“Good evening. Welcome to PiL. ”
John Lydon introduces himself in the manner of an English host welcoming his guests at the door. He delivers a welcome to the world of PiL with a very British, polite air of normality. However, it soon becomes clear that there isn’t much room for normality here.
John Lydon from PiL, Sala Razzmatazz Barcelona 2026 – Photo taken by Ana (Lee) Frascarolo for Mercury Wheels y Live Nation España
As the opening notes of ‘Home‘ ring out, Lydon begins to writhe, casting suspicious glances and shouting, spitting and laughing. Meanwhile, all around him, Public Image Ltd’s unique performance comes to life, blending British humour, conceptual art, working-class rage, industrial noise and everyday absurdity. Lydon’s wardrobe looks as though it has been salvaged from a wardrobe ravaged by forty years of personal turmoil. It features all the colours, cuts and rips that are characteristic of Vivienne Westwood’s aesthetic. He drinks from a bottle containing a sinister-looking red liquid. He spits. He blows his nose without the slightest care. He pulls faces, twists his mouth and opens his eyes wide, shifting from clown to prophet to survivor in a matter of seconds.
John Lydon is one of the few rock figures who has remained true to himself, without succumbing to nostalgia or becoming a caricature of the past. His stage presence lies precisely in his stubbornness and his remaining true to himself. . His voice sounds like a signal picked up from somewhere else. Instead of singing, he recites, accuses, provokes and comments from his lectern like a preacher who has lost his faith, yet still has the ability to mesmerise people. That spell is cast with “Poptones“. The words seem to emerge from a distant corner of the British collective memory, where tension, sarcasm, contempt, irony and fragility coexist.
John Lydon from PiL, Sala Razzmatazz Barcelona 2026 – Photo taken by Ana (Lee) Frascarolo for Mercury Wheels y Live Nation España
Next comes ‘Death Disco‘, one of the harshest tracks Lydon has ever written, born out of the illness and death of his mother. Lu Edmonds’ riff is reminiscent of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, distorted and twisted into something strange. It is no coincidence that one of their covers is called ‘Swan Lake’. It’s the kind of idea that only Public Image Ltd could come up with: They took one of the best-known melodies in classical music and layered it over a haunting rhythm. The result does not sound like either punk or classical music. It sounds solely like PiL. .
In ‘Corporate‘, the rhythm becomes mechanical. Repetitive. Mechanical. Automatic. It is insistent to the point of exhaustion. The songs cease to be songs and instead become spaces: red-brick buildings, chimneys, English suburbs, dimly lit pubs, rain on windows and the dissatisfied, miserable lives of the working classes. It is working-class England, but it is transformed into sound. Much of PiL’s power stems from their ability to transform post-punk into something physical. Since Metal Box (1979), the band has developed a sound that blends experimental rock and primitive electronica with a completely new ferocity. While with the Sex Pistols, Lydon invented punk, with Public Image Ltd he found a way to move beyond it.
John Lydon from PiL, Sala Razzmatazz Barcelona 2026 – Photo taken by Ana (Lee) Frascarolo for Mercury Wheels y Live Nation España
Urban alienation, social control, identity, memory, personal trauma, manipulation and loss: PiL takes audiences on a journey into modern-day paranoia and the contradictions of power, exploring the unresolved relationship between individuals and society. There are also distant references. . An almost oriental feel is given to some of the musical passages. These sounds seem to come from continents and traditions that are quite distinct from Western rock. Lu Edmonds’ melodic sensibility is particularly evident in these sounds; he plays the sitar with the same intensity with which he would tackle a Fender. All of this is absorbed and transformed within the PiL sound.
The current line-up features John Lydon on vocals, Lu Edmonds on guitar, Scott Firth on bass, keyboards and synthesizers, and Mark Roberts on drums.They still sound like a hungry beast: fit, taut and ready to strike. They are punk in attitude, metal in emotional intensity and post-punk in vision. Any label falls short. . After the encore, during which “Public Image” is sung in unison like a manifesto, the show comes to an end. A traditional English pub song begins to play. This might seem a light-hearted moment, but it encapsulates the band’s entire history. The musicians gather around, embrace one another, and sing as though they are old friends, bidding farewell to the audience.
John Lydon de PiL, Sala Razzmatazz Barcelona 2026 – Foto realizada por Ana (Lee) Frascarolo para Mercury Wheels y Live Nation España
Even after all these years, PiL remain as relevant as ever because they have created their own world and inhabit it with absolute determination. After all, these artists helped to shape both punk and post-punk, so there’s not much more that can be said. All that remains is to pay homage to John Lydon and his band.
Setlist PiL Sala Razzmatazz Barcelona 2026
Home
Know Now
Time ZONE
Love Song
Poptones
Death Disco
Corporate
Flowers of Romance
Warrior
Shoom
Open Up
-Encore-
Public Image
Rise
Anna Attack Chant
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