The Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter are celebrating 50 years of punk with a series of gigs this winter – check out all the details below.
The shows are set to mark five decades since punk’s most momentous year, with 1976 seeing the original line-up play a series of legendary gigs in now mythic venues like The Marquee, The 100 Club, The Nashville and the El Paradiso strip club.
A flurry of incendiary shows came before they recorded the seminal ‘Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols’, maybe best immortalised by their stop at Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall.
Widely considered some of the most influential shows of all time, the two shows at the Manchester venue are credited with inspiring musicians who’d go on to be in bands including Joy Division, The Smiths and The Fall.
The band, which reformed with Carter as vocalist in 2024 – initially to raise funds for London’s Bush Hall venue – are now set to celebrate the milestone anniversary with headline dates Dublin’s 3Arena, Edinburgh’s Corn Exchange, Glasgow’s O2 Academy, and London’s Brixton Academy and Eventim Apollo this December.
Tickets go on general sale this Friday (February 27) at 9am. You can check out a full list of dates below, and find your tickets here.
The Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter’s ‘Anarchy In The UK’ 2026 tour dates are:
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December:
7 – 3Arena – Dublin
9 – Corn Exchange – Edinburgh
10 – O2 Academy – Glasgow
18 – Brixton Academy – London
20 – Eventim Apollo – London
Looking back to punk’s so-called “Year Zero”, Paul Cook said: “It was kind of like a commando raid. I don’t even think a lot of places knew we were playing there. We just turned up and set up. It was all a learning curve for us – getting out there and playing live – we were learning on the job.
“With Anarchy, I think we tapped into a feeling of unrest around the country at the time.
The message was pretty simple – just have a go and get out there and do whatever you
want to do. It was a new world.”
Alongside Carter, the band played everywhere from From Australia to Japan last year, making several stops at European festivals and playing a show at the Royal Albert
Hall for the Teenage Cancer Trust, where Carter conjured a giant circle pit.
Speaking to NME previously, bassist Glen Matlock said of Carter, “He’s got a lot more energy than people of our age. He’s in the crowd; he’s a class act. He was recommended by my son, Louis, who’s in tune with what’s going on. It’s not the same as with John, but it’s not supposed to be.”
Guitarist Steve Jones echoed his point while talking to NME last year about the 2022 TV biopic Pistol, which was based on his memoir, Lonely Boy; Matlock’s criticism of the show, Donald Trump’s America; and Johnny Rotten’s vocal support of the President and reforming with him.
“None of us knew [how well Carter’s addition would be received]. Frank was the first singer we [tried], because me, Cookie and Glen wanted to play. It just worked straight away. He’s a lot younger than us. He’s 40, so he has all that energy and us old farts can just jam at the back! It was so much fun and people loved it, and I loved looking at people loving it.
“I was ready to throw it in, touring and all that. I couldn’t care less. But with Frank, it just made it easy. We all get along. There’s no aggro. It’s just fun!”
When asked about the potential for new Pistols material, he replied, “I think if you do anything new and you’re playing it live, that’s when people go and get a drink. When was the last time you heard a good Rolling Stones song?”
Despite this, Matlock said last year that the band did “have ideas” for making new music with Carter. “We talked about it with Steve Jones,” he told the Daily Star. “We have ideas and Frank is a very good lyricist. Everyone has ideas, but we’re very busy at the moment and haven’t had a chance to really work things out.”
He went on to reflect on how any new music would impact the band’s legacy. “Above all, we have to ask ourselves if the public really wants us to release new music,” he said. “In the end, who knows?”
