Rock journalist Legs McNeil recounts his experience witnessing the Sex Pistols' final show at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom in January 1978, in an exclusive excerpt from his upcoming memoir, Resident Punk. The account offers a first-hand, behind-the-scenes perspective on the collapse of one of punk's most influential bands, highlighting the deep tensions between Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious that preceded the group's breakup and reshaped punk's trajectory in America.

McNeil, who founded Punk magazine in 1975 at just 19, describes the Winterland gig as "one of the most boring rock 'n' roll shows ever" and notes that Rotten and Vicious refused to be photographed together backstage, underscoring how far the band had disintegrated. The show proved to be the Sex Pistols' last with Rotten, who announced the split four days later; the band briefly continued without him via The Great Rock n' Roll Swindle before Rotten, now known as John Lydon, eventually reunited with his bandmates in 1996. Resident Punk is due for release on 15 September.