I’m not sure the Sex Pistols had “available for children’s parties” on their press release, but on a cold and grim Christmas in 1977, that’s exactly what happened. While many Britons were settling in for a warm yuletide, the Pistols decided to host a party/benefit for the children of striking firemen and miners at a venue called Ivanhoe’s in Huddersfield, UK.
It turned out that this afternoon gig, along with an evening concert with full-grown punks in the audience, would be the Pistols’ final UK appearance. In a few weeks the band would fly to America for a set of ill-fated gigs and then break up. Soon after that Sid Vicious would be dead.
At the children’s concert John Lydon handed out t‑shirts, buttons, records, and posters. There was a pogo dancing competition with a skateboard as a prize, disco music on the sound system, and a gigantic cake with “Sex Pistols” written on it. (A food fight not only broke out, …