Texas Music News — September 15, 2026
The Sex Pistols played Dallas’ Longhorn Ballroom on Friday, giving the venue a happy ending 48 years late. Frontman Frank Carter told the crowd to open up the mosh pit, then the band tore into “Pretty Vacant.” Decades of history came rushing back into the room.
The venue has worn plenty of hats since 1950, when Bob Wills built it as his own dance hall. Nightclub owner Jack Ruby ran it next, and the venue’s colorful history didn’t stop there. By the time it became the Longhorn Ballroom, two of Friday’s Pistols already knew the room well. Guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook last headlined there in 1978, when the tour splintered into chaos. Only five shows in, it all fell apart.
The Sex Pistols Finally Got It Right
Carter is a worthy stand-in, even though Lydon has publicly called this lineup “karaoke.” The band tore through nearly all of 1977’s Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols over 75 minutes. They closed with a defiant “Anarchy in the U.K.”
Friday’s set also carried a gentler edge than 1978 ever did. When a fan needed medical help during “God Save the Queen,” Carter stopped the song cold. He also opened a women-only mosh pit for “No Feelings.” It was a small gesture, but it said plenty about how punk has grown up.
Forty-eight years after Sid Vicious walked off that stage bleeding, Dallas finally got its encore.
Details at Dallas Observer.
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