Pistols attract curious Genuine ‘punk rock’ fans in visible minority By PETE OPPEL and DON MASON Most of the people at the Longhorn Ballroom Tuesday night came to see the people who came to see the Sex Pistols. But that was fine with the Sex Pis- tols and with their promoters, who gladly took each customer's $30 with- out asking motives, as “punk rock,” the rage and outrage of England, made its Dallas debut The Sex Pistols and their leader, Johnny Rotten, have been known to spit and vomit on English audiences, although they've softened their behav: ior sirice they made their American debut in Atlanta last week. But bass player Sid Vicious was struck by a woman early in the appear- ance here, and his lip bled on the audi- ence for the rest of the 48-minute performance, which began at 9:30 p.m. The band was pummelied with rot ten tomatoes and other non-injurious missiles all the time they were on stage. The genuine fans of punk — hard- driving, irreverent, primitive -rock music — were in the minority, but they were visible, * They wore black clothes, often cov- ered with safety pins, the syinbot of the punk rock cult, and painted faces. Some, but only a few, wore pins through their noses, cheeks or ears, ‘The crowd ‘Tuesday at the Longhorn, Corinth and Industrial, defi- nitely wasn't typical of that establish ment, which specializes in country music. “Tonight — Sex Pistols. Jan. 19 — Merle Haggard,” read the marquee out front “There’s not a regular in there, said Longhorn owner Dewey Groom, who said he's never heard the Sex Pistols. But most of the 1,800 who attended the concert were there out of curiosity. “L came out of curiosity, but that’s how they're making money, out of our curiosity,” said Linda Chancey, 28, a Collins Radio employee. She was curi- ous enough, though, to attend only the third concert she'd ever been to. The others were the Beatles and Willie Nelson. “Tjust came to see the weird isyear-otd Keith Crawford, better get $350 worth of weirdos.” Crawford probably figured he. was on his way to getting his money's worth if he saw Jef Pol of Arlington, “I always have on safety pins because I like to wear them,” said the 18-year-old, whose black outfit was cov- ered with pins. He and two friends who came to the concert with him. Penny Russell, 25, and Rob Taylor, 19, were among the minority of genuine punk rock fans. “yt's the new wave, I love it,” Miss Russell said. “Everybody's on a nostalgia trip, and this is something new,” said Taylor. “Yeah,” said Pol. Gregory Pickett, 20, said he and 10 friends flew from Denver to catch the Pistols at a Sunday night performance in San Antonio and here Tuesday night. He estimated they spent $1,400 each, but he’s an avid punk fan and said he feels the money was well spent. There was no problem getting tick- ets for those who got to the Longhorn by 8 pan. In fact, there was never even along line at the box office. Luis Sifuentes, 16, of Richardson, complained because he was denied admittance on account of his age. The Longhorn serves alcoholic beverages, so minors aren't allowed. Sifuentes said radio publicity for the concert didn’t’ mention — minors wouldn't be allowed. “I don’t think that's fair,” he said. But although security guards checked identifications of all youthful- looking persons, few were turned away because of age. ‘The majority of the crowd appeared to be in their late teens or early twen- ties. Jim Lambert, a 21-year-old clothing salesman who said he’s worked with Tock groups in the past, said he came to the concert “to see what it's all about.” Rob Wendt, 18, a student at the Uni- versity of Texas who was in Dallas for the holidays. said he came to the Longhori “to laugh et them.” He bought six tickets, but was only able to find two other people who were inter- ested in attending the concert, and sold his other three tickets at the door. “L want to see what the big fuss is,” he said. “I've been reading about them in Rolling Stone.” ‘The show began at 8:15 p.m., only 15 minutes late, with the Nervebreakers, a ocal punk rock group. Ticket sales were halted when the crowd hit 1,800, sometime after 8 p.m., but only about 100 people were turned away.