off; also there is a small clip in the middle of New York.

SETLIST
Seventeen
New York
EMI
Bodies
Belsen Was A Gas
Holidays In The Sun
Anarchy In The UK (end is cut)
Pretty Vacant

December 19, 1977 - Nikkers Club, Keighley

Trt - 49:15
Number of Songs - 13 songs
Format - cassette
Sound Quality - below average audience recording w/ excessive hiss
Rating - 6.5
Official/Semi Official Release: none known

REVIEW
Well this seems to be a complete gig however it isn’t one of my favorites ones, probably just because the recording is poor enough that you won’t want to listen to it that often. The band plays an average set with a few of the songs reaching the sloppy territory such as the ending to “Holidays” and the intro to “No Feelings”. Johnny and Sid speak from time to time throughout but I haven’t had the patience to really decipher due to the distortion that occurs when you turn it up. The band also seems to lose it during ‘No Fun”<br>The crowd seems very enthusiastic, singing along with ‘Anarchy” and starting a roaring “We Want More” chant thereafter.

DRAWBACKS
The low levels on the various versions of this I have heard would be the major drawback. Sadly the one with the lowest levels and therefore most hiss is also the clearest, if that makes any sense. The louder you turn up the more distorted it gets. There are a few small edits/dropout blank spots throughout most notably right after “Holidays” then after “Pretty Vacant” and some versions put “No Fun” to the second side of the tape causing an edit… Also there is a small muffled bit in the beginning of “Belsen”..Nothing on the tape sounds altered however.

SETLIST
God Save The Queen
I Wanna Be Me
Seventeen
New York
EMI
Bodies
Belsen Was A Gas
Holidays In The Sun
No Feelings
Problems
Pretty vacant
Anarchy In The UK
No Fun

Fuggle
Administrator

Posts: 3,518

Sex Pistols... Live Recordings 1977 Aug 23, 2004 8:43:51 GMT -5

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Post by Fuggle on Aug 23, 2004 8:43:51 GMT -5

December 23, 1977 - Stowaway Club, Newport

Trt - 58:05
Number of Songs - 15 songs
Format - LP/CD (recorded from the LP)
Sound Quality - average but slightly distorted audience recording
Rating -7
Official/Semi Official Release: Where Were You In 77?

REVIEW
Basically this is one of those gigs you never had to look very far to get as it came out in the 80’s on an LP called “Where were you in 77” with the complete gig still intact, a rare occurrence for a Pistols boot. They did manage to screw up the song listing on the back of the LP. Overall it is again a decent but not terribly memorable gig. Johnny seems to be definitely losing his enthusiasm at this point and even states “You must be fucking mad to come cunts like us”. The band plays through their full Sid era repertoire including “Liar” which seems to be a once a week inclusion. Johnny seems to be putting everything he has into “No Fun” each night, which should have given us a clue as to what was to come.

DRAWBACKS
The main one being that for the CD release they recorded it straight from the LP complete with vinyl pops and everything. Would have been nice if they would have taken the tape and cleaned it up as it is a bit of a noisy recording. There are some fade-outs after “No Feelings” (end of side 1 of the LP), and then again 3 songs later after “Anarchy” which is the end of the regular set. Also the first song ‘God Save the Queen” fades up missing any sort of intro. Johnny mentions Christmas during “Submission” which made some people believe this was Huddersfield, which is incorrect.

SETLIST
God Save The Queen
I Wanna Be Me
Seventeen
New York
EMI
Bodies
Belsen Was A Gas
Holidays In The Sun
No Feelings
Problems
Pretty Vacant
Anarchy In The UK
No Fun
Submission
Liar

December 24, 1977 - Links Pavilion, Cromer

Trt - 57:42
Number of Songs - 14 songs
Format - cassette
Sound Quality - below average audience recording
Rating -6-6.5
Official/Semi Official Release: none known

REVIEW
Well this is another one of the somewhat average gigs the band played in December. Most sound like the band just going through the motions. Listen to this gig and then pull out one from September 1976 and the notice the difference. In 1976 the band was really exciting and in contrast at most of the Dec 77 gigs only the crowd seems excited. They sound frighteningly like regular rock concerts. Oh well, don’t get me wrong they’re still a great rock band so it’s better than most, but when you listen to the gigs in a row the change is a lot more noticeable. Johnny talks a lot throughout the gig but the quality of the tape makes most of it hard to understand.

DRAWBACKS
Well there are two versions of this gig going around neither is totally complete. The better sounding of the two is missing the last song “No Fun”. The overall quality of the shorter but better version is sort of muffled and a tad distorted and has more taper/trader interference. There is a small clip in the middle of the opening song ‘GSTQ”, and an abrupt break at the end of “Belsen”, there are also edits before and after “Pretty Vacant” actually cutting off the beginning of the song. The longer version has the opening song ‘God Save the Queen” clipped in the beginning and the abrupt ending to “Belsen” but “Pretty Vacant” is complete. It is a shame that this longer version is so harsh sounding, definitely not something you would listen to more than once…

SETLIST
God Save The Queen
I Wanna Be Me
Seventeen
New York
EMI
Bodies
Submission
Belsen Was A Gas
Holidays In The Sun
No Feelings
Problems
Pretty Vacant
Anarchy In The UK
No Fun

December 25, 1977 - Ivanhoe’s, Huddersfield

Trt - 74:25
Number of Songs - 17 songs
Format - cassette
Sound Quality - decent audience recording
Rating -7
Official/Semi Official Release: GSTQ on God Save The Sex Pistols CD, No Fun & Submission came out on 7inch.
Video - the TV Huddersfield retro, The Filth & the Fury! movie shows some footage from this gig

REVIEW
Well this is it the final UK gig that was to occur for 18 ½ years, thank God it was a nice long one. Johnny starts this off by stating that the crowd should be drunk just like the band and then “Can you think of a better way to spend Christmas”. I know I can’t, how amazing would that have been? Christmas with the Sex Pistols! The set is long and they wind up playing “God Save The Queen” and “Belsen was A Gas” (probably because of its newness) twice. For the most part everything is played well and the band seem to be in great drunken spirits, which seems to add to the relaxed feel of the performance. Any aggravation they were all feeling or would feel in the next two weeks seemed to take a back seat for this one evening. The rumor is that the whole gig was filmed by Julian Temple, which would make for a hell of a DVD release if that were true, I guess time will tell.

DRAWBACKS
There is a weird edit in the middle of “Problems” where they have clipped in a different version of the song and then it cuts back (could be from an unscrupulous bootlegger saving the complete version for themselves). At times the sound gets a bit muffled, most noticeably on the opening GSTQ (just a tad) and then from “Pretty Vacant” until the ending. Also there is a break after “Anarchy” when the band left the stage and a small blank spot in the beginning of “No Fun”. Also on this version it seems they have taken the last two songs from the vinyl release and there are a couple skips on “Submission”..

SETLIST
God Save The Queen
I Wanna Be Me
Seventeen
New York
EMI
Belsen Was A Gas
Bodies
Holidays In The Sun
No Feelings
Problems
Pretty Vacant
Anarchy In The UK
No Fun
Liar
Belsen Was A Gas
Submission
God Save The Queen