Sex Pistols - There'll Always be an England (2007)

I did enjoy this one star review on Amazon...

I bought this DVD on the strenght of the 5 star reviews, but sadly I cannot agree with anything they say. After song three I was stunned at how ugly the whole thing looked and sounded. The shots of the crowd prompted me to think that I was at a BNP rally: the front rows crushed with middle aged wannabes desperately trying to outgurn each other. The playing was standard grade pub rock and with a Lydon who has turned into Albert Steptoe (Albert Steptoe had better vocal range); only bested in the looks department by Paul Cook who could now fit into any episode of Thunderbirds. No guessing which Pistol ate all the pies either. This dvd is a jingoistic mess and I wish I'd never seen it. Thank God I've got all the originals on vinyl and cuttings from NME's of old, that way I can remember it the way it was and was meant to be. So what next for Lydon and crew? The Bus Pass World Tour boxed set with free Complan? Shoot me now.

I saw this years ago and was entertained by it admittedly.

However, you can tell that Lydon has the curse of bellendism running through his veins even then

They should have left it well alone.

Yes, Lydon is a grotesque carricature and cuts a rather pathetic figure

I was never remotely tempted by the concerts - though I know people who went and really loved it.

The England theme, and songs, do seem to foreshadow Brexit and, with the light of hindsight, add another level of awfulness to the spectacle

That said, it's always good to hear the songs and I particularly enjoyed the sight of Glen getting to play the tunes again and appearing to be enjoying himself. To a lesser extent the same can be said of Cook and Jones

It's also interesting to see a smattering of mobile phones but nothing like the sea of devices that would be out and filming if the gig had happened last year.

Finally, Julien Temple really knows how to film and edit this type of thing. It's really well done with loads of audience shots which is always interesting.

Grimly compelling and enjoyable despite the awfulness

I wonder how much each member of the Pistols raked in for five nights at Brixton

Given they don't really get on that well it must have been a good few grand

Hard to imagine they'll ever do it again - but who knows?

Tickets were £37.50 which, by modern standards, doesn't feel that outrageous

Brixton academy capacity is 4921

Revenue was, according to my limited maths, £922,687.50 which is a lot but there's also a lot of costs in putting on shows.

I expect PU knows more about this stuff

I'd guess the four Pistols must have been paid £50,000 each at a minimum - maybe Lydon gets a bit more?