Wednesday night, Johnny Rotten, lead singer of the legendary punk band the Sex Pistols, is in Leuven for a concert. 47 years ago, the Sex Pistols were supposed to do Leuven, but the concert was cancelled at the last minute because the group had just split up.
The punk movement caused uproar in the music culture of the late 1970s. A British band, the Sex Pistols, was its flagship. ‘When concert organiser Herman Schuermans and musician Boogie Boy came up with the proposal to organise a concert with the Sex Pistols in Leuven, we didn't hesitate for a minute,’ says Luc Vanheerentals, who brought a lot of big names to Leuven at the time, including Dire Straits and the Clash.
The Sex Pistols coming to Leuven was big news at the time: ‘Elsewhere, their performances had already ended in riots. And there was also a revolutionary atmosphere here. Many students back then were very socially critical, argued against investment in defence, were more anti-establishment than now. When the owner of the venue realised which group we wanted to bring to his hall, he tried to stop the concert. But in the end, it was no longer necessary. The Sex Pistols split a few days before the gig.’
47 years later, Johnny Rotten, figurehead of the Sex Pistols, is finally in Leuven. ‘Once again, the concert this time at Het Depot is sold out’.