Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter / 50 Years of Punk Tour / The Agora / Cleveland / 10.1.2026
The Sex Pistols are touring again, giving punk fans around the world a chance to experience these songs live with the help of Frank Carter. I caught the Cleveland show at the Agora Theater, and here are my five thoughts on the night.
1. Jarring.
I’m not gonna lie — it took me a second when the show started with “Holidays in the Sun” to get my head around what was happening. I was singing along to lyrics I’ve known forever, but hearing them in a live environment for the first time was surreal. I honestly had to pinch myself a little. And Steve Jones’ guitar sounded so unmistakably like the Sex Pistols recordings. Hearing those songs come to life in front of me was just a lot to take in.
2. Frank Carter is THE guy.
If someone had asked me, “Who would you want to do this tour and fill in for Johnny Rotten?” I’m 99% certain Frank Carter is the name I would have independently come back with. Whether it was Gallows, Pure Love, or The Rattlesnakes, Frank’s voice and aesthetic have always felt like a perfect fit for this. He puts his own spin on these songs, but it’s a spin that fits. Frank is also no stranger to getting out into the crowd and starting some chaos, and he brought that same flair to “Pretty Vacant” with a circle pit breaking out in the middle of the show.
3. The crowd makes this show.
It’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect — a bunch of punks, young and old, who have waited their entire lives to sing these songs live. It’s genuinely something to look around and see. People were just so damn happy to be there and finally get the chance to experience these songs in person. It reminded me a lot of seeing the original Misfits reunion shows. An entire room singing “No Future” over and over was pretty damn ironic.
4. Don’t let the age fool you.
Glen Matlock, Paul Cook, and Steve Jones may not have done this in a while, but they sound incredibly, and appropriately, messy-tight. The punk audience knows exactly what I mean without me having to explain it. There’s an edge to it. It isn’t supposed to sound polished to perfection. And you can see how much fun they’re having up there. The band feeds off the crowd, the crowd feeds off the band, and the whole thing just keeps building.
5. Go experience this for yourself.
I know people can be down on reunion tours for whatever reason they might have. I understand that this isn’t the entire band, and that one of the people who isn’t there is actually pretty publicly against the whole thing. John Lydon, duh. But honestly, being able to experience something like this live was special. For a lot of people in that room, this was something they genuinely never thought they’d get the chance to do. You’re standing there hearing Steve Jones, Paul Cook, and Glen Matlock play these songs, with Frank Carter leading the way, and suddenly the history of it all feels very real. Then the last chorus of “Anarchy in the U.K.” hits, the entire room is screaming “I wanna be anarchy,” and you realize exactly why you came.
