Caerphilly: 17th - 21st October 2011

ANARCHY IN CAERPHILLY - THE SEXPISTOLS EXPERIENCE, REBEL TRUCE (CLASH TRIBUTE) BROKEN HEARTS (FT BILLY RATH AND STEVE DIOR) CAERPHILLY WORKMANS HALL - FRIDAY 21ST OCTOBER

35 Years ago this sleepy area of South Wales was catapulted to national attention when the Sex Pistols fresh from the Grundy debacle had the Cardiff leg of the tour cancelled and Caerphilly’s Castle Cinema took up the mantle and put on the show complete with hundreds of carol singing protesters outside.

Marking the anniversary Gerrion Jones put selections from his legendary Punk Forever exhibition on the walls of this phenomenal Art Deco venue (closest venue still standing in the town). To culminate the week the bill from the evening was recreated in tribute form. I was expecting a crowd of around 80-100 and was amazed when over double that made the pilgrimage. First up was Punk Royalty in the form of the Broken Hearts which featured Billy Rath (who in his time with the Heartbreakers was on stage last time around, they played a well received set of HB standards, Born To Lose, Chatterbox and a fantastic Chinese Rocks.

I have always been more of a Clash over Pistols man so Rebel Truce totally blew me away. The crowd went mental with 16 year olds grappling and pogoing along with the fifty pluses in the pit. This was heavenly, I missed the Clash in their heyday and so am never going to see them now, but the greatest hits set was incredible.

Everything from 1977 and Janie Jones to White Man in Hammersmith Palais and the ubiquitous White Riot, a highlight being when some wag threw a condom on stage during the hymn to them Protex Blue. One of the finest sets I have seen in my time reviewing gigs but being such a fan of the motherlode they couldn’t fail.

The Sex Pistols Experience are exactly that, they look the part ‘Rotten’s” attitude is as snarling as you would expect and musically they are spot on. ‘Sid’ ask’s the crowd who was here last time ‘when I wasn’t’ (Matlock still in band) when a huge roar went up he pointed out a few teenagers and said ‘ your was not even born, you mistaking us with Greenday’. TSE enthralled and played everything you could think of (bearing in mind the canon is one album plus assorted bits n bobs) loved the intro as well, do yourself a four and go see these guys.

Overall a fitting tribute to a momentous event in music history in a great venue that really needs to be utilized in the future. Punk Forever Indeed.

To see images from the Punk Forever Event at Caerphilly Click here.