Sex Pistols w/ Bad Nerves finally make it to Detroit.
Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter LIVE @ The Fillmore, Detroit 10/03/2026. All photos by Paul Holstein.
The Sex Pistols’ Detroit show at The Fillmore was originally scheduled for October 4, 2025, with Frank Carter fronting the band alongside Steve Jones, Paul Cook, and Glen Matlock, with The Linda Lindas and The Suicide Machines announced as support. The entire North American tour was postponed after guitarist Steve Jones broke his wrist, forcing the band to cancel the 2025 dates while he recovered. The Detroit date was eventually rescheduled for October 3, 2026, with Bad Nerves as the new support act. The original set of tickets was honored, and this time the show went off without a hitch.
Going out for a night on the town is expensive these days, especially going to The Fillmore, which is in the epicenter of Detroit's nightlife, across from Comerica Park (Detroit Tigers) and Ford Field (Detroit Lions), next door to The Fox Theatre and a block or two down from Little Caesars Arena. Parking was limited, with LCA having a sold-out show (Phoebe Bridgers, whom I had never heard of) the same night, so we paid $45 to park. We also paid an extra $140 to have a small table inside the venue (otherwise it would have been standing room only) and $21 per drink. Honestly, though, in the end it was well worth it.
Bad Nerves LIVE @ The Fillmore, Detroit 10/03/2026. All photos by Paul Holstein.
If you haven't discovered Bad Nerves yet, you're missing out on one of the best bands to come out of the current punk scene. Hailing from London, England, and fronted by Robert Clemson (Bobby Nerves), Bad Nerves play the kind of fast, catchy, no-frills punk rock that is nearly impossible to stand still for. There's plenty of Ramones-style rock 'n' roll in the mix, but they add enough modern pop-punk style and British attitude to make the sound their own. Their songs are short, loud, and loaded with hooks, the kind that can get stuck in your head after hearing them once. After building their reputation through constant touring and an increasingly enthusiastic following, Bad Nerves seem to have moved on from the smaller punk clubs to sharing stages with legendary names (including Green Day, Rise Against, The Offspring, Sum 41, and Weezer). I first saw them at Punk Rock Bowling in 2024 after reviewing their "Still Nervous" CD (which landed in my list of the top releases of that year). I missed their show with The Hives at St. Andrew's Hall in Detroit later that year but did catch them at one of the smaller venues near me when they played The Loving Touch in 2025 with Spiritual Cramp and Norcos Y Hochata.
On June 24, 2026, Bad Nerves released a new single, "Network," which is a faster, heavier, and darker song than much of their previous material. It feels like they are leaning more into punk rock, and that's OK with me. If you haven't heard them yet, check out “You Should Know By Now," “You’ve Got The Nerve,” and “Don’t Stop." Fuck being in California. Their current tour takes them through Canada and the U.S. and is filled with festivals, headlining shows, and a half-dozen shows opening for The Sex Pistols. Catch them if you can.
Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter LIVE @ The Fillmore, Detroit 10/03/2026. All photos by Paul Holstein.
Dave King from Flogging Molly joins Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter LIVE @ The Fillmore, Detroit 10/03/2026. All photos by Paul Holstein.
The current lineup of Sex Pistols, with three original members and Frank Carter replacing Johnny Rotten, has been touring internationally since 2024. The current tour is being described as the 50th-anniversary celebration of the Sex Pistols and the birth of punk rock, which just about nails it. There are many different opinions as to which band started punk rock, with many going back to proto-punk bands like The Stooges, MC5, New York Dolls, and The Ramones. In my opinion, true punk rock started with The Sex Pistols.
For this tour, they're playing "Never Mind the Bollocks" as the centerpiece of the show, along with additional Pistols material. I could not have asked for a better set, which included three covers ("I'm Not Your Stepping Stone," "No Fun," and "My Way") and their marquee songs "God Save the Queen" and "Anarchy In The UK." A guy next to me in the crowd kept yelling that The Stooges were from Detroit, and Frank Carter actually stopped to say, "Yes, we know that The Stooges are from Detroit," for a bit of a laugh from the crowd. After North America, they're doing a UK/Ireland "Anarchy in the U.K." tour in December, including Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and two London shows.
Frank Carter did an amazing job on vocals, sneering and screaming his way through the set. During "No Feelings," Frank called out a women-only mosh pit to create a space where women can mosh without men groping or pushing into them (my wife Rhonda joined that one). He later jumped into the mosh pit himself and screamed an entire song from the center of it.
If you aren't familiar with Dave King, he's the singer for Flogging Molly, and he's a legend. Back in 2025, Flogging Molly had to cancel part of their tour because King was suffering from a very serious health condition (it was later reported that he had undergone multiple surgeries following a brain hemorrhage, had spent two weeks in a coma, and was currently recovering at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin). Flogging Molly then announced five dates on the 2026 Vans Warped Tour that were subsequently also cancelled due to King's health condition. With all of that being said, it was a tremendous honor to be present when he took the stage to sing "Anarchy in the U.K." with Frank Carter and The Sex Pistols to close out the Detroit show. He was in rare form, and it was an amazing moment. The whole show was amazing, 14 songs of pure bliss. I sure hope I can find a way to catch them again.
