One of the all-time great lunatics of rock and roll, John Lyndon (the others being Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper and Ozzy Osbourne), better known to the entire world as Johnny Rotten (the stage name was in reference to the rotting teeth he had in the early 1970s), thundered his way through the Italian town of Azzano Decimo with his Public Image Ltd. band.
The 55 year-old former front man of one of the greatest punk bands in the world (but they only lasted though a mere 26 months together) showed up as part of Azzano Decimo’s great little “Music Fair” event, an event which last year saw one of the best and craziest shows in the area, Iggy Pop, in like 35 degree heat with about 95% humidity! Fans came in all shapes and sizes to see old Rotten belt out the tunes.
Your correspondent back in 2007 had the great honor of having seen Johnny and his old Sex Pistols group at the Heineken Jammin’ Festival near Venice. As soon as Rotten said the first F-word back then, everything flew up on stage: pants, bottles, shoes, you name it, but old Johnny didn’t even flinch! This time he greeted those 2,000 odd Italian fans, in honor of Italy’s “Great Leader”, Silvio Berlusconi, and his many sexual escapades with a humorous “Bunga, Bunga”! Just from that one could tell what the mood was going to be like for the next 90 minutes or so. Again, pure mayhem.
Dressed as a sailor and gargling in between songs with a bottle of whiskey (some poses were certainly of that famous cult movie, “Eraserhead”!), old Rotten was admittedly in mighty fine shape for his age, even though he has mellowed out somewhat: the entire world remembers that in days of old he was an avid anti-British monarchy activist (how can anyone forget the Sex Pistols’s classics such as “God Save the Queen” and “Anarchy In The UK”?). Well, in an interview shortly before performing in Azzano Decimo he apparently stated that he adores both William and Kate!!! No doubt old Queen E. must have fallen off of her royal throne when she heard that one!
Could the screwball supreme of punk music finally be mellowing out after years of hammering the British establishment?
No comments:
Post a Comment