Here’s the Sex Pistols’ pictures... and they’re up for auction
NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN photographs of the Sex Pistols’ legendary gig in Caerphilly are to be put up for auction 45 years after they were taken.
The notorious punks were greeted with outrage when they played the town’s Castle Cinema on Tuesday, December 14, 1976, as part of their Anarchy In The UK tour.
There were angry protests outside the venue from local Christian groups, concerned young mums and even a group of carol singers – all of which ensured the concert, which cost just £1.75 a ticket, would go down in the annals of rock and roll infamy.
And now the negatives of photos taken that night by the then 24-yearold audience member Dave Smitham are going under the hammer at the end of the month.
Priced between £2,000 and £2,500, the 22 rare images, which are being sold with full copyright, show the band in full flight and also include action shots of both support acts, The Clash and Johnny Thunders.
“It was so small and silly, singing hymns and hoping God would strike us dead,” Pistols’ singer Johnny Rotten would comment about the furore in a later interview. “There were barely 200 people in the hall, but there were 500 outside singing Hosanna in the Highest. So I look back fondly at Caerphilly. Caerphilly was silly.”
However, the first time the outspoken star – aka John Lydon – found out about Smitham’s photos was in summer 2018 when WalesOnline caught up with him at a recording studio in the Cotswolds.
“Ooh, look at them lovely colours,” said the then 62-year-old after being shown a selection of printed copies.
“See my expression there? That’s pure astonishment that anyone was there to watch us at all, because we never gave ourselves any hope really.”
Another, which appeared to show him swinging his mic above his head in a stereotypical rock star pose, also tickled his funny bone: “That’s hilarious,” he laughed. “Because, look, I’ve actually got the mic lead all tangled up and I’m just trying to unravel it.
“You can see in my face how annoyed I am. I’m thinking, ‘I must look like such a f****** idiot up here’.”
Dave Smitham’s Sex Pistols pics will be sold by Omega Auction on Tuesday, November 30, at midday.