PiL and Meryl Streek at Sheffield Leadmill 8/9/2023

PiL and Meryl Streek kicked off their UK tour in Sheffield and TotaRock was there

Meryl Streek’s album “796” came to my knowledge at the tail end of last year.  It is a remarkable record with anger, disgust and in many ways hope seething from it’s very core. The hope comes from the fact that we finally have an artist who is not afraid to call out the flaws, crimes and dark secrets of society, especially those of his native Ireland and to never forget it’s victims. Streek spits out lyrics from the darkness while choosing to perform most of his set standing on the barrier rather than the stage with one single light that he swings round adding to the unique feel of the performance. Death To The Landlord and Fake Apologies have this Yorkshire crowd feeling like they’ve been hit by  a baseball bat of energy, which is coursing from the performer straight into brains of the audience. I can’t remember being so captivated, frightened and in awe, when seeing a performer for the first time since  I saw Atari Teenage Riot two decades ago. Meryl Streek is not only about anger, which is shown when he talks of his Uncle Paddy or his father who inspired the song simply titled Dad. Meryl Streek have a massive tour booked for February 2024 and my advice to you is to buy your tickets now because he won’t be playing venues that size for much longer.

PiL have, without a doubt, released one of the greatest albums of their 40 plus year career with “End Of World” and we are treated to many of it’s cracking highlights tonight. Set opener, Penge and Car Chase are both tracks that show John Lydon has lost none of his bite. But through his permanent sneer you can definitely see a smile, and when he states “hello boys and girls…we have missed you!”, do you know what? I believe him! Albatross is second song in and this Yorkshire crowd can’t believe it’s luck with a set list that has Poptones, This Is Not A Love Song and Death Disco have this rotund Northern Irish rocker in a punk rock rapture. It’s during the previously mentioned Death Disco, which was written about Lydon’s dying mother, that I realise what a wonderful and complimentary bill tonight is. Lydon and Streek both know that music is a way to speak the truth on a world that is so likely to let us down.

Flowers Of Romance is a track that I love hearing PiL perform, with it’s Middle Eastern vibe and rhythm, it shows off this incredible line up. Guitarist Lou Edmonds reminds me of Killing Joke’s Geordie as they both look like they are not doing a great deal but have such a mastery of their instruments, the noise they create is almost shamanistic in the way it can captivate the audience. The Body, Warrior and Shoom end the main set as Lydon informs us that he is off for a quick cigarette but promises us the band will return. I hope they do as if they don’t…well there could be a riot.

The band do indeed return and it is in this point of the evening where we see a completely different side to Lydon as he introduces the track “Hawaii” which he dedicates to his much missed wife, Nora. Lydon and Nora had been married forty pus years before she died earlier this year after suffering with Alzheimer’s disease for 5 years. Seeing Lydon visibly moved by the audience’s reaction to his mention of Nora brings a tear to the eye. The evening ends with three songs that sum up just how important and essential PiL, how they are always experimenting with who they are. The song Public Image is followed by the Lydon/Leftfield collaboration – Open Up and our evening finishes with Rise. The PiL tour goes round the UK and then off to Europe before ending in Strasbourg on Halloween and that night will be full of treats!!!