Glen Matlock at the 100 Club with special guest Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go's, February 27th

The 100 Club played host to two of my favourite legendary bass players - Glen Matlock of Sex Pistols and Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go's. Headliner Glen Matlock takes to the familiar stage where he has trodden the boards on numerous occasions - from the Sex Pistols appearance at the Punk Festival in September 1976 to the location of the press conference to announce the Sex Pistols reunion in 1996 and regular solo appearances over the years. Forsaking his bass for guitar and lead vocals, Glen is backed by his excellent band comprising the super cool guitarist Neal X (formerly of Sigue Sigue Sputnik), drummer Chris Musto and bassist Jim Lowe and they ran through a great selection of Glen's solo songs and cover versions alongside The Rich Kids "Ghosts of Princes In Towers" and of course the classic he penned for the Sex Pistols, "Pretty Vacant". It was no-nonsense, good time singalong Rock 'n' Roll that left all of us with huge smiles on our faces. Opening the night was Kathy Valentine, bassist with The Go-Go's, who entertained us with a set comprising some of her favourite songs such as Nick Lowe's "Heart of The City" and Suzi Quatro's "48 Crash" alongside solo material, such as my personal highlight "In My Closet" and of course a few Go-Go's songs such as "Vacation", "Apology" and "We Don't Get Along". She was joined by Glen's band to play a raucous take on The Go-Go's "The Whole World Lost It's Head" and the new collaboration with Neal X, a superbly catchy 7" vinyl single "I Love You More" released under the name KVNX, which was available for sale on the night. Kathy was behind the merch desk to sign copies of the single and her searingly honest autobiography "All I Ever Wanted: A Rock 'n' Roll Memoir" and I also took along my gig ticket from The Go-Go's last U.K. show back in 1995 when they played a fantastic show at the Shepherds Bush Empire. Kathy glady signed the ticket and reminisced about the show. Here are some photos and videos from the night.

 

 

"I Love You More" is available to download at the KVNX Bandcamp site here. You can see some more videos of Kathy's set at our Retro Man Blog YouTube channel here.

Glen Matlock's excellent "Triggers" book is a must read, it's a musical journey through his life told through a selection of various songs that had a big influence on him as a songwriter. His latest solo album "Consequences Coming" is also well worth getting hold of. 

 Glen at the recording of the Word In Your Ear Podcast, promoting his book "Triggers".