Reviews and Recommendations: punk

A sparse but enthusiastic crowd gathered at Cardiff Barfly for the visit of a punk legend. Glen Matlock-the musical brains of The Sex Pistols (prior to the farce of the Sid Vicious circus) was in town!
The man who was once a teenage Sex Pistol deserves respect as he was... [more]

Event Date: October 31, 2009
Event Venue:  Barfly, Cardiff

A sparse but enthusiastic crowd gathered at Cardiff Barfly for the visit of a punk legend. Glen Matlock-the musical brains of The Sex Pistols (prior to the farce of the Sid Vicious circus) was in town!
The man who was once a teenage Sex Pistol deserves respect as he was also the major creative force within the underrated and influential Rich Kids (who included Midge Ure in their number)-and, amongst other credits Matlock has worked with Iggy Pop, Dead Man Walking and he has recently been on stage with Mick Jones (The Clash, Big Audio Dynamite and Carbon Silicon) and Steve Diggle (Buzzcocks)!
TV Smith of The Adverts once came to Cardiff with just an acoustic guitar and his aggressive approach gave his cutting edge classics an alternative but acceptable identity. Matlock aimed to repeat this process as he came armed with his six string accomplice, and a promise that he would offer something old, new, borrowed and blue! An affable stage presence whipped up the audience who mingled with Matlock and in turn he delivered the Pistols (via God save the Queen, Pretty Vacant and their cover of 60's anthem, Stepping Stone) and The Rich Kids (courtesy of the title tune of their awesome 1978 album Ghosts of princes in Towers and the track Burning Sounds). The drive was dropped when Matlock paid homage to one of his own idols, the late Ronnie Laine (once of The Small Faces and The Faces); and, Ambition which was written for the Iggy Pop long player Soldier also surfaced. Visceral vocals fuelled the punchy playing and Matlock proved that his career did not end in 1980 as he took us on an unplugged journey of his solo songs, e.g. Born Running, Somewhere Somehow, On Something, Yeah Right and Hard Work. Matlock is a fine rock 'n' roll songwriter-and, it was a shame that a full band was not present to take this aural assault on to its optimum level of electric energy!    
Yours truly managed to corner Matlock for a photo shot, but my useless camera phone was to fail me! Glen said to catch up with him for a shot and I sought this pictorial memento! However, the earlier pleasantries of Mr. M were replaced by a veneer that was more 'Rotten Johnny'-and, it just goes to show that keeping sonic stars at a distance is the best way to keep those musical highs in perspective! [less]