Latest news with #ForeverNowFestival
Perth Now
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
'I never stop writing!' John Lydon confirms new Public Image Ltd album is on the way
John Lydon is "constantly writing" for a new Public Image Ltd album. The 69-year-old music legend - who founded PiL in 1978 and has released 11 albums to date with the post-punk band - has promised new music is on the way, and he'll still be working on the material whilst on tour with the group this summer. Asked if a new LP is on the way, he told "Yeah, we will. Yeah. For the new album I'm constantly writing. When we're on a tour bus all that starts to happen. "I never stop writing. It's been like that all my life, since I learned to read and write when I was four, I just loved writing. I've got reams of ideas. "But I'd be lucky if out of 800 pages I could skim two lines. It's consistent and I might not be in that mind frame later on down the line." The new collection will be the follow-up to 2023's 'End of the World', and their fourth album since reuniting in 2009. The former Sex Pistols frontman revealed his lyrics are now inspired by "a sense of joy" rather than "wallowing in self-pity". He explained: "Life. Existence. A sense of joy in everything. I'm not a misery guts. I'm not one for wallowing in self-pity. "Obviously, I've had my moments in that, but that would not inspire me to put out an album of introspective mediocrity. This is not Peter Hammill here. "I find fun in everything, and humour. That creates intrigue and then I investigate my subjects until I can pen it accurately and properly. "There's no fantasy island in my writing; it's all based on experiences." John and the band are hitting the road this summer, and he insisted there is an unexpected secret to making PiL's live shows so good. He said: "Stage fright. I've read a lot of books about that, by Alec Guinness and those kind of actors who talk about stage fright and it really helped me when I was young. "It's a really valuable tool, because without that you won't have the inner stamina to do what you next on stage. You won't be prepared for it. "You have to basically s*** yourself, you do. I still do but I like that, the relief once I'm on stage, that's the reward. And then it's sink or swim." Public Image Ltd's 2025 tour dates: 12th June Dublin 3Olympia 13th June Limerick Dolan's Warehouse 22nd June Milton Keynes Forever Now Festival 24th June Margate Dreamland 26th June Hastings White Rock 27th June Newark Stone Valley Festival Midlands 28th June Oxford O2 Academy 1st July Warrington Parr Hall 3rd July Leicester O2 Academy 4th July Lincoln Engine Shed 5th July Portsmouth Guildhall 26th July Cardiff Depot 30th July Sheffield Leadmill 31st July Northampton Roadmenders 1st August Holmfirth Picturedrome 2nd August Coventry Empire 7th August Cheltenham Town Hall 8th August Durham Stone Valley Festival North 9th August Blackpool Rebellion Festival 15th August Cork City Hall 16th August Belfast Putting the Fast in Belfast, Custom House Square
Perth Now
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
UK Decay musician Steve 'Abbo' Abbott wants a wave of new bands to take a stand against the 'Andrew Tates and people out there' spreading hate
UK Decay rocker Steve 'Abbo' Abbott has called for Generation Z to debunk the nonsense spouted by divisive social media influencers like Andrew Tate and go and form bands spreading messages of inclusion. The 65-year-old guitarist has been outspoken against sexism and discrimination throughout his career and he is concerned that the progress made in the late '70s and '80s by the post-punk movement and 2 tone bands in Britain is being reversed by people like the controversial Tate who uses his huge following on social media platforms to promote misogyny and more recently antisemitic rhetoric. Abbott says it's up to the younger generation to call out people like Tate and spread the opposite messages and the best way to do it is by forming a band. Speaking about women in the music business at a Q+A to launch the Forever Now Festival, he said: "Women are still sexualised, big time. They're not just taken for their music. 'There was a lot of support for women, now I don't see it as much. 'With the Andrew Tates and people out there, now these figures like him exist and they're eating through everything that has been improving. I don't think enough men are standing up and saying, 'This is bulls***.' 'It's a call to arms for us to debunk all this crap, and probably form a band. 'We've all got opinions, is there right and wrong? Yeah there is a right. On so many issues there is a right. And we know that. Racism, bigotry, sexism, discrimination, that's wrong." The musician believes the late '70s in Britain were a similar climate to now when it comes to sexism and other issues in society but there were a host of female punk artists who changed the perception of women in music. He said: "I think 1977 was a revolution for female artists. Toyah, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Slits, X-Ray Spex, there were so many of them. Before that the female had been the sexy front person of the band. "A 15-year-old and 16-year-old me would have looked at Siouxsie [Sioux] as being my ideal woman, she was so strong. 'I still play those records, it's not nostalgia for me, it's a wake-up call, how brilliant Poly Styrene was. Before that there wasn't anything. 'Unfortunately the industry always grabs any moment of revolution and turns it into a product, it happens time and time again. I think it was a moment where women in music could tell their story. It wasn't ideal, it's still not ideal, but it was a big step." Abbott and his band UK Decay will be performing at the Forever Now Festival which is a celebration of the post-punk movement, which emerged in the UK in 1977 in the wake of the punk rock explosion spearheaded by The Sex Pistols. The line-up for Forever Now includes The Psychedelic Furs, The The, Berlin Theatre, Johnny Marr, The Damned The Jesus and Mary Chain, Billy Idol and headliners Kraftwerk among many other artists. Abbott feels proud that a movement began six decades ago is still being celebrated for its cultural impact the and music made by the artists. He said: "Festivals are now a bit everything for everybody. It's quite nice to go to a festival where it's focused. Jazz festivals are focused, blues festivals are focused. Here you've got bands that didn't quite fit into a genre back in the day all coming together. 'I think it's really interesting. 'I don't think it's a bill where you come and see one band. I've been to festivals where I've gone just to see one band, and you might discover something which is great. This is not a day of discovery, it's a day of celebration." Forever Now will take place on 22 June, 2025 at the iconic National Bowl, Milton Keynes, and tickets are on sale now via AXS and Ticketmaster.
