Pistols perform warm-up gig in LA

John Lydon, who will turn 52 in January, now lives in Los Angeles

About 500 fans have seen the Sex Pistols perform live at a gig in Los Angeles, the reunited punk band's first concert in four years.

The intimate performance was a warm-up for a mini-tour in the UK next month.

Singer John Lydon, also known as Johnny Rotten, forgot the words to the first song, Holidays in the Sun, and said he was struggling in the heat.

They played almost all of their songs in the hour-long set, including Anarchy in the UK and God Save the Queen.

Lydon was on his usual acerbic form for the crowd, Reuters journalist Dean Goodman reported.

He lost his temper after he was hit in the face with a drink, threatening to kill the "coward" responsible if he caught him.

And when a young woman jumped up on stage to hug their guitarist, Lydon joked: "Steve Jones always gets the fat ones."

Thursday night's show was at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles

The Pistols, whose other members are Glen Matlock and Paul Cook, will begin a five-night run at London's Brixton Academy on 8 November.

They will then perform in Manchester on 17 November and in Glasgow the following night.

The group, who split in 1978, first reformed for a world tour in 1996 and last performed together in 2003.

Former member Sid Vicious died of a drug overdose in 1979.

Never Mind The Bollocks... Here's the Sex Pistols, which included God Save the Queen and Anarchy in the UK, caused uproar when it was released in October 1977.

But it was one of the defining records of the punk movement and is now recognised as one of the most influential albums in rock history.