The fist headline is Hard on stage - violent in the hall. The opening text is Johnny Rotten is screaming No Future! No Future! while a bouncer next to him is beating the small but wild crowd with his truncheon. And for a while it looked like punk rock's fixation with violence was going to turn into reality. But with the song God Save The Queen the Sex Pistols first gig in Sweden ends. An otherwise not so dramatic opening which cost a fifty to to see in a small room only half full.
There's some more about the violence, how the band was concerned about the bouncers attitude (which was typical for Sweden) and the rumours about how 350 raggare was going to turn up and beat every punk rock fan to death. That never happened. Then it's your usual punks vs hippies, safety pins and chains journalistic babble.
It goes on to complain about the admission price which was a steep 50 SEK. There's some positive comments on the energy and lack of respect for authorities, both musically and lyrically, but again it's generally swedish mainstream press being very patronising saying that the band only have two good songs - Anarchy In The U.K. and God Save The Queen. There's some comments on the way the band looks and how they didn't do No Fun even though the audience was screaming for it. The article ends with a comment on the lyrics ''no future'' and the tour poster that said the band was ''the biggest band since the Rolling Stones''; writer Bert Gren doesn't think the Sex Pistols has a future, though he thinks punk rock may have one in bands like The Damned.
Thanks to Johan Winegard for supplying the cutting.
I'm always looking for good info on the SEX PISTOLS' gigs in Scandinavia. E-MAIL me if you've got it. Especially those of you who saw them in 1977 and/or have any old pictures, news cuttings or other things of interest.