“This is PiL” were the first words out of his mouth.  Yes, Johnny Rotten Lydon was in Houston … to play!!  Not even the Houston Press knew he was in town.  I spoke with Thomas Wilson, owner of the Scout Bar; by the day of the show, he had only sold 300 tickets.  This just doesn’t sound right. Probably the last chance to ever see the former Sex Pistols front man again, especially at his age … isn’t he like 90 or something?

“This is PiL” is how he started the show.  Scout Bar can hold about 600 people … there were at least 601.  The crowd was so thick (sardine can type) I actually had to shoot from the sound booth with a 70-200MM lens.

As the version of PiL he put together in 2009 play the band’s biggest, 1983 hit, “This Is Not A Love Song”, it made us old folks happy, but what delighted me even more was the wide range of music PiL played throughout the show and the audience’s reaction to the songs. When I see a band with a history like PiL play, there are two worries: One, they’ll only play their old stuff or two, they’ll only play their new stuff; PiL struck a nice balance of both.

Lydon’s voice is a piercing, pure wail, then a guttural growl.  At one point he appears almost to sing in tongues, or punk scat, even essaying a low croon. On “Deeper Water”, from the fine new album, “This is PiL” (his first for 15 years), he sings “I will not drown”, a statement of indomitable intent.

There was a definite growing of intensity throughout the show.  A couple of times Lydon seemed to chide the crowd for being too quiet.  Lydon’s voice sounded great—again he has that wide range of almost shockingly shrill to the animal growl.  I see a lot of young bands so it’s fun to see a band with musicians who clearly bring a depth of musical influences and interests. Bruce Smith is unwavering with the drums. Scott Firth brings in his Jazz influence on the bass. (Did you know he played with the Spice Girls)?   Lu Edmonds brings a flavor of world sound with guitar and a number of stringed instruments that frankly, I couldn’t name.

By now people are spinning wildly around me, to what feels like strange dance music even before the Lydon and Leftfield techno hit, “Open Up”.  Throwing in “My name is John,” the singer reminds us at the end, looking unusually humble and happy.

Highlights include the Ska beat of “One Drop.”  Who else can sing “We are the ageless / We are teenagers” at age 56 without sounding ridiculous?  “Rise” was another crowd pleaser—saved for the encore. For those of us who still wish Rotten would throw in a Sex Pistols song or two, I think “Religion II” comes closest to the mark, not necessarily in speed but its sentiment and again his persona just turns the message into a passion.