Public Image Ltd (PiL) at The Opera House, October 18th

Thursday night and Johnny Lydon (nee Rotten) was in town bringing some PiL to the Opera House. Tuco was at the scene, drinking beer and taking notes. A light drizzle in the city wasn't enough to stop this post-punk legend act from bringing the noize but it was enough to delay a decent crowd from getting to the venue on time. The festivities kicked off at quarter to nine, not without a fire alarm going off and some Toronto firefighters heading back stage.

The crowd was definitely older; not surprising since PiL have been around since the late 70s. Besides the iconic PiL graphic emblazened on a few Ts, I noted an Echo and the Bunnymen T as well as a Day Glo Abortions T. Those were the days.

PiL bounded on stage at quarter to nine and opened the set with their big hit (This is Not A) Love Song. I'd managed to snag a decent spot on the floor with a decent sightline. First thing I noticed was the odd oud-shaped guitar played by Lu Edmonds. Edmonds went through no less than 4 guitars during the night. Scott Firth, the bassist also managed to trot out some kind of a digital upright bass, a traditional bass, keyboards and a laptop.

The sound was pretty good actually - and the shape of most of their longer songs took on a certain characteristic. A short guitar riff or bass riff repeated several times allowing Lydon to sing/talk over top of the whole structure at his own pace. Johnny's still got those unique vocals - belted out , shaking, but still in controlled.

Of course, Johnny Lydon has his own brand of charm which he used to work up a tepid crowd that was compared unfavourably with the lot from Montreal. That's been a consistent theme with musicians that come to Toronto - weak audience feedback. I guess we came to hear PiL not each other.

The bass was really turned up throughout the night and Firth didn't miss a trick. He stayed right on top of the reverberations accented by a solid performance by drummer Bruce Smith. While the guitar and bass got a few chances for some soloing, the drummer didn't get as much. Of course, the main event was Johnny Lydon - everyone knew that. He even had a music stand up at the front with him like a conductor of an orchestra (sans baton).

PiL played for two hours and the show was done with the crew breaking down the set seconds after the band had exited stage right.

The set list did not stray far from PiL's recent DVD release "There is a PiL in Heaven":

(This is not a) Love Song
Deeper Water
Albatross
One Drop
Flowers of Romance
Disappointed
Warrior
USLS1
Reggie Song
Death Disco
Bags / Chant
Religion
Out of the Woods
Rise
Open Up


Best moments: Religion, Warrior.

Awkward moments: Chastising the audience of predominantly old men for showing less enthusiasm than two young women near the front. That's pretty much always going to be the case Johnny.

FYI: The Grid did a little interview/write-up with Johnny Lydon - check it out if you want to know more. Apparently he prefers Donna Summer to Radiohead.