After tearing through St. Vitus on Tuesday, John Lydon settled into one of the Strand’s big leather chairs to rap about his new memoir, Anger Is an Energy, with Buzzfeed Books editor Isaac Fitzgerald. First things first, he announced that Public Image Ltd. is putting out a new album titled What the World Needs Now… and will tour in October and November. Then he explained the chef’s outfit he was wearing: “We were on our way to an interview and I seen the store that said ‘Uniforms Going Cheap’ — not kidding: $30.”
John Lydon
Nevermind the Bollocks, Here’s John Lydon Giving St. Vitus a Taste Of His New Memoir
(Photos: Daniel Maurer)
It’s not often you see Monty Python and John Lydon in the space of a week, but there was Britain’s other living legend at St. Vitus last night, chatting with Pitchfork’s Jenn Pelly about his new autobiography Anger Is an Energy. The book, out this week, tells how a childhood bout with meningitis shaped his personality (“I’m a shy, sensitive kind of fellow,” he insisted to the incredulous crowd at St. Vitus) and then goes on to recount his trailblazing and troublemaking with the Sex Pistols, Public Image Ltd., and, of course, his later dalliances with reality tv (that time he showed off his “fried-egg breasts” in I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!) and butter commercials (“the most anarchistic thing I’ve ever been presented with”).
Talks and Readings: Johnny Rotten, Dystopian Authors, and Zombie Survival Experts
Wednesday
If the Frying Pan’s “Rocking Dead” isn’t enough undead to get your fix of braaaains this spring then don’t miss what’s sure to be a lively discussion between authors of the zombie genre at WORD Bookstore. The event celebrates the release of David Wellington’s latest novel, Positive, an epic tale set in a world where “positives” are segregated from society and marked with a plus sign on their forehead, signifying that at any time they could break out with a virus that turns people into ravenous monsters. The panel also includes Max Brallier (Can YOU Survive the Zombie Apocalypse?), and John Campbell (Drifters). Wednesday, April 29, 7 p.m. WORD Bookstore, 126 Franklin Street (Greenpoint).