John Lydon's PiL for Ironworks
by Margaret Chrystall
LEGENDARY Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon makes his Inverness debut on Saturday, June 11 as a Public Image Ltd gig has been announced among new dates at the Ironworks.
PiL – formed by Lydon in 1978 after he left his Johnny Rotten persona behind with the Sex Pistols split – have added Inverness to the existing May/June UK and European tour as one of three Scottish dates.
An icon of the punk era, the singer moved on to PiL which brought out nine studio albums before splitting in 1992, reforming in 2009 and last year bringing out the warmly-received album What The World Needs Now ...
Lydon has also released several solo records and collaborations, including 1997 solo album Psycho’s Path which features the song Sun, the singer’s vocals sung through a toilet roll.
The Lydon presence has also made an impact on TV – he walked out of reality show I’m A Celebrity in 2004, added a punk quality to Country Life butter adverts when he was raising money to fund the re-forming of PiL Ltd without a record deal and he was a guest on BBC’s Question Time in 2012.
Last year he stated that his autobiography Anger Is An Energy: My Life Uncensored, the title taking a line from 1986 PiL song Rise, also inspired last September’s album.
It reached number 29 in the official UK album charts, number three in the official UK indie charts and number four in the official UK vinyl charts) and was self-funded by PiL and released on their own label PiL Official via Cargo UK Distribution.
Over the years the band have been called one of the most innovative and influential bands of the post-punk era with five UK Top 20 singles and five UK Top 20 albums.
The shifting line-up now just features one original member – Lydon himself – but he says the current line-up with Lu Edmonds, Scott Firth and Bruce Smith is the longest stable line-up in the band’s history.
Tickets for the Inverness date go on sale from the venue on Wednesday, February 10. Details below.
Also announced this week for the venue is the return of wrestling as Rock N Wrestle presents Wrestlefest 2016 on Saturday, March 19
Legendary dance DJ Dave Pearce – a giant presence at Radio 1 for 13 years – brings his trance anthems night on Saturday, October 15.
Radio 2 funkmeister Craig Charles brings his funk and sould club to the venue on Friday, April 29 with a live band yet to be confirmed.
Billed as "the world’s finest Elvis-fronted Nirvana tribute", band Elvana plays the music of the Seattle rock icons with a Presley twist and are booked to play Inverness on Friday, May 27 with support from local acts The Little Mill of Happiness and Toby Michaels.
Dave Clarke, Kenny Larkin, Funk D’Void and Octave One live will now appear as part of the techno-inspired event TECHnique at the Ironworks on Saturday, April 30.
Tickets for all dates – bar the PiL Ltd one – go on sale on Friday, February 12 from 10am. On both days you can call in person, phone 0871 789 4173 or go online: www.ironworksvenue.com
