NEW YORK – It wasn't the night punk broke, but it was close. Nearly 50 years ago, the Sex Pistols — then made up of vocalist Johnny Rotten, guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook and bassist Glen Matlock — performed at the 100 Club Punk Special in London, a 140-capacity club, alongside Subway Sect, Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Clash.
The event marked a shift for the subcultural movement; the bands here would soon bring their underground culture to reach mainstream heights.
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Now, the 2025 iteration of the Pistols — Jones, Cook and Matlock joined by frontman Frank Carter (of Gallows, Pure Love and Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes) — sit in the same venue to discuss their forthcoming North American tour. “This is where it all kicked off, really, all the punk,” says Cook.
This fall, the legendary punk band will embark on their first tour of North America since 2003, when they were joined by John Lydon (formerly Rotten.) The 2025 run with Carter begins Sept. 16 at the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas, Texas — the site of a particularly hostile show for the band when it first toured the U.S. in 1978.
Jones recalls having “pigs' hooves and bottles and what not slung at us by cowboys.”
It is one of a few dates featured in three “Live in the U.S.A.” albums, documenting the band's '78 run: Atlanta, Dallas and San Francisco. The latter will release April 25 and captures the show where the band originally called it quits.
"We were thinking of breaking up in San Francisco again," Jones jokes.
The 2025 tour is currently scheduled to conclude Oct. 16 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. The band will hit Washington; Philadelphia; Brooklyn, New York; Montreal; Toronto; Cleveland; Detroit; Minneapolis; Denver; Seattle and San Francisco. Additional tour dates will be announced later.
Pre-sale opens April 2 and 3. Tickets go on sale April 4 at 10 a.m. local time.
They will perform the band's sole album, 1977’s “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols Album” live in its entirety as well as other material.
So, why tour the U.S. and Canada now?
“Why not?” says Jones.
“I think everybody needs this band right now. I think the world needs this band right now,” says Carter. “And I think definitely America is screaming out for a band like the Sex Pistols.”
“At the end of the day, we’re living in a really, really difficult time. So not only do people want to come and just be entertained, they want to enjoy themselves,” he continued. “Punk is an energetic music. It’s one where you can go and vent and let your hair down, hopefully in a safe manner. Fingers crossed, no bottles or pigs' hooves.”
Carter fronted the Sex Pistols last year for a few U.K. dates. The band says they did not reach out to Lydon to see if he wanted to participate in this reunion tour.
“The last thing he wants to do is have anything to do with us right now,” says Jones, referring to a previous lawsuit between the singer and the band over music use in their TV series “Pistol.” The judge ruled against Lydon's opposition.
“We wish him the best," Jones said.
“Good luck to him,” adds Matlock. “I wish he thinks, maybe, ‘good luck’ to us. Probably doesn't. But over the years, John (has had) all our phone numbers, and I can't see many missed calls from him.”
As for the 2025 tour: Fans shouldn't expect the violence of their 1978 run, but they should anticipate a tighter performance.
“We're a bit older but we play just as well, if not better,” says Matlock. “And I think that’s something that’s got a great deal of aplomb that we’re going to bring to the public over there.”
Does this mean there could be new Sex Pistols music in the future? “It's early days,” says Jones. “Let's see what happens.”