To Punk or not to Punk? The last Sex Pistols gig that never was

Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated? The Sex Pistols played their first gig at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London on 6th November 1975 and their last show might have been the one scheduled for 18th January 1978 in Helsinki. “Might have been” because it never happened.

Giacomo Bottà will present the gig, the media attention it attracted in advance, its cancellation, and the following controversies. In conclusion, he will present the idea of a “legacy of absence”: why a concert that never happened has been so important for Finnish music and (sub)cultural life.

The talk is based on a book chapter entitled “Banned in . . . Finland? The Last Sex Pistols Gig That Never Was” by Giacomo and Juho Hänninen, published in the Routledge Handbook of the Sex Pistols (2026).

Giacomo Bottà is university teacher at the University of Turku. His work focuses on music, cities and cultural memory. He is the author of Deindustrialisation and Popular Music: Punk and “Post-Punk” in Manchester, Düsseldorf, Torino and Tampere (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020) and of CCCP – Fedeli Alla Linea’s Affinità – Divergenze (Bloomsbury 33 1/3 Europe 2026). He has lived in Finland since 2004.

The event is included in the price of admission (€17/11), no separate fee. Free entry for under 18-year-olds and Museum Card holders.

Kuva: Sex Pistols performing in Trondheim, Norway in 1977. Riksarkivet, Oslo