{"id":36690,"date":"2018-06-07T07:34:48","date_gmt":"2018-06-07T06:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=36690"},"modified":"2018-06-08T22:04:32","modified_gmt":"2018-06-08T21:04:32","slug":"good-medicine-john-lydons-pil-add-a-dose-of-class-to-the-camden-rocks-festival-line-up-at-the-electric-ballroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2018\/06\/good-medicine-john-lydons-pil-add-a-dose-of-class-to-the-camden-rocks-festival-line-up-at-the-electric-ballroom\/","title":{"rendered":"GOOD MEDICINE \u2013 John Lydon’s PiL Add A Dose Of Class To The Camden Rocks Festival Line Up At The Electric Ballroom"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Public Image Ltd. – Picture by Svenja Block (www.svenjablock.pixieset.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Never a dull place even at the worst of times, Camden Rocks<\/strong> had the whole borough buzzing on Saturday.<\/h4>\n

With 200 acts performing in 20 venues, wherever you turned there was live music to be heard. Beer, bands and bonhomie \u2013 what could be better?<\/h4>\n

With so much to see the only problem was where to drop anchor for the evening.<\/p>\n

EP\u2019s Matt Catchpole <\/strong>elected to base himself in the Electric Ballroom<\/strong> \u2013 celebrating its 80th<\/sup> birthday this year \u2013 to sample the delights of The Professionals<\/strong>, Germany\u2019s Beatsteaks<\/strong> and the incomparable Public Image Ltd.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Professionals – Picture by Svenja Block (www.svenjablock.pixieset.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Founded by Steve Jones <\/strong>and Paul Cook<\/strong> after The<\/strong> Sex Pistols<\/strong>\u2019 split, The Professionals <\/strong>were rebooted in 2015 to promote the release of a three-disc retrospective The Complete Professionals<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve since gone on to release an album of brand new material What In The World<\/strong><\/em>. Jones features on the record, but he\u2019s no longer an official member.<\/p>\n

Cook, however, is very much part of the new line-up with Paul Myers<\/strong>, Tom Spencer<\/strong> and Chris McCormack<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

So, on Saturday \u2013 with John Lydon<\/strong>\u2019s PiL headlining – The Electric Ballroom had the distinction of having two Sex Pistols on the same stage \u2013 albeit about five hours apart.<\/p>\n

Wisely alternating between new and old material, The Professionals pulled in a sizeable crowd for a blistering hi-octane set.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve got a great frontman in ex-Lurkers<\/strong> and Yo-Yos<\/strong> guitarist Spencer and it was nice to hear songs like Oh You Silly Thing<\/strong><\/em> and 1-2-3<\/strong><\/em> played live.<\/p>\n

Cook\u2019s powerhouse drumming is a pleasure to behold and the strength of the newer songs like Going, Going, Gone\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>suggests that this is no mere exercise in nostalgia.<\/p>\n

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Beatsteaks frontman Arnim Teutoburg – picture by Svenja Block (www.svenjablock.pixieset.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Massive in their native country, Beatsteaks also have a Sex Pistols\u2019 connection \u2013 having won a competition to open for the reformed quartet in Berlin in 1995 \u2013 in what was only their 10th<\/sup> live performance.<\/p>\n

They make the kind of ear-splitting racket you might expect from a band with three guitarists and two drummers. The sole bassist must feel quite lonely.<\/p>\n

Clearly consummate musicians, they\u2019re fast and aggressive, but with all the subtlety of a lump hammer.<\/p>\n

Personally, this type of frat-boy rock leaves me cold, but their audience \u2013 judging by the fist pumps, chants and devil horn gesticulations – loved it.<\/p>\n

A closing cover of The Beasties\u2019 Sabotage<\/strong><\/em>, showed how good they can be if they allow a little light and shade through the cracks of their formidable wall of noise.<\/p>\n

Beatsteaks\u2019 departure meant it was almost time for the main event and everybody squashed up the front for the arrival of one of North London\u2019s most famous sons.<\/p>\n

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Lydon – Picture by Matt Catchpole<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dressed in a red and white checked shirt that made him resemble a particularly belligerent J-cloth, Lydon may have lost some of his old menace, but he remains a natural performer.<\/p>\n

The pipes are in good order too as he howls and whoops his way through typically uncompromising set opener Warrior<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

There are stupefied grins all round as everyone realises what a treat it is to catch a band of this class and consequence in a venue of this size.<\/p>\n

Lydon relies on lyric sheets these days, but far from detracting from his performance, it adds to the theatre as he hunches over the lectern to deliver the evening\u2019s lesson.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re so polite! Am I in the wrong building?\u201d he asks at one point. \u201cOf course not, we\u2019re proper people being proper to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fittingly for a band with a box set to promote, PiL\u2019s set spans their 40-year history from early favourites to songs like Corporate<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0from their 2015 studio album What The World Needs Now<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Despite multiple stylistic changes, it\u2019s a fantastically consistent body of work, with Lydon\u2019s rage and disaffection at what he calls the \u2018shitstem\u2019 to the fore.<\/p>\n

While The Professionals make highly entertaining music that appeals to the teenager in all of us, PiL\u2019s music is very much for the grown-ups<\/p>\n

A mirror image of its frontman, the music is sophisticated, awkward, intense, humorous, even absurd, but always enthralling – demanding your attention.<\/p>\n

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Picture by Matt Catchpole<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Among the highlights was a scintillating The Body<\/strong><\/em> \u2013 with an animated Lydon acting out his lyrics, as long-time collaborator Lu Edmonds <\/strong>attacked the guitar riff.<\/p>\n

Tribal drumming from Bruce Smith<\/strong> heralded a caustic, creepy Flowers of Romance<\/strong><\/em>, before we entered the home straight to with a pair of true PiL classics.<\/p>\n

This Is Not A Love Song <\/strong><\/em>got the mosh pit into a frenzy, before Edmonds launched into the majestic chord sequence of Rise<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

After a quick fag break, the band returned with a chorus of hellos by way of introduction to Public Image<\/strong><\/em>, while Scott Firth<\/strong>\u2019s brilliant bass added extra-verve to Open Up<\/strong><\/em>, originally a collaboration with Leftfield<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

With the clock ticking down towards the curfew, there was just time for one more encore Shoom<\/strong><\/em> \u2013 where Lydon labels everything from sex to success \u201cbollocks\u201d.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a strange song and\u00a0 a strange moment on the night, but by then the frontman was in such control he could have recited the phonebook backwards in Swahili and still had us all in raptures.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean this from the very bottom of my heart,\u201d Lydon announced by way of a goodbye, \u201cFuck off!\u201d<\/p>\n

Then with a smile and a couple of taps of the heart, he was gone.<\/p>\n

A top notch performance to crown an excellent day\u2019s entertainment.<\/p>\n

Hats off to the Camden Rocks promoters for a top booking and another great event.<\/p>\n