Sex Pistols live @ Arena Riga, Latvia

[mojofilter]

Yes, it actually happened. Finally. After 30 years they decided to visit my country. I must say, the gig was fantastic.

Before I start my never ending jabber, here are some pics. Also, I apologise for a hell of alot mistakes.
i84.photobucket.com/albums/k23/the_real_nimrod/jz__7432-1.jpg[/IMG](I really like this one)










The concert was on august the 20.
I must say it took a hell of alot time before my mom actually agreed to let me go alone. You see, I'm only 15 (I hope I wont get kicked out for being under-age ) and "it's really unsafe for me to go alone to a concert like that and it's really far away from where I live (200km distance) and blah blah blah..". But in the end she let me go anyways. I arrived at the arena one hour earlier and for my surprise there already was a small group of people waiting there. For my luck, there wasn't that much people and I would be the second person who would get in when they let us all in. As time went by more and more people came. The guard guys let us in one hour later. It was 20:00 and the band would start playing at 21:00. Again, for my luck, I got in front of the stage. The people there looked quite dangerous. Alot of them we're piss drunk. In total, there we're only about 3 000 people. (well, what do you want? the whole population of our country is only 2 000 000 people ). They went up stage at 21:00 prompt. It was just...wow... I was actually seeing them LIVE. John said "it is fucking good to see you....welcome to latvia" or smthn like that. They started off with Pretty Vacant and ohmylord...everyone started pushing to the front. I thought that this is it. My ribs will break and I'm gonna die. Though, I still managed to stay in the front till the end of the concert. The atmosphere was just fantastic. I seriously didn't think that they sound SO GOOD live. All the videos on youtube with their live performances are nothing like the REAL live performances. I actually had little dilemma whether to take off my jacket and leave a Beatles shirt on (yes, I love the beatles. And that t shirt was really comfortable. ) and maybe get dissed off for that or leave my jacket on and sweat to death. In the end, I left only the t shirt on. I was right in front of Glen's spot and when they started playing he started smiling at me. I still think it was because of that shirt. Anyways, it was really nice. I smiled back and turned away a bit. Im really shy, you know. xD After a few seconds I turned back and he still was looking at me and smiling. He even winked the second time. and in the further half an hour our eyes met a few times. Wow, that's even better than an autograph. That made my day. It's funny how little we need to be happy. Atleast for a while. And now back to the gig - I dont really remember the song order but who cares, it was a kick ass gig! Troughout the concert John threw alot of his funny remarks. Something about "Now the soviet is gone...but there are some good russians left, right?" and "this is latvia not estonia"...there we're alot more remarks, I just cant remember all of them. He said something about Allah and Bush. And Jesus. Then came his famous shirt lifting and nipple-pinching. Also he used the mic in a very naughty way alot. And lets not forget the spitting and the nose blowing a la Johnny Rotten. I was kind of disappointed when I read in the news that in the back of the arena people weren't as energetic as the people in the front. The front was jumping all the time. There was a few times when the mosh pit just went trough all the arena and then I felt like I will die any minute again. And once again I'd like to say that the atmosphere was grand and the performance was superb! It was just a great time. Definately best gig I have ever been to. Rambo was standing on stage all the time with his hands crossed. When they we're going off stage Glen kinda threw his towel my way but two drunk russians grabbed it and started fighting (I thought I should stay out of that ) then two latvians joined in. The guards couldnt spread them appart. Steve trough soap in the audience and alot of picks. Actually, troughout the whole gig I didn't get to see Steve alot. I kinda forgot about him. And, well, yeah. And that was it. They we're gone. Boohoo. I already started missing them. I was all wet and charged with great emotions. I had to go to the station and spend the night there. Couldn't fall asleep. Only got a good rest when I got home the next day.

Conclusion - BRILLIANT-TASTIC gig. Period.

[jrotten]

Thanks for the review! Glen is so sweet!

Steve was exactly like Glen was to you to me!
He looked at me lots of times and when I waved to him, he waved back ahhhh They are so sweet!! And yes! on YouTube they sounds nothing like they do live. It's so much better to be THERE you know, and feel and be with the music, and see the people who's playing it!! god I really miss them

[mojofilter]

Thanks and no probs.
That was just my obligation to write a review.
I couldn't let my thoughts go to waste just like that. Gotta keep em safe somewhere.

If they ever come back - I'm definately going.

[Joan D]

Mojofilter,

Thanks for the photos & letting us know about the show. Glad you had a good time & didn't get too bruised by the crowd. I like hearing that young people like you enjoy the Pistols. Seems like they have a wide ranging fan-base.

Think maybe Glenn thought you were teasing him with your Beatles shirt? [BTW - I like the Beatles as well.]

Joan

[elisabeth]

Good review, thank you for sharing, it's great to read an opinion by someone who isn't a bitter estonian!

I have to ask, do you think 3000 people is accurate? I keep hearing different numbers, for me it felt like 1,5k tops. They did lose a third of the crowd after that "...f*cking Estonia" bit, I swear, there really were people who walked out because of that (what a waste).

My friend was actually the first one to get in, fair too, because we we're waiting since 12 AM! Leave it up to me to calculate how long does it take to drive to Riga& navigate around (as opposed to the two other people traveling with me who actually knew how long it would take!). We had to be there early though anyway, my friend had lost our tickets. (There you go, right from the "Top 10 things you NEVER EVER want to say to Elisabeth") Getting in was a bit of a lottery though, wasn't it, very unfair to open one door before the others. Not complaining, I had the best place in the audience, if John's mic had fallen off the stage, it would've split me in half. As far as the moshing goes, I was lucky again, the other Pistols' gigs I've been to have been worse (except the one where we were up on the balcony. ), my friend had it rough from the start though. I'm glad though that Rammy had a slow day, the only action he saw, was giving Johnny the water bottle.

Don't you think the audience seemed a little confused, and by little I mean a lot? I do like how people kept yelling how much they love the band and Johnny every chance they got, at one point a guy (yes, a GUY) from behind me shouted: "Sexy Rotten!".

Since I refrained from writing a review, I don't want to go on and on (as I am already doing), but oh man..He was veeeerrry playful that night indeed....mmmm..the nipple&mic thing aside, did you see, after they came back for encores he kind of pulled his pants tight around the crotch to show off the bulge in his pants. ;D Such a tease, and he knew it! He knew eeexxxxaaacctlllyy what he was doing to me.

Ooh, and one more thing, which I thought was really funny, someone shouted "Wanker!" and Johnny said something along the lines of:"... of course I am, everyone who has a dick is!" and then he started pointing at the guy and telling him, that he's "no fun!".

Long comment, sorry.

[mojofilter]

Sept 9, 2008 21:56:14 GMT -5 Joan D said:

Mojofilter,

Thanks for the photos & letting us know about the show. Glad you had a good time & didn't get too bruised by the crowd. I like hearing that young people like you enjoy the Pistols. Seems like they have a wide ranging fan-base.

Think maybe Glenn thought you were teasing him with your Beatles shirt? [BTW - I like the Beatles as well.]

Joan

Yay, another Beatles fan. ^^,

Am I that young?
They do have a wide ranging fan-base. I saw alot of older people jumping around in the audience. Most of the the audience we're my age and a bit older.

Seriously - I have no idea. But I do think it was because of the shirt.

[mojofilter]

Sept 10, 2008 5:49:32 GMT -5 @elisabeth said:

Good review, thank you for sharing, it's great to read an opinion by someone who isn't a bitter estonian!

I have to ask, do you think 3000 people is accurate? I keep hearing different numbers, for me it felt like 1,5k tops. They did lose a third of the crowd after that "...f*cking Estonia" bit, I swear, there really were people who walked out because of that (what a waste).

My friend was actually the first one to get in, fair too, because we we're waiting since 12 AM! Leave it up to me to calculate how long does it take to drive to Riga& navigate around (as opposed to the two other people traveling with me who actually knew how long it would take!). We had to be there early though anyway, my friend had lost our tickets. (There you go, right from the "Top 10 things you NEVER EVER want to say to Elisabeth") Getting in was a bit of a lottery though, wasn't it, very unfair to open one door before the others. Not complaining, I had the best place in the audience, if John's mic had fallen off the stage, it would've split me in half. As far as the moshing goes, I was lucky again, the other Pistols' gigs I've been to have been worse (except the one where we were up on the balcony. ), my friend had it rough from the start though. I'm glad though that Rammy had a slow day, the only action he saw, was giving Johnny the water bottle.

Don't you think the audience seemed a little confused, and by little I mean a lot? I do like how people kept yelling how much they love the band and Johnny every chance they got, at one point a guy (yes, a GUY) from behind me shouted: "Sexy Rotten!".

Since I refrained from writing a review, I don't want to go on and on (as I am already doing), but oh man..He was veeeerrry playful that night indeed....mmmm..the nipple&mic thing aside, did you see, after they came back for encores he kind of pulled his pants tight around the crotch to show off the bulge in his pants. ;D Such a tease, and he knew it! He knew eeexxxxaaacctlllyy what he was doing to me.

Ooh, and one more thing, which I thought was really funny, someone shouted "Wanker!" and Johnny said something along the lines of:"... of course I am, everyone who has a dick is!" and then he started pointing at the guy and telling him, that he's "no fun!".

Long comment, sorry.

Thanks, neighbour!

Actually, I thought there we're about 2000 people, but the news papers say it was 3000. I actually didn't hear him say "fucking estonia", seriously. He did say "this is not estonia" or whatever. I was probably busy *fighting* for my place in the first row when everyone started pushing to the front. But I did actually see a bunch of people moving towards the exit after a while.

I saw a few estonians by the entry. Are you blonde?

Yeah, you're right, he did... (the crotch thing), forgot to mention that. It's actually quite funny to think of it. He wouldn't do that when he was young. But now he's acting almost like Ozzy (he too likes to show off his butt n stuff). Yeah. But I like Johnny boy anyways.

There we're alot of english people in the audience too. And there was this drunk russian guy next to me that kept yelling "Yohnny, Yohnny!" I just really hope we didn't let em down and if they ever tour again they will return.

[elisabeth]

Sept 10, 2008 6:49:36 GMT -5 mojofilter said:

I saw a few estonians by the entry. Are you blonde?

Hah, oh gawd, yes, that's me. There were quite a few estonians, most of whom were drinking in the parking lot instead of queueing up (It's really difficult to understand why they canceled Estonia, isn't it ) From my town (of 2k) alone, there were around 10 people there.

I'm trying to picture that drunk russian guy, I told my friend about it too and now we're laughing our *sses off.

Anyhow, we've got another girl from the Baltic on this board, wonder if she was there.

[mojofilter]

Sept 10, 2008 12:31:41 GMT -5 @elisabeth said:

Sept 10, 2008 6:49:36 GMT -5 mojofilter said:

I saw a few estonians by the entry. Are you blonde?

Hah, oh gawd, yes, that's me. There were quite a few estonians, most of whom were drinking in the parking lot instead of queueing up (It's really difficult to understand why they canceled Estonia, isn't it ) From my town (of 2k) alone, there were around 10 people there.

I'm trying to picture that drunk russian guy, I told my friend about it too and now we're laughing our *sses off.

Anyhow, we've got another girl from the Baltic on this board, wonder if she was there.

I believe I was right behind you when we all waited for the arena people to open the doors.

There we're alot of drunk russian dudes. Though, there was a bunch of unknown nationality drunk dudes that we're *partying* in the parking lot. I believe we mean the same people.

[Snoogans4Jay]

Great review I love that John seems to realize now just how sexy he is, or at least he is getting used to us s-creaming ladies ;D Hmmm, a bulge in those sexy pants huh? JOHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNY..........so makes me want to see him again, and reeally really hate missing him at Hammersmith more than i already do .............I think I see Elisabeth in that last picture .......at least you got HER to post a review of sorts

[mojofilter]

Thanks, Snoogs. ^^, (That's how they call you here, right? I'm terribly sorry If Im wrong)
Actually...yeah, that's the girl I was thinking about. Is that you Elisabeth?

[sydney]

Sept 9, 2008 12:26:33 GMT -5 mojofilter said:

Yes, it actually happened. Finally. After 30 years they decided to visit my country. I must say, the gig was fantastic.

Before I start my never ending jabber, here are some pics. Also, I apologise for a hell of alot mistakes.
i84.photobucket.com/albums/k23/the_real_nimrod/jz__7432-1.jpg

[/IMG](I really like this one)










The concert was on august the 20.
I must say it took a hell of alot time before my mom actually agreed to let me go alone. You see, I'm only 15 (I hope I wont get kicked out for being under-age ) and "it's really unsafe for me to go alone to a concert like that and it's really far away from where I live (200km distance) and blah blah blah..". But in the end she let me go anyways. I arrived at the arena one hour earlier and for my surprise there already was a small group of people waiting there. For my luck, there wasn't that much people and I would be the second person who would get in when they let us all in. As time went by more and more people came. The guard guys let us in one hour later. It was 20:00 and the band would start playing at 21:00. Again, for my luck, I got in front of the stage. The people there looked quite dangerous. Alot of them we're piss drunk. In total, there we're only about 3 000 people. (well, what do you want? the whole population of our country is only 2 000 000 people ). They went up stage at 21:00 prompt. It was just...wow... I was actually seeing them LIVE. John said "it is fucking good to see you....welcome to latvia" or smthn like that. They started off with Pretty Vacant and ohmylord...everyone started pushing to the front. I thought that this is it. My ribs will break and I'm gonna die. Though, I still managed to stay in the front till the end of the concert. The atmosphere was just fantastic. I seriously didn't think that they sound SO GOOD live. All the videos on youtube with their live performances are nothing like the REAL live performances. I actually had little dilemma whether to take off my jacket and leave a Beatles shirt on (yes, I love the beatles. And that t shirt was really comfortable. ) and maybe get dissed off for that or leave my jacket on and sweat to death. In the end, I left only the t shirt on. I was right in front of Glen's spot and when they started playing he started smiling at me. I still think it was because of that shirt. Anyways, it was really nice. I smiled back and turned away a bit. Im really shy, you know. xD After a few seconds I turned back and he still was looking at me and smiling. He even winked the second time. and in the further half an hour our eyes met a few times. Wow, that's even better than an autograph. That made my day. It's funny how little we need to be happy. Atleast for a while. And now back to the gig - I dont really remember the song order but who cares, it was a kick ass gig! Troughout the concert John threw alot of his funny remarks. Something about "Now the soviet is gone...but there are some good russians left, right?" and "this is latvia not estonia"...there we're alot more remarks, I just cant remember all of them. He said something about Allah and Bush. And Jesus. Then came his famous shirt lifting and nipple-pinching. Also he used the mic in a very naughty way alot. And lets not forget the spitting and the nose blowing a la Johnny Rotten. I was kind of disappointed when I read in the news that in the back of the arena people weren't as energetic as the people in the front. The front was jumping all the time. There was a few times when the mosh pit just went trough all the arena and then I felt like I will die any minute again. And once again I'd like to say that the atmosphere was grand and the performance was superb! It was just a great time. Definately best gig I have ever been to. Rambo was standing on stage all the time with his hands crossed. When they we're going off stage Glen kinda threw his towel my way but two drunk russians grabbed it and started fighting (I thought I should stay out of that ) then two latvians joined in. The guards couldnt spread them appart. Steve trough soap in the audience and alot of picks. Actually, troughout the whole gig I didn't get to see Steve alot. I kinda forgot about him. And, well, yeah. And that was it. They we're gone. Boohoo. I already started missing them. I was all wet and charged with great emotions. I had to go to the station and spend the night there. Couldn't fall asleep. Only got a good rest when I got home the next day.

Conclusion - BRILLIANT-TASTIC gig. Period.[/quote]



Thanks for posting images and review. Anyway you´re the same aged as me and I had to go further. But I coudn´t let my parents know they would killed me if they knew it. They do not agree with the Pistols at all /cause of Sid and drugs, they do not understand anything/. 1st time I sent them on holidays and second I went with member of our family but I had to lie and I guess that people I lied to were dying of fear but who cares/ I didn´t wanna explain to them that I can take care of myself / . It´s the Sex Pistols, it´s worth seeing them :)they mean a lot to me. I think I was lucky to attend two gigs /for the very first time/. :-XI can imagine your feelings cause I were really tingling with my nerves and when they took the stage I was gonna die :-XIt´s so wonderful isn´t it? But now I hope they will tour again /in Europe/ cause we need ´em and I really miss ´em

[seasidegrl]

Sept 10, 2008 12:31:41 GMT -5 @elisabeth said:

Sept 10, 2008 6:49:36 GMT -5 mojofilter said:

I saw a few estonians by the entry. Are you blonde?

Hah, oh gawd, yes, that's me. There were quite a few estonians, most of whom were drinking in the parking lot instead of queueing up (It's really difficult to understand why they canceled Estonia, isn't it ) From my town (of 2k) alone, there were around 10 people there.



I'm trying to picture that drunk russian guy, I told my friend about it too and now we're laughing our *sses off.

Anyhow, we've got another girl from the Baltic on this board, wonder if she was there.

Okay...gotta know...And how big was that bulge???



Great review from Mojofilter (and nice Beatle refernce with your screen name) I have never seen them live...I bow to all of you who have!