Public Image Limited aka PiL return

December 2009 sees the return of Public Image Limited aka PiL for 5 special live dates in the UK. The shows will be their first in 17 years. The shows will mark the 30th anniversary of the release of "Metal Box" but PiL will not be limited to tracks from one album and the tour will showcase their whole career. PiL founder John Lydon will be joined by former members Lu Edmonds (guitar) and Bruce Smith (drums), plus new recruit Scott Firth (bass). The band also launched a brand new website at www.pilofficial.com .

The planned gigs are the following:

• Birmingham, 02 Academy, December 15th 2009
  
• Leeds, 02 Academy, December 16th 2009
  
• Glasgow, 02 Academy, December 18th 2009
  
• Manchester, Academy, December 19th 2009
  
• London Brixton, 02 Academy, December 21st 2009

Public Image Limited (PiL) are an English musical group formed in 1978 by vocalist John Lydon, guitarist Keith Levene, and bassist Jah Wobble. Rising from the ashes of the pivotal punk rock group the Sex Pistols, PiL branched out to a more experimental sound, and their early work is often regarded as some of the most challenging and innovative music of the post-punk era. Their later music would be somewhat more conventional, and although PiL have been inactive since 1992, Lydon (the band's only constant member) considers the group "on hiatus" rather than broken up.

The band's best known song surely is 1983's "(This is Not a) Love Song" of which you see a video below. The song's title was inspired by a line in the song "Her Story" (1979) by Virgin label stablemates the Flying Lizards about bands 'selling out' their artistic principles for commercial success (see also the line "But you can still make money, by singing sweet songs of love... this is a love song"). Ironically, it gave the band their biggest international hit single. A re-recorded version with harsher vocals and a brass section was included for the 1984 album "This Is What You Want... This Is What You Get".