R.I.P. Malcolm McLaren

[bagochips]

R.I.P. Malcolm McLaren

[StoneMtn]

[phishtaper]

Such sad news.

Whether shamelessly pimping a bunch of hooligans into the most influential single-album artists in the history of the world, painting masterpieces like Madame Butterfly, turning percussion upside down with Double Dutch, or defining a generation of hip-hop with Buffalo Gals, history will record McLaren as one of the most brilliant artists that ever lived. Who would have ever thought that so much could have been born out of a couple of little clothing stores in New York and London. Personally, I cannot even begin to list the influences this man has had on my own musical journeys.

A visit to his homepage today offers an elegant note on the man's legacy ... Malcolm will return shortly ...

Indeed. RIP and live on.

Edit to add: in case anyone doesnt already know, John Lydon brings Public Image LTD to the Kool Haus four weeks from tonight. Tix here .

[StoneMtn]

John Lydon brings Public Image LTD to the Kool Haus four weeks from tonight. Tix here .

Really???

I saw them once in 1987 or so at The Opera House, but the show was cut short, because some guy with a Swastika on his back and giant mohawk kept spitting at John Lydon. He stopped the show and warned the guy. When the guy did it again, he cut the music gave us the finger, and yelled "Fuck you!!!" and left.

(It occurred to me later, that it was actually the perfect way for a John Lydon show to end. Punk rawk!)

The timing of this show is not good - but I might have to do it.

[phishtaper]

The timing of this show is not good - but I might have to do it.

if you had any fucking balls you would do it, you fucking wanker pussy!! ... just trying to get you in the mood.

[StoneMtn]

Actually, I think it worked.

I plan to be at this show.

[Thorgnor]

sad news... McLaren was totally influential in so many areas of art and music... bummer...

[bradm]

Roger Ebert remembers working with McLaren and the Sex Pistols

Aloha,

Brad

[phishtaper]

John Lydon brings Public Image LTD to the Kool Haus four weeks from tonight. Tix here.

This show is tomorrow night. The venue has been changed to The Phoenix and tix are still available.

[StoneMtn]

Yikes! Thanks for telling me, as I was going to Kool Haus.

Do you know the show time? Kool Haus said 8:00, and I believe they really start when they say they will. How about The Phoenix? Anyone know?

[phishtaper]

It says 8:00pm as well. My experience is that things will likely get going at that time, the Phoenix is pretty anal that way, they often book club dancing after live performances ... Ive seen people show up around 10:00 to see a show there, just as the band is leaving the stage.

I have looked but cannot determine if there is an opening act.

[StoneMtn]

Can you imagine opening for PIL? Who would they possibly get?

(Wesley Willis is no longer with us...)

[StoneMtn]

I actually totally agree with this review. I am a bit pleasantly surprised to say that last night's show was one of the best concerts I've ever seen; bar none. I had no idea that the other three members of PiL were unbelievable musicians.

Johnny not so Rotten at PiL show

By JASON MacNEIL

The sneer and sarcasm that former Sex Pistols singer John Lydon is known for is occasionally still there, but has often been replaced by a wide-eyed grin.

Well, that and some cheeky Ed Grimley-like dancing.

Lydon's post-Pistols project Public Image Ltd. (otherwise known as PiL) played an impressive, workman-like two-hour set Friday night at Toronto's Phoenix Concert Theatre as part of the band's reunion tour, their first in some 17 years.

And despite the long absence, Lydon and his tight trio (three of an estimated 39 former band members by Lydon's count) felt initially as if the decent-sized audience wasn't giving enough of themselves.

"Move you f---ers!" the 54-year-old Lydon uttered early on in the show. "Seventeen years and you don't give me 17 f------ seconds."

Perhaps what was most surprising is that Lydon definitely more than held his side of the bargain, routinely wailing in an equally grating and bombastic manner on the opening This Is Not A Love Song and later on during a groove-fuelled Tie Me To The Length Of That driven by bassist Scott Firth.

Clad in black, a lyric stand to his left and a garbage can/spit bucket behind him, Lydon was all business, rarely taking a breather between songs that definitely demanded a lot of stamina. This was particularly evident on the dance-rock Death Disco and the strange Albatross which guitarist Lu Edmonds seemed to go to town on.

That's not to say Albatross stood out in terms of structure, for most of the tracks followed a radio-unfriendly, groove-nestling trek lasting six to seven minutes that was anything but formulaic. Primarily Lydon spent the night wailing and shrieking each line with either Edmonds or Firth setting the tone alongside drummer Bruce Smith.

Following the Middle Eastern touches on Flowers Of Romance from the 1981 album of the same name, Lydon adjusted his lyric stand before uttering another barb. "It seems appropriate that this (venue) is next to the nuthouse!" he said prior to diving into Psychopath.

Lydon also tried to rile up the audience on a few occasions, referring to Canada as a "retirement home" and telling the crowd that "less staring and more sharing" was needed to make him satisfied. Thankfully, the vocalist had to be happy with an enigmatic roadie - who resembled an extra from Inglorious Basterds with his short haircut and nifty suspenders - consistently marching on the spot throughout the gig on the side of the stage.

After the ambling, poppy In The Sun survived a monitor glitch and an annoyed front man, Public Image Ltd. nailed the dance-saturated Bags. From there the vitriolic rock rant dubbed Religion with its forceful bass line wrapped up the main set.

The three-song encore opened with two crowd-pleasers in the punk-ish Public Image and the lighter, infectious Rise.

"We are Public Image and we don't f--- around!" Lydon said before the encore.

In the eyes of many fans this night, they certainly didn't.

Link

[phishtaper]

quite enjoyed the show last night. they performed for just over 2 hours and songs included: (they did play more than these ... I just dont know the names of them all)

(This Is Not a) Love Song

Poptones

Tie Me to the Length of That

Albatross

Death Disco

Flowers of Romance

Psychopath

Warrior

Disappointed

Sun

Chant

Memories

Black Rubber Bags (the crowd finally got into the show after Lydon called us "fucking lazy cunts", lol)

Religion

E: Public Image

Rise (highlight for me)

Open Up

Good review in Canoe today ... (removed, StnMtn beat me to it ... )

Edited May 8, 2010 by Guest

[phishtaper]

sweet, im glad that you enjoyed it, StoneMtn. I really enjoyed it too and also noticed what great musicians they were, especially on Tie Me. the crowd was unique. 40- and 50-something ex-(faux?)punkers, 95% white male, of course. lots of brits too. i think we all wanted to be into the show more, we're just old and didnt have the energy, haha. and most of us were saoking wet from the rain. im really happy it was changed to the phoenix. perfect venue for it.