Glen Matlock: I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol

In an attic somewhere there must lie an unused comedy script for An Audience with The Sex Pistols. In the late 1970s, the idea of these anarchy-brewing, establishment-gobbing teenage rebels swapping tales with light entertainment lugubriousness between genial punk sing-alongs would have been ripe for a send up.

Well, on the evidence of Glen Matlock’s show, satire plus time equals reality. This is an enjoyable hour of rockabilly punk songs, stories brimming with dropped names and lessons in Cockney rhyming slang.

Matlock was the Sex Pistol’s original bassist, before making way for the doomed Sid Vicious in early 1977. Since then the skinny young gunslinger formed several other bands and has grown into an aspiring raconteur.  

He’s not quite there yet though. In true punk style, he appears under-rehearsed. Often stories featuring Iggy Pop, Billy Connolly and Cher trail off like a forgotten punchline. He seems more convinced of himself when singing, blasting through 'God Save the Queen', 'Pretty Vacant' and some of his later work.

For those who know the Sex Pistols and love punk, this is should be manna. For the uninitiated, however, it could be like an agnostic attending a revival meeting.

Legend has it that everyone who saw the Sex Pistols in their first Manchester gig formed their own band. Matlock’s show won’t have a similar Damascene effect on punters, but it might convince a few aging punks that, like Glen, it’s now okay to wear comfy slippers and enjoy a cuppa.