It's been 32 years since the Sex Pistols last played in Birmingham yet the most controversial band in history are still dividing opinion.
Famously imploding on an American tour in 1978, Johnny Rotten, Steve Jones, Paul Cook and the late Sid Vicious had done their job, reigniting a stale music scene and giving an amphetamine boost to a flabby pop culture.
Their decision to reform in 1996, making no secret that they were doing it for the money, was scorned by the original punk generation but it did give thousands of people the chance to see them live for the first time.
Surprisingly, perhaps, the shows weren't too shabby and the band have played sporadically ever since.
On June 11, the Sex Pistols will play at Birmingham's Carling Academy, their first gig since appearing at the tiny Bogart's club in New Street on October 20, 1976.
Tickets, at a very un-punk price of £37.50, go on sale on Friday.
With only about 100 people at their show in 1976, the take-up at the Academy will be much higher.
Present at the gig 1976 was a young Toyah Willcox. She recalls: "In September 1976 I saw the Sex Pistols play Bogart's in Birmingham and it was fantastic.
"I'd already dyed my hair bright pink and I was wearing binliners, because I couldn't afford clothes. I'd been ridiculed for the way I looked, but I walked into this club and suddenly I wasn't alone any more."
A gig at Birmingham Town Hall on December 20 1976 was cancelled. The Anarchy In The UK tour was decimated following a series of loutish incidents and a legendary swearathon earlier that month while being interviewed by Bill Grunday on the Today Show.
Tickets: www.gigsandtours.com / 24 hr cc hotline: 0871 2200 260. www.http://www.sex-pistols.net/
