Wikipedia

Filthy Lucre Tour

The Filthy Lucre Tour was a concert tour by English punk rock band Sex Pistols. Announced in March 1996 following speculation and criticism from the band's former manager Malcolm McLaren and a reviewer for The Times, the tour was conducted for financial reasons and named after a 1976 Daily Express headline. The setlist was comprised entirely of previously existing material and signature covers and ran from their 21 June 1996 performance at Messila Festival in Finland to their 7 December 1996 performance at Estadio Monumental David Arellano in Chile. Their Finsbury Park appearance was filmed and released as Filthy Lucre Live, while their dates in Ireland were cancelled on moral grounds and their Roskilde Festival performance was truncated after the band were bottled. The tour itself was criticised by reviewers for NME, Melody Maker, The Times, The Herald, the Los Angeles Times, and Variety and later by Skin but praised by reviewers from The New York Times and later by Rolling Stone, while the album was praised by Stephen Thomas Erlewine and a reviewer for The Independent.

Filthy Lucre
Tour by the Sex Pistols
Associated albumFilthy Lucre Live
Start date21 June 1996
End date7 December 1996
No. of shows72

History

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Background and announcement

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The Sex Pistols achieved widespread notoriety after appearing on Bill Grundy's Today programme in December 1976. At the time, the band comprised Johnny Rotten, Steve Jones, Paul Cook, and Glen Matlock, with the band's manager Malcolm McLaren replacing Matlock with Sid Vicious[1] in February 1977.[2] With the latter lineup, the band had a UK number one album with Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols[3] and a controversial UK top two single with "God Save the Queen".[4] The band split up in January 1978 after a concert at Winterland Ballroom, with Rotten changing his name back to John Lydon and declining to perform any Sex Pistols songs for several years afterward.[5] Vicious died of a heroin overdose in 1979 while awaiting trial for the murder of Nancy Spungen.[6] After finding he had time on his hands while in Los Angeles, Matlock decided to meet Jones, with whom he decided to meet Lydon,[1] who had mellowed on the idea of performing Sex Pistols songs again after venting his frustrations in his 1994 autobiography Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs.[5]

The band began making arrangements to reunite in summer 1995.[5] Speculation that the band would reunite made the 10 February 1996 issue of Melody Maker,[7] prompting McLaren to describe the band as "being sent out like those old dray horses before they go to pasture" and David Sinclair of The Times to write that for "anyone who recalls with fondness the incandescent glory of the Pistols in their prime, [...] the idea of the band that once set out to bury the rock establishment returning as yet another revivalist cabaret act is almost too sad to contemplate".[8] The four original Sex Pistols announced their reunion at a testy press conference on 18 March 1996,[7] at which Rotten described Vicious as "nothing more than an empty coathanger to fill an empty spot onstage".[9] The band made no attempt to hide the fact that they still hated each other and had reunited solely for financial reasons, with Rotten stating that the band's "common cause" was "your money".[10] They named their tour "Filthy Lucre" after a tabloid headline in the Daily Express ("Punk? Call It Filthy Lucre") shortly after their Today appearance.[11]

Performances

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No new material was written for the tour, with the band augmenting their discography with covers of "Substitute" by the Who, "No Fun" by the Stooges and "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" by the Monkees,[9] although their Roseland Ballroom concert in August 1996 comprised Bollocks plus "Did You No Wrong", "Stepping Stone", and "Satellite".[12] Rehearsals took place at Lydon's home in Los Angeles.[13] Their first gig took place in Finland,[5] followed by Germany and then at Finsbury Park, at which they were supported by 60 Ft. Dolls, Goldblade, 3 Colours Red, Fluffy, Stiff Little Fingers, the Buzzcocks, Skunk Anansie, the Wildhearts, and Iggy Pop.[14] Their Finsbury Park performance was released as Filthy Lucre Live shortly after it was recorded[15] and reached number 26 on the UK Albums Chart; around this time, Bollocks was reissued and peaked at number 45.[3] At their Hollywood Palladium concert in August 1996, the band were supported by Goldfinger and Gravity Kills.[16] Many of the tour's venues were significantly larger than during their 1970s run as the band had broken up before they could play any large venues[5] and were kitted out with enlarged headlines from their heyday.[12]

Two dates in Ireland were scheduled, one in Belfast and one in Dublin;[7] these were cancelled after the band were banned from playing in the country on grounds of "blasphemous content"[17] and replaced by a performance at Shepherd's Bush Empire.[7] A performance at Roskilde Festival in Denmark resulted in the band leaving the stage after eighteen minutes after being bottled. Some regarded the band's early departure as hypocritical given that the Sex Pistols had become notorious for misbehaving,[18] however the journalist Denis Decay [no] was sufficiently disgruntled to drug the festivalgoers responsible.[19] In a January 2019 NME interview, Skin of Skunk Anansie stated that she did not enjoy touring with the Sex Pistols due to the racism administered by audiences and criticised Rotten for his failure to address the matter. She also stated that her band had been thrown off the tour after she stood up to a racist fan in Adelaide who had thrown her hat on the floor and thrown beer over her.[20]

Reception and aftermath

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Early reviews were not positive. Sinclair criticised their Finsbury Park performance for its "arthritic rhythm section" and its set list for "lacking depth and variety", wrote that it was "hard to ignore the element of pantomime in the performance", and described Lydon as looking "more like a postcard-punk caricature than he ever did in his original incarnation".[7] MJ of Melody Maker compared their Phoenix Festival performance to a cabaret show and Rotten to a "pink and green-haired Liza Minnelli",[7] while the NME described the band as "bloated, dilapidated dinosaurs".[21] Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times wrote of a Red Rocks Amphitheatre performance in July 1996 that the band was not the Sex Pistols but the "Cap Pistols", mocking the "decidedly overweight and apparently out of shape" Rotten's "god-awful red, black and chartreuse outfit that makes him look either like an usher at a midnight screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show or the next loony villain in a Batman movie".[22]

Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote that during their August 1996 Roseland Ballroom concert, Rotten "sang as if every bitter, defiant, sarcastic word was exactly what he wanted to say", though wrote that the Pistols played "more slowly than current punks".[12] Reviewing a Hollywood Palladium performance later that month, Troy J. Augusto of Variety wrote that the Pistols "executed a workman-like, hour-long punk show that was short on energy, both on stage and in the sheepish pits that moped on the floor in front of the stage, but long on musical nostalgia". He also criticised Goldfinger for delivering "a half-hearted set that couldnt have interested the audience any less" [sic] and described Gravity Kills as "a weak and trendy Nine Inch Nails rip-off whose hyperactive keyboardist should be given a sedative, followed by many piano lessons".[16] Writing retrospectively, The Herald wrote in June 2007 that the band's efforts were "a bit like watching grandpa attempt to emulate Eminem after a one too may sherries on Christmas day" [sic],[23] however Andy Greene of Rolling Stone was more positive in January 2013, describing the shows as "absolutely explosive".[9]

Reviewing Filthy Lucre Live, The Independent favourably compared Rotten with Roy Chubby Brown and wrote that the album "springs from the speakers with more spunk and drive than we have any right to expect, sounding just as angry as a two-decade grudge should".[24] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote that the band sounded "much heavier and less revolutionary than expected" and wrote that it was "fun to hear a live performance by the Pistols that doesn't degenerate into chaos and is recorded in clean audio".[15] Robert Christgau described the album as "that rare thing, a live album with a life of its own".[25] In March 2014, Matlock released a book about the tour,[26] and in August 2024, Barbara Ellen of The Guardian compared the controversy surrounding the forthcoming Oasis Live '25 Tour to that of Filthy Lucre.[27]

Tour dates

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List of 1996 concerts[28]
Date City Country Venue
21 June Lahti Finland Messila Festival
22 June Munich Germany Helter Skelter Festival
23 June London England Finsbury Park
26 June Stockholm Sweden Maritime Museum
28 June Roskilde Denmark Roskilde Festival
30 June St. Gallen Switzerland Open-Air Festival
4 July Paris France Zénith Paris
6 July Berlin Germany Treptow Arena
7 July Prague Czechia Sports Hall
9 July Ljubljana Slovenia Tivoli Hall
10 July Rome Italy Curva Stadio
11 July Milan Parco Aquatica
13 July Ochtrup Germany Munster Festival
14 July Frankfurt F.a.n. Frankenstolz Arena
16 July Glasgow Scotland SEC Centre
17 July London England Shepherd's Bush Empire
20 July Zeebrugge Belgium Axion Beach Festival
21 July Stratford-upon-Avon England Phoenix Festival
31 July Denver United States Red Rocks Amphitheatre
2 August Dallas Music Complex
3 August Houston International Ballroom
4 August Memphis Mud Island Amphitheater
6 August Fairfax EagleBank Arena
8 August New York Roseland Ballroom
9 August
10 August Boston Xfinity Center
12 August Toronto Canada Budweiser Stage
13 August Cleveland United States Jacobs Pavilion
16 August Detroit Huntington Place
17 August Chicago Aragon Ballroom
18 August Milwaukee The Rave/Eagles Club
20 August Toronto Canada The Guvernment
22 August Los Angeles United States Universal Amphitheatre
23 August Hollywood Palladium
25 August
27 August Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre
29 August Portland Keller Auditorium
30 August Seattle Bumbershoot
31 August Vancouver Canada Pacific National Exhibition
5 October Auckland New Zealand Super Top
9 October Brisbane Australia Brisbane Festival Hall
11 October Newcastle Entertainment Centre
12 October Sydney Selina's Nitespot
14 October Hordern Pavilion
17 October Canberra National Convention Centre Canberra
19 October Melbourne Festival Hall
20 October Palace Theatre
22 October Adelaide Thebarton Theatre
24 October Perth Entertainment Centre
28 October Kanagawa Japan Club Citta
29 October
31 October Osaka Imperial Hall
1 November
2 November
4 November Tokyo Nippon Budokan
5 November
7 November Fukuoka Sun Palace
9 November Nagoya Diamond Hall
10 November
11 November
13 November
14 November
16 November Tokyo Nippon Budokan
17 November Matsumoto Syakaibunka Kaikan
19 November Kanagawa Club Citta
21 November Sapporo Nitori Culture Hall
23 November Sendai Sendai Sun Plaza
29 November Rio De Janeiro Brazil Praça da Apoteose
30 November São Paulo Pista de Atletismo Darwin Piñeyrúa
4 December Buenos Aires Argentina Estadio Obras Sanitarias
5 December
7 December Santiago Chile Estadio Monumental David Arellano

Cancelled shows

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List of 1996 concerts[28]
Date City Country Venue
17 July Belfast Ireland Maysfield Centre
18 July Dublin Point Theatre

References

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  1. ^ a b Simpson, Dave (2014-04-11). "Glen Matlock: 'No matter what we do, nothing will equate to the Sex Pistols'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  2. ^ "Freedom, festivity and dead by sunrise: Inside Sid Vicious's drug-fuelled last party". The Independent. 2024-05-28. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  3. ^ a b "SEX PISTOLS". Official Charts. 1976-12-11. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  4. ^ "Music: Charting the number ones that somehow got away". The Independent. 20 February 1998. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e Hilburn, Robert; Crowe, Jerry (1996-06-23). "Return of the Dinosaurs". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
  6. ^ Wattenberg, Daniel (1996-08-26). "WAS PUNK ROCK RIGHT-WING? - Washington Examiner". Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "God Save The Sex Pistols - Filthy Lucre Tour 1996 Press Conference & UK Gig Reviews". www.philjens.plus.com. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
  8. ^ The Times , 1996, UK, English. 1996.
  9. ^ a b c Greene, Andy (2013-01-31). "Flashback: Sex Pistols Reunite". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
  10. ^ "Bands tempted by reunion lucre". 2001-12-20. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  11. ^ NME (2008-07-28). "Sex Pistols on Bill Grundy's 'Today' show most requested clip". NME. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
  12. ^ a b c "The Pistols, Courting and Challenging Legend". New York Times. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  13. ^ "Filthy Lucre brings Sex Pistols to UK". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 1996-06-22. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
  14. ^ Owens, David (2024-05-23). "'We're not scared of you - we're Welsh!' The day 60ft Dolls took on The Sex Pistols". Nation.Cymru. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  15. ^ a b Filthy Lucre Live - Sex Pistols | Album | AllMusic, retrieved 2024-09-18
  16. ^ a b Augusto, Troy J. (1996-08-28). "Sex Pistols". Variety. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
  17. ^ Sex Pistols | The Official Website, retrieved 2024-09-19
  18. ^ Hartmann, Graham (2022-02-28). "When Fans Strike Back". Loudwire. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
  19. ^ "God Save The Sex Pistols - Classic Gigs 1996. Finsbury Park, Roskilde". www.philjens.plus.com. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  20. ^ Ryan, Gary (2019-01-22). "Does Rock 'n' Roll Kill Braincells?! – Skin, Skunk Anansie". NME. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  21. ^ Tribune, Chicago (1996-08-11). "'FILTHY LUCRE'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
  22. ^ Hilburn, Robert (1996-08-02). "That's Mr. Rotten to You, Punk". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
  23. ^ "Reunited they stand ... and fall". The Herald. 2007-06-28. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  24. ^ "'For a band who cared so little for public approbation, this reunited Pistols seem determined primarily to scotch one lingering myth in particular: that they were crap musicians'". The Independent. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  25. ^ "Robert Christgau: CG: Sex Pistols". www.robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
  26. ^ "Sex Pistols bassist to release tour book". Digital Spy. 2014-02-07. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
  27. ^ Ellen, Barbara (2024-08-31). "Oasis are back. So why all the hatred?". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  28. ^ a b Sex Pistols | The Official Website, retrieved 2024-09-12
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