JOHN LYDON - I COULD BE WRONG, I COULD BE RIGHT. FOLKESTONE LEAS CLIFF HALL FRIDAY 3RD MAY 2024

It’s a show of two halves; the first is loosely biographical. Loosely, because the way Lydon tells a story is seldom linear, often veering off at tangents as he thinks of something else he wants to mention. But when Lydon talks, you listen; his straight talking and distinctive delivery always utterly compelling. He covers his childhood - the tribulations of growing up in a house with no indoor toilet, the trauma of dealing with his mother’s miscarriages (later inspiration for Pistols classic ‘Bodies’), the horror of Catholic school where he was governed by seemingly evil nuns who singled him out for being left-handed, leaving him with a lifelong disdain for religion and his experience of meningitis where his hallucinations prepared him well for LSD in later life! 

Joining the Sex Pistols is glossed over very quickly - apparently as simple as wearing an ‘I hate Pink Floyd’ t-shirt. And it’s around there that the life story ends. Instead, Lydon uses images projected at the back of the stage as prompts, sharing stories and memories. There’s a particularly brilliant passport photo that causes a lot of laughs. But several pictures are of Lydon’s late wife, Nora. It is moving to see him become emotional when talking about her, holding back tears as he reminisces on how they handled her Alzheimer’s, watching old British comedies together including ‘Steptoe and Son’, always laughing. He also desperately misses his friend John Rambo Stevens, but his sadness is punctuated with joyful anecdotes from better times. 

The second half sees Lydon answering questions posed by members of the audience. The Folkestone crowd clearly favour the important questions, asking everything from “is Steve Jones really a c***t?” (sounds like he probably is), to “Marmite - do you love it or hate it?” (apparently he’s a Bovril man). Notably quick-witted and entertaining in his responses, Lydon remains razor sharp despite his advancing years and the miniature bottle of Famous Grouse that occasionally emerges from his pocket! When asked if he does anything to commemorate Sid Vicious’ death, he retorts, “do you know how many people I’ve known who have died?!” and suggests that sometimes he needs a day off. He doesn’t regret not making a second Sex Pistols album and doesn’t have any desire to dance on Jimmy Savile’s grave - but he does think the BBC is incredibly corrupt, referring to it as the “bloody buggering c***s”, or something similar!

His love for music is apparent, and perhaps more diverse than you might expect. When asked what the first single was that he purchased, he digresses, revealing that he never really got Led Zeppelin but enjoyed glam rock, loved Status Quo and thinks Captain Beefheart’s ‘Trout Mask Replica’ might be the best album ever. There’s a joyous moment where he introduces us to Mrs. Miller and her somewhat tone-deaf version of ‘Downtown’, an endless source of amusement to him, so much so that he has to turn it off before she starts whistling!

One gentleman simply thanks John for opening up to us, but Lydon is quick to turn this around, acknowledging that his audiences are saving his life. Though there is much joy to be had, there is also a sadness in watching a man who has lost the love of his life. When asked what his favourite thing about Nora was, he ponders for a moment before responding that it was probably the fact that she really loved and understood him. Billed as untamed, unscripted and uncensored, that’s exactly what we get. It’s over too quickly, the sense that there are hundreds more stories to be told. The tour continues until the end of June, so there’s plenty of opportunities to catch John over the next couple of months. You definitely don’t need to be a Sex Pistols fan to enjoy the evening - but it’s probably more fun to shout along with ‘Anarchy in the UK’ at the end if you are.