Frank Carter to perform with Sex Pistols members to help save London music venue

The Sex Pistols’ Paul Cook, Glen Matlock, and Steve Jones will perform the entirety of Never Mind The Bollocks alongside singer Frank Carter to raise funds for a west London music venue.

The musicians will unite for two shows in August in support of Bush Hall, which has previously welcomed the likes of Amy Winehouse, REM,  Florence + The Machine, Paul Weller and Nick Cave.

Sex Pistols founding member and drummer Cook, 67, who grew up near the venue in Shepherd’s Bush, said: “We’re doing a benefit for Bush Hall with the famous Frank Carter. We’re going to be playing Pistols numbers cause they need support and they need the money.

“We thought it would be a great way to stop it going under.

“This is my local venue. I grew up in Shepherd’s Bush and I still live round here.

“It would be a real shame to see it disappear and we want to keep it going. So everyone get down to the gig!”

Bass guitarist Matlock, 67, said: “Smaller music venues are the lifeblood of new music.

“It’s in these intimate spaces that raw talent gets a chance to shine, where bands can really connect with their audiences, and where the spirit of live music truly comes alive so we need to keep them going.”

Carter, 40, who performed at Bush Hall in 2012 with his former group Pure Love, added: “This has been a joy from start to finish. When the Sex Pistols call, you answer. I’m very excited to be a part of it.”

The musicians will perform the tracklist of 1977 album Never Mind The Bollocks Here’s The Sex Pistols, which cemented the band as one of the most notorious and influential British outfits of all time.

The money raised will go towards bettering in-house facilities at the venue and supporting emerging artists through reigniting their Bush Hall Presents programming.

Bush Hall was built in 1904 as a dance hall, and before it was turned into a music venue in 2001 it was a soup kitchen during the Second World War, a bingo hall and a snooker club.

Earlier in the year a crowdfunding campaign was launched for the independent music venue amid rising costs and a lack of profitability.

It comes as a report into grassroots music venues from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee found that artists are facing a “cost-of-touring crisis” and venues are stopping live music or closing entirely at a rate of two per week.

Bush Hall owner Charlie Raworth said: “We love putting on the music and giving musicians a platform to perform on our stage, in an intimate space, that is up close and personal with the audience.

“We want and need to keep this going. So, a massive thanks from all at Bush Hall to the legends that are the Sex Pistols and Frank Carter.”

Original Pistols singer John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, will not be performing.

The artwork for the shows has been designed by Shepard Fairey, who created the Hope poster for Barack Obama’s presidential election in 2008.

Tickets for the gigs, taking place on Tuesday August 13 and Wednesday August 14, go on sale at 9am on Wednesday June 5 via Live Nation.