ALICE COOPER, THE SEX PISTOLS In Ottawa, Canada

Wednesday, October 28, 2026 at 12:02 PM

By Andrew DePedro, Ottawa Correspondent

No Ceilings And Colliding Brutal Planets: Shock Rock Godfather And Punk Legends Lead The Shocking Charge At The CityFolk Festival, The RA Center On September 20, 2026

Photos By Andrew DePedro

Leather!
Spikes!
Chains!
All-female moshpits!
And lots of gallows humor!

It’s never the official end of the summer solstice in Ottawa until closing night at CityFolk on a Sunday evening as was in this case. And, yes, while the esteemed festival’s name may be somewhat misleading, you’re still here reading about two of punk rock and hard rock’s most endearing and exciting live acts closing out the festival season instead of some random yacht rock folkie– and both BILLY BRAGG and Jamie Webster already got their KNAC coverage at Bluesfest a few months ago.

And though the punk scene overall owes a great deal to folk music overall when it comes to its ability to rebel and protest against injustice and inequality, it’s been known to also derive inspiration from other genres as well. Take a well-known band from that particular genre such as the SEX PISTOLS, known for their vitriolic yet blunt assessment on contemporary society in the lyrics of their songs such as “Anarchy In The U.K.” and “God Save The Queen”. Back in the mid-70’s, there wasn’t anything like them at a time when mainstream music was mostly in the throes of mindless disco, post-Beatlemania and heavily indulgent prog rock (at least in the U.K. anyway).The scene overall simply needed a revamp and a quartet of misfit teenagers from some of the roughest hoods of London thanks to a used clothes store owner by the name of Malcolm McLaren who was looking to break into management of a different type in order to promote his wares by creating a band willing to don his clothing line. He’d already found ¾’s of his ideal lineup in the form of Steve Jones (guitar), Paul Cook (drums) and Glen Matlock (bass, pre-Sid Vicious) but his lineup was missing a frontman who, to him, really stood out amongst the normal punk rock rabble to lead his band.

And then, opportunity came knocking – or, rather, stomping heavily to the sounds of “School’s Out” blaring on a jukebox in the foyer of his store. He was Johnny Rotten (nee Lydon), a random teenage kid sporting an “I Hate PINK FLOYD” T-shirt, and he was loud, bratty and obnoxious – and he was the perfect personality to be fronting a punk band.

Once the SEX PISTOLS were born, so was a legacy and a sole studio album titled Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols which set that legacy’s same course. And we all know the story of how that legacy unfolded and how it pretty much swept up the band in the process – the band breaking up after their US tour, Sid staying behind with Nancy Spungen with tragic consequences, and the surviving members going their separate ways at least up until the next reunion tours in 1996 and beyond – and then, the unofficial (and seemingly unauthorized)autobiographical series that came out in 2022 to which the rest of the band had signed onto, except for one notable holdout, who was why his slot had been taken over by one Frank Carter (ex-GALLOWS).

And now that you’re familiar enough with the story of the SEX PISTOLS, here’s the story about how their first-ever visit to Ottawa billed as the SEX PISTOLS FEATURING FRANK CARTER and the CityFolk festival made the rounds.

Opening with “Holidays In The Sun” amidst a backdrop of flashy kitschy images that included lots of concert footage and even some outtakes from their other actual authorized movie The Great Rock ‘N Roll Swindle, Frank Carter, along with the original SP dream team of Paul Cook, Glen Matlock and Steve Jones, got the crowd completely riled up and pogoing mightily. He might not have the distinctive original sneer that Johnny Rotten/Lydon has curated, but does he really need it when, at 42, he’s got three times the fiery energy and panoramic stage presence? It is a bit weird at first to sometimes see Frank occasionally do one of these flying leap kicks like Bruce Dickinson’s been known to do during songs like “Seventeen” and “No Feelings”, but he’s giving a new dynamic to the PISTOLS by really engaging with the crowd, particularly the very young generation who missed the previous comeback tours.

And engage with the crowd he did. Not once, not twice, but three times all in the form of inciting a circle pit, which, let’s face it, is unheard of at a billed folk festival. It took a lot of prompting, convincing and encouraging on Frank’s end to get the punters to “run around in a big fucking circle” as the opening power chords to “New York” were riffed out, but by the end of the song, Frank had started CityFolk’s official second biggest moshpit while singing right in the middle of it. Think of the video for PANTERA’s “Mouth For War” with the entire band playing while people are violently thrashing all around them and that was about the gist of it. Frank still ranked the moshpit about a 6/10 though “and we didn’t come all the way out to Ottawa for a 6/10 moshpit!”. So, he encouraged the crowd to start up another one during the anti-abortion banger “Bodies” and our performance level went up to probably about 9.5; by then, I think Frank stopped tallying official stats what with him standing right open in the middle of a field full of heavily inebriated concertgoers comprised of mostly hyped-up dudes in their 20’s and 30’s and all. By then, that was probably what also inspired his decision to rile up one more circle pit – but dedicating one for the ladies. It was the type of moshpit that GIRLSCHOOL and L7 have probably started up themselves back in the day – and probably even DELILAH BON too in this current day and age whenever they’re actually playing festivals themselves rather than clubs –and maybe what SPIRITBOX was referring to on “Circle With Me”, but not only did Frank get that safe all-female moshpit up and running after giving instructions to the men to sit it out “because you don’t want to be THAT guy”, the male crowd actively complied as “No Feelings” started playing. Moreso because they’d already been in two previous moshpits in the span of 20 minutes and were looking for an excuse to take a break anyway. But for a brief couple of minutes, the all-female moshpit was bouncy fun for the ladies involved without the risk of gropage and flying elbows to the head. They’ve come a long way from the days of Sid Vicious swinging his bass around like an overzealous pickleball player to maintain rowdy crowd behavior, and musically, they’ve probably never sounded tighter than they have than on this tour. Steve Jones still showed that he had lots of riffs and sonic distortion to spare while the rhythm duo of Glen Matlock and Paul Cook was relentlessly loud and thundering. And though there would always be the battle cry of “No Johnny Rotten, no PISTOLS” amongst the most fervent of OG fans….well, Rotten/Lydon also did have at least a good couple of decades himself to make a tour like this possible long before the legal in-fighting happened, and for many generations of fans here and in other unchartered potential SP markets who never got to see the original lineup, this show was as much as their one shot at glory as fans as it was for the band themselves – and they were on target that night.

https://www.sexpistolsofficial.com/
https://www.facebook.com/sexpistolsofficial/
https://x.com/sexpistols
https://www.instagram.com/sexpistols

Setlist:

“Holidays In The Sun”
“Seventeen”
“Pretty Vacant”
“New York”
“Bodies”
“(I’m Not Your) Stepping Stone” (MONKEES cover)
“Liar”
“God Save The Queen”
“No Fun” (IGGY & THE STOOGES cover)
“No Feelings”
“Problems”
“Anarchy In The UK”

Nice guys!
Straightjacket memories!
Sedative highs!
And blades of glory!

Shock-rock godfather ALICE COOPER has always been known to put on a performance that’s been known to turn some tight-fitting craniums throughout his nearly 60-year career, and this appearance would be no exception – especially as he was the other literal surprise addition to O-town’s esteemed folk festival in case having a punk band as a co-headliner wasn’t enough for the folk traditionalists to lose their heads over.

And speaking of which….

Making his entrance to the sounds of opening number “Hello Hooray”, ALICE materialized from a creaking crypt door, allowing for his 90-minute set to run at a harrowingly fast yet theatrical pace. With his trusted triple-guitar touring band comprised of longtime guitarists Ryan Roxie and Tommy Henriksen alongside Newcastle, England-born newcomer Anna Cara(CROSSBONE SKULLY, STORACE) who was filling in for Nita Strauss with the latter on maternity leave, their performance served as a clinic in classic hard-rock execution. Opening with “Who Do You Think We Are”, ALICE lurked around the stage decked out in his signature black leather outfit, top hat, and smeared eyeliner while brandishing a cane and commanding the mainstage crowd with absolute authority like a dark mystical version of Huggy Bear.

Musically, the setlist was a fine offering of a relentless tour through the rocker’s six-decade catalog, which was replete with heavy riffs and grandiose-sounding hooks. Classic numbers such as “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, the immortal-sounding “I’m Eighteen” and the street demon prowess of “Under My Wheels” were ongoing proof of such as they retained their raw edge, elevated by the concentrated sonic wall of three electric guitars and the impenetrable rhythm section of bassist Chris Wyse and drummer Glen Sobel. Anna’s scorching solos and magnetic stage presence contributed to a crisp, modern counterweight to ALICE’s vintage vaudevillian frontman persona, ensuring the classic material felt vibrant and sharp.

And speaking of cutting-edge performances that weren’t just relegated to the backing band, ALICE’s performance hit its stride in the second half, leaning heavily into the dark, narrative stagecraft that built the legend itself. The first of a continuous parade of iconic theatrical props had started with a towering 13-foot “Franken-Alice” monster not entirely removed from IRON MAIDEN’s own Eddie mascot lumbering across the stage for “Feed My Frankenstein”, a bit of a necromancing sequence with a life-sized doll that bore a bit of a coincidental resemblance to Amy Lee of EVANESENCE during the catchy number “Cold Ethyl” and a straightjacket sequence during the manic-sounding “Ballad Of Dwight Fry”. The set reached its dramatic climax with the traditional execution scene, where COOPER was captured and dragged towards an active guillotine and beheaded by a cackling executioner – who turns out to be ALICE’s real-life life partner and stage performer Sheryl, delivering a nice macabre bit of fancy cabaret with her husband’s severed melon before she disappears backstage.

And somewhere in the far distance of the stage near the guillotine, the COOP has suddenly risen once more to deliver one last performance of the evening.

And that he does, in closing out the festival with a rousing, balloon-filled rendition of “School’s Out” featuring a smart mash-up with the chorus of PINK FLOYD’s “Another Brick in the Wall” and a quick introduction of the band and the various actors who made the whole ALICE COOPER live experience possible.Yet, amongst the mass of confetti, pyro and giant-sized balloons which at least a couple of concertgoers are hoping to sneak out of the festival grounds only to be quickly spotted by security anyway, ALICE COOPER appears to not be entirely done with mesmerizing the crowd with a few more proverbial shock tactics, starting with a sudden off-the-cuff announcement:

“This one’s for Kurt!”

And cue Ryan Roxie strumming a couple of familiar-sounding chords that may or may not be the opening riff to BOSTON’s “Peace Of Mind” just as Anna joins him on the repeated refrain, followed by the rest of the band as the opening track explodes in a sonic aura of familiarity and a few moshpits open up.

ALICE COOPER had just snuck in a neat rendition of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in the encore, followed by an equally decent closing set comprised of “Under My Wheels” and “Elected”. It was a nice gesture in honoring the upcoming 35th anniversary of NIRVANA’s Nevermind given that the aforementioned Kurt was known to be a fan of his work – or it was also a clever operational ruse with the help of security to catch unsuspecting crowdgoers from making off with his giant balloon props.
Or maybe both.

Nevertheless, ALICE COOPER’s long-awaited return to the Ottawa stage as well as the SEX PISTOLS FEATURING FRANK CARTER’s first-ever visit to our fair city was supposed to inflate the critics’ belief that such a pairing at CityFolk (or any other festival) would blow up unspectacularly. Instead, this pairing glided over all and gave the festival atmosphere a breath of fresh air overall.

With thanks to everyone who made this show possible – and even to my sister who sprung for the CityFolk pass for this season.

https://alicecooper.com/
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Setlist:

“Hello Hooray” (Judy Collins cover)
“Who Do You Think We Are”
“Spark In The Dark”
“No More Mr. Nice Guy”
“House Of Fire”
“Billion Dollar Babies”
“I’m Eighteen”
“Muscle Of Love”
“Feed My Frankenstein”
“Dirty Diamonds”
“Caught In A Dream”
“Het Stoopid”
“Dangerous Night”
“Poison”
Guitar solo
“Brutal Planet”
“Cold Ethyl”
“Only Women Bleed”
“Ballad Of Dwight Fry”/(guillotine scene)
”Second Coming”/”Going Home” (band only)
“School’s Out”/”Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2” (PINK FLOYD cover)
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” (NIRVANA cover)
“Under My Wheels”
“Elected”