Juune Boyle
Public Image Ltd, O2 ABC, Glasgow
★★★★
Public Image Ltd were always more interesting than John Lydon's former outfit, their innovative post-punk racket leaving much more room for expansion than the creative dead-end of The Sex Pistols.
Over 30 years down the line, that will to experiment might have levelled out a little, but there was still a lot to enjoy about the PiL live experience. Cavernous bass and jagged, metallic guitars formed the usual background for Lydon's distinctive fury, with almost every track stretched out into a sprawling epic.
Tracks like Poptones and Death Disco were brilliantly reworked, with Lu Edmonds taking Keith Levene's original discordant guitar parts and pulling them into new, but still familiar, shapes, while The Pop Group's Bruce Smith brought his inimitable take on funk to the drums.
On the newer material, PiL weren't quite as consistent. Double Trouble's sharp Wilko-esque riffs and hilarious reportage of Lydon's domestic bliss worked perfectly, but Deeper Waters meandered when it should have popped and a rare occasion where less would been more.
As ever though, Lydon carried the show through any less-engaging moments through sheer force of personality. Jerking his way around the stage with a bottle of brandy in his hand, he was a perfect contradiction, coming over equal parts charming, bitter, warm and malevolent all at once, telling the crowd "We have not been rehearsing for 18 months! We've just spent the weekend getting drunk! You see, some people can handle their booze!"
Naturally it was the moments when the singer really cut loose that impressed the most. Whether channeling a blood and thunder preacher on Religion or leading the crowd through Rise's mantra of "anger is an energy" over and over again, John Lydon is still, as ever, a master showman. Remarkable.
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