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Otago Daily Times
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Voices soar like Eagles across cathedral
The show more than equalled the venue. Mix the stunning theatre of St Paul's Cathedral with the smooth harmonies of a classic American band, and it promises a sweet night out. The Rock Tenors — Steve Jones, Luke Butson, Greg MacLeod, James Adams and Ben Hayward — delivered, lapping up The Eagles catalogue for the whole 90-odd minutes they were on stage. They hit almost every note and mixed the vocals among the five, who possess voices to fill the arena. The Eagles managed to create that sort of folksy/pop sound with a real catchy beat. They also could play a decent rock piece. Many bands and singers have done it, but they had stunning success with it. Their greatest hits albums are among the best-selling of all time. So the Rock Tenors had the material and did not waste the chance. Helped by the St Paul's Cathedral Choir and a talented backing band, it made for an enjoyable night. Straight from the first number, Witchy Woman, it was a fantastic sound at the cathedral. The five men in their smart jackets nailed it. Lyin' Eyes and New Kid in Town are The Eagles at their best and the crowd lapped them up as the Rock Tenors rose to the standard of the songs. An a cappella performance of Seven Bridges Road was a chance to display some voice muscle from the group and they showed their vocal range. Guitarist Joseph Balfe showed his skills with a delightful solo before he started the song which is forever linked with The Eagles — Hotel California.
Edinburgh Reporter
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Reporter
Review – Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter live ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A rare occurrence happened at an outdoor event for the Sex Pistols return to Scotland – it didn't rain. And so Holidays In The Sun was the perfect opener for their front-man Frank Carter to grab his performance by the throat. Heavily tattooed in a black vest, flowing white shirt and Levi denims, he grabbed the mike stand and offered an immediately punchy vocal and stage performance. The 41-year-old got close to hardcore fans down the front and chewed up the occasional negative comment from punk purists. No disrespect to John Lydon, who remains one of the greatest front-men of all time but this potential last run out for the Pistols is potent, especially during these cash-strapped times laced with a sense of injustice and danger from foreign governments. Paul Cook hammered the kit while delivering his melodic drum style that suited the Pistols so well. To hear Steve Jones play the iconic riffs and licks from Never Mind The Bollocks nearly fifty years later is an absolute joy. Sid Vicious might have become the most iconic member of the band but it was Matlock who made an essential musical contribution to tracks such as Pretty Vacant. The backing vocals provided Jones, Cook and Matlock are vital to the sound and they are readily backed up by the crowd while Carter bounded up and down every inch of the Glasgow stage. The mosh pit swirled in full flow during Bodies as fans were dragged over the barrier. God Save The Queen was amplified by the late Jamie Reed's iconic imagery that featured on the 1977 single and an explosion of colour on the big screens. The 'No Future' sing-along ending is sublime. Cook, while drumming, looks out at the reaction with a massive smile on his face while savouring the moment. During No Fun, Steve Jones successfully recreates the unmistakable sound of his hero Mick Ronson nodding to Ziggy Stardust's last concert at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1973. The set closer is what else but Anarchy In The U.K, the song has lost none of its rousing energy. Most fans in the park were youngsters in 1976 but despite arriving for this all day event in the afternoon they were energised and going for it right to the end. It's phantasmagoria of colour and exhilaration between the flashing big screens, the skies starting to bruise and fans going for it one last time. Steve Jones thanked the enthusiastic audience telling them they were 'the best' while looking very much in awe at the reaction of the fans, who continued singing as they headed home in their hundreds on a balmy summer night. Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter, Punk All-Dayer, Bellahouston Park Frank Carter ALL PHOTOS Richard Purden Bellahouston Park Glen Matlock Like this: Like Related
The Citizen
24-06-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Manor Gardens UIP elects advisory committee ahead of September start
AN advisory committee has been elected ahead of the official start of the Manor Gardens Urban Improvement Precinct (MGUIP) in September, with the first payment of the special rating area (SRA) set to reflect on utility bills in July. The committee was elected at the special general meeting (SGM) of MGUIP on June 18. On the agenda for the meeting was the election of the advisory committee and the signing up of members for the non-profit company (NPC) that will be linked to the running of the civic organisation. Under the eThekwini Municipality Rates Policy, which provides for the implementation of SRA/ UIP, an NPC has to be set up with a board of non-remunerated directors. The board approves the annual business plan and budget for the service requirements of the defined UIP area. Steve Jones, one of the members elected onto the committee, said that residents and businesses that attended the meeting were informed that to be eligible to vote for the incoming leadership of the NPC and civic organisation they will have to be members. He said, 'On the agenda of the meeting was the discussion of how the NCP and MGUIP will work. Members of the community were advised that they are not automatically taken as members into the non-profit company and that to be eligible to vote at the AGM, they will need to register as members.' Also Read: Slow service delivery irks Manor Gardens UIP Membership was taken on the day but for those who were unable to attend the meeting, MGUIP has made the registration form available on their website. 'Once registered, as a business or individual, you will be eligible to vote at the AGM and effect the change that you wish to see in your community,' said Jones. The meeting served as a precursor for the civic organisation's AGM which will be held soon. 'The SRA rate will be deducted in July and August, the UIP will be operational from September,' said Jones. 'From July, we will be going out with our calls and terms of reference for suppliers, as well as applications for the leadership positions. We will also be looking for staff and offices for the UIP.' He encouraged members of the community to sign up to their website where there will be regular updates on the work of the UIP. 'Community members can join the Manor Gardens WhatsApp group which will allow for quick updates,' added Jones. Members of the advisory committee who were voted in are Adolphe Musem, Carol Lottering, Crillon Naidoo, Deidre Taylor, Deline Wallace, Frank Bryan Ashe, Lephoi Maduna, Nomusa Xaba, Shaun Kruger, Steve Jones, Sue Barratt, Thulisa Ndlela and Wonder-Boy Msizi Shange. For more information on MGUIP, visit their website or email: info@ For more from Berea Mail, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok. Click to subscribe to our newsletter – here At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Daily Record
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
How a chaotic 1977 gig in Glasgow made Paisley the punk capital of Scotland
Punk fans from across the country will gather in Glasgow on June 21 for the Punk All Dayer, a one-off festival celebrating the city's punk roots Punk fans from across the country are descending on Glasgow for a riotous day of music as the city gears up to host a one-off celebration of the rebellious spirit that once scandalised it. The Punk All Dayer, taking place on Saturday, June 21, at Bellahouston Park, will launch this year's Glasgow Summer Sessions with a raucous line-up that reads like a who's who of British punk. Sex Pistols members Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock will take to the stage alongside vocalist Frank Carter, reviving the anarchic energy that first shocked Britain nearly 50 years ago, Scottish Daily Express reports. They'll be joined by fellow punk trailblazers The Stranglers, The Undertones, Buzzcocks, Edinburgh's own The Rezillos, and Dunfermline legends Skids. And for once, punks won't need safety pins to brace against the weather, as the forecast promises sunshine. But Glasgow's relationship with punk wasn't always so warm. In 1977, a chaotic gig by The Stranglers at the City Halls led to an outright ban on punk concerts by the city council. Bruce Findlay of Zoom Records recalled the aftermath to BBC Scotland in 2019: 'Suddenly punk is banned in Glasgow, so the centre of the universe for punk rock in Scotland became Paisley.' The ban forced fans to travel, fuelling the rise of legendary nights at The Bungalow Bar and The Silver Thread Hotel in Paisley. Clare Grogan of Altered Images was among the young punks who made the pilgrimage. 'There was a huge gang of us that would all end up at the same gigs,' she said. 'I actually had no idea they did that [banned punk in Glasgow]. Somebody told me that and I went, is that why we always went to Paisley and Edinburgh to see gigs?' Glasgow's clampdown on punk began after the Sex Pistols' planned show at the Apollo in December 1976 was axed. The cancellation came in the wake of the band's now-infamous appearance on the Bill Grundy show, where they swore on live television and became a national scandal. Nonetheless, other punk bands continued to play Glasgow, including The Damned and Television, prompting further backlash from officials such as Tory licensing head Bill Aitken. When The Stranglers played at the City Halls in June 1977, council representatives attended to keep an eye on proceedings. They got more than they bargained for. Mid-set, bassist and vocalist JJ Burnel addressed them directly, saying if they didn't like it, 'they could just f**k off.' Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. The crowd surged the stage, the band fled, all except drummer Jet Black, who continued hammering his drums through the chaos. The next day, newspapers reported the gig as a 'riot.' As detailed by music blog The Barley Boat, stewards struggled to restore order. Fans repeatedly rushed the stage, and as the group tore into their final number "Go Buddy Go," they were joined onstage by dancing punters, the line between performer and audience obliterated in true punk fashion. June 1977 was the movement's peak, with the Sex Pistols releasing "God Save the Queen" as a blistering anti-establishment anthem during the Silver Jubilee. The band even performed it from a boat on the Thames, sparking nationwide uproar.
The Herald Scotland
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Filth and fury: Memories of the '76 Sex Pistols gig that never was
In April 1976 a writer on Sounds magazine, reviewing a concert at London's El Paradise Club, wrote: 'If you hate Patti Smith for all that noise and rock and roll energy at the expense of technique and sounding pretty, then you'll really hate the Sex Pistols. "Their aesthetic is Shepherd's Bush-Who and speed-era Small Faces — they play it fast and they play it loud. The guitarist doesn't bother too much with solos, just powering his way through whatever passes as a middle eight. But this isn't to say they're sloppy, far from it. The rhythm section is quite tight, and the drummer very listenable'. Two months later came an incendiary gig at Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall – an event subsequently billed by the NME as the most important concert of all time, even though just 28 tickets were sold, according to a book, I Swear I Was There, by David Nolan. In the audience was Peter Hook, who would go on to play bass guitar in Joy Division and New Order. 'It was absolutely bizarre', he told Nolan. 'It was the most shocking thing I've ever seen in my life, it was just unbelievable... It was so ... alien to everything'. As Nolan writes, that Pistols gig on June 4, and another at the same venue on July 20, 'changed the world'. The audience reaction at the first one, he suggests, 'would spark a series of musical and pop-culture detonations that are still delighting and annoying people in equal measure today'. As newspapers began alerting their readers to the punk phenomenon, the Pistols – Rotten, Steve Jones, Glen Matlock and Steve Cook – continued to travel up and down the country and even played Dundee's College of Technology on October 12. An incendiary single, Anarchy in the UK, was released on the EMI label on November 19. Then came the Grundy moment. On December 1 the band and various friends appeared at short notice on LWT's Today programme, presented by Bill Grundy. Goaded by Grundy to say something outrageous, Steve Jones duly obliged. The tea-time audience was astounded. "The FILTH and the FURY!", shrieked a Daily Mirror splash headline. The same paper explained that punk rock groups and their fans "despite 'establishment' pop stars and specialise in songs that preach destruction'." And EMI, outraged, would soon fire the band. The Anarchy in the UK tour was announced: the Pistols headlining, and supported by The Damned, The Clash, and Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers. But tabloid stories about 'foul-mouthed yobs' and Moral Majority protests forced local authorities and university bosses to pull the plug: most of the gigs were cancelled. Glasgow was a case in point. The tour would have graced the Apollo stage on December 15 but for the District Council's licensing committee suspending the venue's license for that one night. 'This group has been attracting an undesirable element among young people', said the committee's chairman. 'We have enough problems in Glasgow without creating trouble by yobbos'. The Apollo Centre manager, Jan Tomasik, observed that the City Fathers seemed to have judged the Pistols without actually seeing them. 'It would appear that the Lord Provost has no faith in the moral values of our city's fine youngsters, he added. One fan who was disappointed by the councillors' decision was Bill Hamilton. Bill, who was 22 at the time and is now 71, had first encountered the Pistols on a TV music show, So It Goes, which was presented by Tony Wilson and often featured punk groups. 'I remember trying to see The Jam in 1976, when they came to a tiny little disco in St Enoch Square', said Bill. 'It only had a capacity of about one hundred but I couldn't get in. But a friend of mine who worked in a record shop in Battlefield got tickets. I got a ticket and a poster, and a great big Jam badge. 'I worked for Glasgow's planning department at the time – it was my first job after university – and I put the Jam badge and the poster up on the wall. 'When the Sex Pistols tickets went on sale I was lucky enough to get one. But when they appeared on the Bill Grundy show, councils up and down the country decided that these punk boys weren't good for our young people. '[After the Apollo gig was cancelled] I stuck my ticket up on the wall in my office. I don't have it now, unfortunately: it's maybe worth some money'. On the Glasgow Apollo's Facebook page, other would-be attendees recall the fate of their £1.75 tickets. 'I had a ticket but took it back for the refund', says Gavin Paterson. Phil Kean adds: 'I had a ticket but my mum ripped it up along with others into little pieces because I left home to stay with my bird at the time'. Bill moved to London in 1978 and never managed to see the Pistols at their peak. Is that a source of regret for him? 'Huge regret', he acknowledges. 'They were such cultural icons, and I loved that whole punk-rock scene. I thought it was brilliant if that you had three chords, a cheap guitar and an amplifier, you could get up there and make music.'. He shares the view that when the Glasgow date, and others on the Anarchy tour were cancelled, this was a cased of the establishment cracking down on working-class youth. Read more: Like many others of a similar age, Bill was struck at the time by the sharp difference between punk music in 1976 and the music, particularly prog rock, heavy metal and US west-coast bands, that was in vogue at the time. The Old Grey Whistle Test, which was aimed at the discriminating fan, found no favour with the adherents of punk and its DIY aesthetic. Glen Matlock, who co-wrote much of the Pistols' 1977 album, Never Mind the Bollocks – Here's the Sex Pistols, told Mojo magazine in 2017: 'I think we were fighting against apathy. Old fuddy-duddies. Boring music that didn't speak to kids', The song Pretty Vacant was, he added, 'not a political song, it's not a love song, it's a primal scream. Reflecting what was going on in mid-70s London. For good and bad, punk made a big chink in the age of deference ... We did change the world. It's something that I'm proud of'. Ahead of the Pistols in 1977 lay that controversial debut album and the single, God Save the Queen, and, in Nottingham Magistrates Court in November, a hearing into whether the record's title was indecent; the manager of a Virgin record store in the city had been accused of contravening an 1889 Indecent Advertisement Act by displaying the front cover. After a trial he was found not guilty. The album remains famous. As Mojo's writer remarked in 2017, as a cultural artefact it instantly attained a status on a par with Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Bill Haley's Rock Around the Clock, and arguably remains punk's most powerful statement. Bill Hamilton still has fond memories of those heady days. 'The Pistols, The Clash and The Jam – they spoke to me when I was in my early twenties', he says. 'I thought, they're saying things that I think are meaningful and important to me'. As for John Lydon - Johnny Rotten of old - he still adores the album. "That album cuts through so poignantly", he told Record Collector magazine earlier this year. "It's a powerful, powerful piece of music we put there together ... I'm amazed it's not accoladed more highly. It's a masterful record done accidentally. Creativity by misappropriation. When you don't quite know what you're doing you get closer to the truth of the thing. God, I love the venom I could deliver the lines with ..." * Sex Pistols (Steve Jones, Paul Cook, Glen Matlock) Featuring Frank Carter headline a Glasgow Summer Sessions Punk All-Dayer at Bellahouston Park, June 21. R
