"People were just bemused"

When Jon Savage, the author of England's Dreaming, says that an article about the Sex Pistols is worth reading, you take note. And sure enough, Alexis Petridis' recent piece for the Guardian deserves your time.

It's essentially a corrective to the myth that Sex Pistols' gigs were all culturally seismic events - the sort that instantly converted all audience members into rabid zealots inspired to form their own punk bands. On the contrary, it seems that in the early days, in off-the-circuit towns like Whitby and Northallerton, the band were more often met with indifference and disinterest. Even in the summer of 1977, at the height of their post-'God Save The Queen' notoriety, they found themselves playing gigs in places like Penzance.

And yet, as is evident from the subsequent trajectory of some of Petridis' interviewees, those backwater shows did leave a significant and enduring impression on at least a handful of attendees.