Friday, Sept. 5, 2003 | 8:36 a.m.
Something rotten is headed to Las Vegas.
Twenty-six years after their debut album helped define punk rock, the Sex Pistols make their Southern Nevada debut at 8 tonight at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel.
As always, the British band is led by controversial frontman Johnny Rotten (real name: John Lydon), the man who spawned countless spiked hairdos during the Pistols' brief, late-1970s heyday.
Also on board are the band's other three original members: guitarist Steve Jones, bassist Glen Matlock and drummer Paul Cook. Sid Vicious, who replaced Matlock in the lineup in 1977, died of a heroin overdose in 1979.
The Sex Pistols' landmark record, "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols," created quite a stir upon its 1977 release. In particular, the lyrics to two tracks -- "Anarchy in the UK" and "God Save the Queen" -- resulted in the band's banishment from most British radio stations.
Rotten canceled the Pistols' first U.S. tour after just 14 days in 1978. The band reunited in 1996, celebrating their 20th anniversary with a world tour.
The Pistols' 2003 schedule includes 10 U.S. dates and one in Toronto. Rotten has also expressed interest in taking the band to Baghdad though no firm plans have been announced.
Boston punk outfit Dropkick Murphys, who released their fourth studio album, "Blackout," in June, open tonight's show.
Who: The Sex Pistols.
Where: The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel.
When: 8 p.m. today.
Tickets: $65.50.
Call: 693-5066.
Opening act: Dropkick Murphys.
Personnel: Paul Cook (drums), Steve Jones (guitar), John Lydon (vocals), Glen Matlock (bass).
Essential release: "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols" (1977).
What to expect: The Pistols don't have that much material to choose from, so it's no surprise they are playing all 12 tracks off their debut album. The band also mixes in a couple of B-Sides, including a cover of Iggy Pop & the Stooges' "No Fun."
Recent set list: 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C., Aug. 24: "Bodies," "Seventeen," "New York," "No Feelings," "God Save the Queen," "Liar," "Belsen Was a Gas," "Holidays in the Sun," "No Fun," "Submission," "Pretty Vacant," "EMI." Encore: "Anarchy in the UK," "Problems." (from fansite www.sex-pistols.net/main.html).
Tour feedback: "The set served to remind us how much the Pistols were about comedy as much as anarchy. You just can't fault a band that can deliver such rousing refrains as "I'm a lazy sod" ("Seventeen") with such conviction." (The Globe and the Mail, Canada); "Rotten said early on that the band hadn't had time to rehearse, and it sounded that way ... Still, the band sounded much tighter than it did on any of the bootleg tapes from the '70s, partly because founding bassist Glen Matlock is back in tow." (Boston Herald).
Says Lydon: "We only needed to make one album to absolutely define how the world is. There's no need to duplicate ... It would be wrong to try and come up with another Sex Pistols album. There's no need for it." (Billboard.com, July).
