The Longhorn Ballroom experienced an all-too-short-lived revival not long ago, but has again been sitting quiet for the better part of the last couple years. And yet if you’ve driven past the historic venue just south of downtown Dallas recently, you’ve probably noticed the marquee promoting upcoming shows from the Sex Pistols and Merle Haggard.
There’s some sort of film or tv production going on at the Longhorn Ballroom. From what it’s looking like it’s something to do with the Sex Pistols. pic.twitter.com/dk0iUWbMdj
— Pablo Discobar (@pablosdiscobar) August 19, 2021
The marquee hearkens back to 1978, when the Sex Pistols crossed America and prompted this wonderfully incongruous image of the volatile English punk band sharing a sign with country legend Merle Haggard above a giant longhorn sculpture. The entire tour was defined by chaos, as Jeff Gage wrote for us in 2017.
“But Dallas would prove particularly memorable, thanks to the sight of bassist (or, rather, ‘bassist’) Sid Vicious getting covered in his own blood. How the blood got there remains a point of debate: Jeff Liles, then a 16-year-old audience member, says Vicious got punched in the face by a fan; Bayley remembers Vicious getting headbutted; and Kooda says Vicious got hit by his mic stand.”
Why is the marquee back now? Director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire) was in town filming a TV miniseries (called Pistol) about the band. The Longhorn Ballroom must be making a cameo.
