A group of Palestinian activists gathered outside the Market Place Theatre in Armagh to protest the presence of punk icon John Lydon – aka Johnny Rotten – at the venue on Thursday evening.
Pro-Palestine supporters staged a picket outside the Market Place Theatre in Armagh as punk icon John Lydon made his first appearance in the city.
The flamboyant frontman was bringing his Q&A style show to the city venue on the opening night of a UK-wide tour.
Lydon – aka Johnny Rotten – was the face of the Sex Pistols, later parting company to front his own Public Image Ltd, a band with whom he still tours today.
The solo show – ‘I Could Be Wrong, I Could Be Right’ – had borrowed its name from PIL’s most famous song, ‘Rise’, with the Armagh appearance seeing Lydon singing the anthem on stage.
The Armagh event had offered VIP tickets, providing a meet and greet opportunity for fans from two hours ahead of the show.
Those attending had been advised on ticket updates that a protest was due to be held at Market Street and that, while access was available through the front door of the theatre, the venue was also accessible via the car park.
The police maintained a presence throughout the protest at the front of the theatre.
Lydon has courted controversy with remarks allegedly made in various press interviews. Earlier this year, it was reported that he spoke out in support of Israel and allegedly described Hamas as “just Jew exterminators”.
Belfast Irish language rap trio Kneecap also came under fire from the 69-year-old during an interview on Good Morning Britain earlier this year.
He was addressing footage of the band from 2023, which appeared to show Kneecap supporting the death of British MPs, allegedly stating “the only good Tory is a dead Tory” and adding: “Kill your local MP.”
When the footage surfaced, it was a stand which saw Lydon respond: “If you’re advocating the death of another human being then you have no cause whatsoever. You are my enemy from here on in for the rest of your mediocre existence.
“You shouldn’t be talking like that. You shouldn’t be making enemies of your fellow human beings.
“Other than that, maybe they need a bloody good kneecapping.”
The picket in Armagh saw protestors with Palestinian flags and home-made placards, with slogans such as ‘Johnny is a Rotten genocide supporter’ and ‘We support Kneecap’, gather in Market Street.
BDS Ard Mhacha, posting on social media, said they were there to protest as “ardent Zionist John Lydon was appearing on stage” and they were “there to remind ones going in about his support for the destruction of Gaza and its people and also his call for Kneecap to be shot”.
Protestors claimed they were “heckled by some brain dead” supporters but were “undeterred”.
Fans, meanwhile, lauded the singer’s solo show, which saw Lydon relaxed and at ease with his audience, dressed in black PIL t-shirt and jeans, delivering what had been promised to be “untamed, unscripted and uncensored”.
As Lydon prepares for his appearance at the Mandela Hall in Belfast tonight (Friday), one attendee, posting on Facebook, described his appearance in Armagh as “funny, intelligent, heartbreaking and quite beautiful at times”.
