Scarborough Open Air Theatre: punk titans Sex Pistols to headline venue with The Stranglers as support
Punk titans Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter will headline an incredible night of music in Scarborough next summer celebrating 50 years of punk.
The original members of the Pistols Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock, will be joined by frontman Frank Carter to headline TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre on Sunday August 2.
Special guests on the Yorkshire coast night will be fellow punk legends The Stranglers and The Undertones.
Tickets go on sale at 10am this Friday via scarboroughopenairtheatre.com and ticketmaster.co.uk
One of the most influential rock bands of all time, 2025 has seen the new Pistols once more emerge as a force of chaos and celebration and 2026 will see them celebrate 50 years since the band’s infamous show at Manchester’s The Lesser Free Trade Hall – a gig hailed by NME as ‘the most important concert of all time’.
From Australia to Japan, through European festivals and a legendary show at the Royal Albert Hall – where Carter conjured a giant circle pit in that hallowed venue, they have torn venues apart throughout 2025.
A return to London’s 100 Club before an audience that included Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller and Bobby Gillespie, sealed the revival.
For Steve Jones, the mission is simple: “If it ain’t fun, I ain’t doing it.”
Formerly of Gallows and Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Carter joined the line up in 2024, to help save London’s iconic Bush Hall and soon received rave reviews for his energy and new life brought to Sex Pistols’ music.
In summer 1976, Sex Pistols played two gigs at The Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester – shows cited as responsible for the punk rock boom in Northern England, in turn inspiring Manchester’s alternative and the UK’s indie music scenes.
The shows played to audiences of fewer than 50 people, but among them were future members of Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, Buzzcocks and Simply Red, along with Factory Records’ founder Tony Wilson.
Joining Sex Pistols in Scarborough will be special guests The Stranglers.
One of the longest surviving UK punk bands, with 20 Top 40 albums and 24 UK Top 40 singles including Peaches, No More Heroes, Always The Sun, Strange Little Girl and the mercurial Golden Brown.
The Stranglers are now recognised as one of the most credible and influential bands to have emerged from the punk era.
Fans can expect to enjoy Jean-Jacques Burnel and longest-serving member Baz Warne co-fronting the band, joined by mainstay Jim Macaulay on drums, and newest member Toby Hounsham on keyboards.
The band’s 50th anniversary in 2024 was packed with celebratory sell-out tours and headline slots at festivals worldwide.
Their 2021 album Dark Matters reached Number 4 in the UK chart and became their highest charting album since Feline in 1983.
Celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2026, fellow special guests will be Teenage Kicks stars The Undertones who emerged from Derry in 1976, the result of five friends learning how to play basic rock and roll.
Over the next 10 years, they would score chart hits including Here Comes The Summer, Jimmy Jimmy, and the incredible punk classic Teenage Kicks.
Julian Murray, of Scarborough OAT promoters Cuffe and Taylor, said: “This is going to be a phenomenal celebration of punk – bringing together three truly iconic bands in Sex Pistols with The Stranglers and The Undertones, all in one night!"