Today’s iteration of the Sex Pistols does not include the two members most people think of first when they think of the Sex Pistols: John Lydon — aka Johnny Rotten — and the late Sid Vicious. But that didn’t stop original members Paul Cook, Steve Jones, and Glen Matlock from performing their 1977 debut Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols at London’s Bush Hall tonight, where they’re doing a couple of reunion shows with Gallows’ Frank Carter filling in for Lydon on vocals.

Lydon has not been getting on well with his former bandmates as of late. Pistol, Danny Boyle’s 2021 FX miniseries based on Jones’ memoir, spawned a whole legal kerfuffle about who among the band should be allowed to license their music (Lydon lost). Then, Lydon — who literally co-wrote the Queen Elizabeth II diss track “God Save The Queen” — accused the rest of the Pistols of trying to profit off her death. Lest we forget that time Lydon was spotted in a MAGA t-shirt. I think we moved on from that too soon. But I digress. It’s obvious why Johnny Rotten is not included in the 2024 iteration of the Sex Pistols. It looks and sounds like Carter is doing a pretty good job in his place, though, and the setlist even included a Public Image Ltd. song. “God Save The Queen,” incidentally, was changed to “God Save The King” and Yungblud joined the band onstage.

The reunion shows are going towards keeping the legendary Bush Hall open. The room only has a 400-person capacity, and judging by fan videos and photos, it seems like the show was a fun sweaty time. See those below.

SETLIST:
“Bodies”
“No Feelings”
“Holidays In The Sun”
“Satellite”
“Problems”
“God Save The Queen”
“Pretty Vacant”
“Submission”
“Seventeen”
“EMI”
“New York”
“Silly Thing”
“Liar”
“Penge” (Public Image Ltd. cover)
“Anarchy In The UK”