The Pistols/The Docs

THE PISTOLS/THE DOCS

Donkey Venue 2nd March 2024

If you love subtlety and soaring harmony this was not the gig for you... however... if you like some loud, outrageous, furious, filthy punk... it was very much your cup of scotch!!!.. and it was a wonderful evening

First up were a new name to me, THE DOCS. As the band lined up they started with a burst of furious buzzing guitar, which was soon joined by a second howling guitar and powerful bass and drums that had the room bouncing... the singer soon added his voice to the mix, growling and snarling his way through the songs and keeping up an energetic set of outrageous dance moves throughout the show... he must have a hell of a set of lungs to keep up that level of movement while delivering loud clear vocals throughout.

This was a huge slice of glorious punk taking us back to 1976 and thrilling the large audience. Real high energy and delivered with passion and joy... Musically very much led by the howling guitars and driven by a powerhouse rhythm section of bass and drums while the singer constantly danced uniquely and and sang up a storm, liberally scattering 4 letter words through the songs... especially when "Not Johnny Rotten" joined him for the last song... terrific performance by a cracking band...

Then... after a relatively short turn around, onto the main course... THE PISTOLS... a Sex Pistol tribute band. I am sure everyone knows the repertoire of the originals, so there were no surprises in the set list... and from the moment they burst into Holidays in the Sun we knew we were onto a winner... "Not Johnny" pouted, glared and howled the familiar lyrics and "Not Sid" lurched drunkenly behind the shades while delivering some solid bass and the guitar screamed and drums pounded... The songs were familiar, delivered with authority and passion and very true to the originals... As the set progressed, the well oiled audience bounced and revelled in the joyous music we were hearing...

"Not Johnny" and "Not Sid" especially had striking resemblances to the originals and "Not Johnny" especially had the masters mannerisms and vocals down to a fine art... he was also a master of the Paddington Bear hard stare and the whole band and audience had a wonderful rapport throughout.

"Not Sid" had the spotlight for a couple of numbers, including Eddie's "Somethin' Else"... the band then continued to turn up the heat before ending with "Anarchy in the UK" and "Pretty Vacant"... the audience was in no mood to leave so on to the inevitable encore... they had overrun their time so only time for one song... and it was put to the audience to vote on either "My Way" or "Friggin in the riggin"... Friggin won and it was a wild chaotic end to a simply glorious set...

This was a fabulous evening... very much the spirit of '76 brought to life on stage and in the crowd... Two hugely powerful and cracking bands had the floor shaking throughout...absolutely loved every minute of it...

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