P.I.L Coventry HMV Empire, Sat 10th Jan 2026

First gig of the year for me but not P.I.L. They have been touring for most of the latter Christmas period from December 27th whilst most of the industry takes a rest. The 1200 capacity Empire, a former sports retail shop with a broken escalator, is a relatively new venue. The sound and sight lines are excellent, and by opening during Coventry’s City of Culture year in 2022, it has attracted some big names like Paul Weller and even Ed Sheeran!  Suede will play here soon on their up coming tour, although I did notice significant increase in tribute bands and bongo bingo – not such a great sign for the health of the local live music scene.

John Lydon preaches...

Support band Alias Kid hail from Manchester and are managed by Alan McGee. I suspect they will not offer him the same level of success as other Manchester bands. Their onstage banter was mildly amusing, but I (and suspect most the audience) were not mesmerized by their gritty rock. They were appreciative of the reception that they received from a relatively full venue. Without meaning to sound Londonphobic, I have noticed that outside London gig goers tend to turn up earlier (or should I say on time!) which is always better for those support artists. I remember a guy sitting on his seat next to me at Wembley Arena at 9pm, one hour into The Cure’s mammoth set. He was surprised to have missed so much, but fortunately still had lots to see!

P.I.L and Johnny Lydon in particular have been on my artists’ bucket list for some time. That bucket list included some disappointments (Bob Dylan at Finsbury Park) along with many pleasant surprises like the Stones (Hyde Park 2022) and even The Who at Sandringham in the same year. I guess it can easily be too late (Bowie sadly who died 10 years ago this week) when it comes to these aging rockers. I did catch half a P.I.L set in a gravel dusty car park, at Forever Now, in Milton Keynes last summer, before watching the wonderful The The on a more comfortable grassy bank.

Lydon is a controversial character, and I’m sure I’d disagree with many of his supposed statements, but he is certainly unique. I enjoyed his biography, Anger is an Energy, especially reading about his interesting formative years growing up in Finsbury Park. I’ve quite honestly never seen anyone put so much expression into every single song, as well as his signature rolling ‘Rs’ and warbling vocals.

I fancy some nice butter...

The set starts with the anthemic Home, followed by Know How from the more recent 2015 What The World Needs Now. A few songs in we get one of my favorites (plenty of which were not played tonight!) 1984’s This Is Not A Love Song. It is probably the first P.I.L song I can remember, mainly due to the sunny LA filmed video which looked way better than miserable England. At this point the audience really got going, although Lydon managed to offer the usual sardonic wit ‘and the audience went MILD…’ He had already professed his love for Coventry (few do!) along with a barbed quip about Stoke knocking them out of the FA Cup earlier that day.

It is difficult not to take your eyes of Lydon for reasons already explained above and his claim that he was watching every single one of us! It does seem that his gaze is always on you. I really needed the loo later on but felt compelled to hold on in fear of a disdainful look! But the rest of P.I.L also deserve due credit. They are exceptionally well rehearsed with seamless transitions between songs. Guitarist Lu Edmonds also played keyboards at points and a mandolin. Bassist Scott Firth has played with Elvis Costello, Joan Armatrading and even the Spice Girls. He too provided keyboards at times and an electronic double bass. Drummer Mark Roberts is new to the band but that certainly doesn’t show. It is important to see them in their entirety, which can be difficult at times.

Mention should be made of Lydon’s tie – it was actually a strippy sock. ‘All the popstars will be doing it soon..’ he promises. Death Disco and Poptones (not that poppy!) offer the audience some welcome earlier material, before Shoom delivers more profanities in one song than I think I’ve ever experience.  ‘ F you, F off, F Sex, Sex is b’locks..’ – pretty much everything is b’locks in Lydon world. I was explaining to fellow attendee, friend Ignacio (who grew up in Mexico and the USA) about the 70s Bill Grundy show and the supposed first use of the f word by the Sex Pistols on live TV. It all might seem a little less shocking 50 years on. Before Lydon goes off for a ‘quick ciggy’ at the end of the main set, he suggests the audience imagine a picture of Prime Minister Starmer on their headboard, before they go to sleep tonight! I guess he is not much a fan despite a shared love for Arsenal and North London connections.

Leftfield cover Open Up and the inevitable Rise make up two of the three encores. ‘Anger is an energy..’ does make you think of the many injustices around the world – Iran and Minneapolis spring to mind currently, and who knows where next, sadly. Lydon does claim that the band have made some money out of this tour and will be recording again soon, much to the delight of the crowd. This is not a surprise. The venue is pretty full, and the tickets were a rather steep £40. Thankfully the marvelous Twickets allowed me a half price entry, a platform I’d recommend to all regular gig goers to save a bit of money, and to make sure that your spare tickets don’t go to waste.

The finale, Annalisa/Attack/Chant is a medley of earlier P.I.L material which allowed for some of the more enthusiastic (and younger) audience members to do their punkish pogoing. All good fun on a Saturday night. Lydon and the band spent some time thanking the audience, and it becomes clear that he is considerably more amiable than the image he sometimes portrays. Lydon spent a few years caring for both his late wife of 44 years, Nora Forster as she succumbed to Alzheimer’s  and his late stepdaughter, Ari Up’s three orphaned sons. Sadly P.I.L did not play Hawaii (or indeed anything from 2023’s End of World) which was written about Nora. It nearly became an entry for the Eurovision Song Contest but was clearly too good.  

So, a good entertaining evening in a great venue, only an hour or so from London Euston for those who want to get out of the capital – but don’t be late!

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