This summer Depot Live have curated an exceptional selection of concerts across Blackweir Fields and within the grounds of Cardiff Castle itself bringing in the biggest names and also supporting the best of local talent with something to cater to all musical tatses. With another scorcher, Saturday saw this remarkable venue given over to a celebration of punk headlined by Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter.

The first late afternoon slot was filled by local indie punks Panic Shack who do a stirling job of firing up the audience. Motherhood clearly isn’t on the agenda as Sarah Harvey sings ‘I don’t wanna hold your baby’. Dating experience influences are evident in ‘The Ick’ and ‘Ju Jitsu You’, and the latter lets up on the attitude just enough for some synchronised dance moves. All in all a fun start and, surprisingly, they’re given a good amount of stage time for an opening band squeezing in a dozen songs.

There’s a short set change over before The Undertones take control of proceedings with an explosive ‘Jimmy Jimmy’. While we’re enjoying a summer of endless sunshine and heat waves reminiscent of those when most of the attendees were growing up, then the soundtrack of ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ and ‘Here Comes The Summer’ couldn’t be more perfect.  Paul McLoone has now been fronting the band for more than a quarter of a century alongside the original members, and while the majority of the set draws on the perfect punk pop songs from their first time around, new song ‘Time Is Terminal’ slots into that same brief seamlessly. ‘Teenage Kicks’ rears its head mid set and why not; too good to save for the end and inevitably gets more audience participation that then continues until they bow out on ‘My Perfect Cousin’.

Back in 2022 and following the death of Dave Greenfield, it appeared that The Stranglers were seemingly about to call it a day with that years’ tour being billed as their final UK tour. Thankfully, retirement hasn’t materialised and today they seem more energised than ever. An hour sees them packing in all the classics in a lean set. ‘Toiler On The Sea’ and ‘Duchess’ get things off with a bang, and ‘Get A Grip’ is simply class. In a moment of serendipity, ‘Golden Brown’ plays as the sun starts to go down behind the castle keep and along with ‘Peaches’ probably garner the biggest reaction. The comforting melody of ‘Always The Sun’ is a highlight and ‘White Stallion’ reminds us that even in their later years the Stranglers were still putting out top notch material. The closing couplet of ‘Hanging Around’ and ‘No More Heroes’ are nothing short of magnificent.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Never Mind The Bollocks, Sex Pistols have again called on the services of Frank Carter to head up the band on their current jaunt around the summer festivals before heading off to the States later in the year.

‘God Save The Queen (Symphony)’ plays over the PA as the band stroll nonchalantly onto the stage. Paul Cook slips behind the drums, Matlock has a beaming smile as he waves to the crowd as Steve Jones readies himself on guitar. Carter takes the mic soaking in the atmosphere and grins, presumably a mix of both the fun he’s having and the fury they’re about to unleash. Seconds later he’s spitting out the vocals on a ferocious ‘Holiday In The Sun’ and it’s loud down the front – the kind you feel as well as hear. ‘Seventeen’ follows and drives the energy higher still, and while there may be more phones held aloft than pogoing, the action down the front is a mass of thrashing and circle pits.

Carter is a compelling frontman in his own right. While you can marvel at Cook’s tight and precise drumming, or delight at Steve Jones’ simple yet monstrous guitar tone, it’s not long before your eyes are drawn back to Carter and during ‘Pretty Vacant’ he makes a foray into the crowd where it’s a bit lively to say the least. He may have overestimated how easy it was to navigate prompting Jones to comment “Can we have our singer back?” and he gets back on stage just in time for an intense delivery of ‘Bodies’.

Two large screens either side of the stage capture the action for those further back, with the main screen behind the stage projecting historic images of the Pistols early days mixing the present with the past. ‘Stepping Stone’ and ‘God Save The Queen’ sound terrific. Carter then orchestrates the creation of women only circle pit ahead of ‘No Feelings’ “you’ve been oppressing women for decades without even realising it” he says. It’s a perspective that perhaps comes from having a member in the band from a different generation.

‘My Way’ serves as a tribute to Sid and without any trappings of an encore ‘Anarchy In The UK’ brings the 70 minute set to its conclusion. There are those that complain that a Lydon less Sex Pistols has no merit. The 10,000 packed in to Cardiff Castle tonight disagree and on top of three superb support sets, the delivery of a celebratory, energetic and vital set from The Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter made for a thoroughly enjoyable and memorable day.

Setlist:
Holidays in the Sun
Seventeen
New York
Pretty Vacant
Bodies
I’m Not Your Stepping Stone
Liar
God Save the Queen
No Fun
No Feelings
Problems
E.M.I.
My Way
Anarchy in the U.K.