It’s almost down to 90f in the desert tonight, the ClashBlog dog is looking at me expectantly and demanding we go for a late night wander. Thus I told her let me put together a quick update for the blog and then we’ll see if it’s cool enough out. Yes it’s been that sort of summer where 88f is going to feel pleasant, indeed these are the conversations I have with the dog.

A few updates on the wires that I wanted to share with you this evening because as ever you can find Clash related tales on the interwebs which is good as it keeps you informed and me out of trouble. First up then is a really enjoyable read from the Sabotage Times which takes an extract from ‘Shadowplay – The Rise and Fall of Factory Records’ (I need to buy this book!) and it looks back at the punk/post punk days of the The Factory at The Russel Club in Manchester, Tony Wilson’s live music fledgling venture that had a history so colourful I wish I had a time machine. The extract itself is brilliant and well worth a read if you bought a lot of records in the late 70′s even if you were miles from Manchester. Of course there is a reference/anecdote about The Clash which you’ll find just below the video on the post. Here is a list of the bands that visited just during the second half of 1978 and into 1979:

Magazine, The Fall, The Passage, Ultravox,Wire, Pere Ubu, Ludus and Penetration, while 1979 saw visits from Gang of Four, Crass, Stiff Little Fingers, The Cure, Cabaret Voltaire, Skids, Throbbing Gristle, The Human League, Mekons, Pink Military, The Raincoats, Simple Minds, The Cramps, Teardrop Explodes, Echo and the Bunnymen, B-52s and Joy Division.

Can you even fucking imagine twelve months like that?

I know a lot of you enjoyed the article about Joe Strummer’s daughter Jazz the other day which looked at her cutting edge involvement with the textile industry. It made me smile more than a little (my grandfather was a tailor so clothing/fashion has always had a soft spot with me). Published this week the London Evening Standard also took a look at what the younger Strummer has been up to which you should take a look at.

Dog is now pacing….

Remind me to get back to this but I’m still on my quest to read eighteen books this year, book 13 is called ‘Bloody Confused’ which is about an American sportswriter throwing himself headlong into discovering the joys of proper (futbol, soccer) football when he moves to England. He becomes a supporter of Portsmouth (poor sod) but the book is so far an excellent investment of time and it just so happens that the author is a bit of a Clash nut. The book automatically seems better, even though it’s good anyway. Two glowing references to our boys and I’m only 80 pages in, what a coincidence and one I knew nothing of at the time of purchase. I’ll need to contact him about that when I complete the book.

Right, that should do for now – I will have more soon, time to put the dog in a better mood. Be Good…Tim

Good morning how goes it? All is well here, got coffee and and the right attitude for the time being. Let’s see how long that lasts. Don’t forget all images on the blog can now be enlarged by clicking on them and as a gallery when applicable. I’m also experimenting with some video walls which seem to be such a memory drain that I’m not sure the site can handle it without a dedicated server. I might go out with cap in hand to add more video. If everyone who visits the blog in a week donated a dollar I’d have enough for a server, hosting, new audio recording software and also a chance to send $2,500 to Strummerville. Hmmm, might set that up for Joe’s Birthday?

Viv in January 2011. Image courtesy MagicCube77 http://www.flickr.com/photos/25880052@N08/

Right then, straight into it. Some time ago we were lucky enough to be graced on the blog by a letter from Viv Albertine (formerly of The Slits) about her experience of getting back on stage with Carbon Silicon, hard to believe that was over eighteen months ago. Here’s the link to that post essentially written by Viv. Viv’s relationship and subsequent friendship with Mick Jones goes all the way back to art college where they met before The Clash came into existence. Then in turn the friendship and support given by each member of The Clash to the emerging Slits was well documented, itself a testament to the close-knit scene that early punk was in London. It’s been exciting to watch Viv reemerge as a solo artist in recent years, a nicer person is difficult to imagine. Here’s a link to Viv’s myspace where you listen to tracks and purchase her most recent album.

Return of the CIA (Clash Influenced Award) merits  an honourable mention in the direction of Boots Riley of The Coup. I like it when hip hop artists are tuned in enough to tip their cap in the direction of The Clash. It reminds me of the eclectic choices that The Clash made when choosing supports acts. This interview with Riley on punknews.org is a good read not least of all because of The Clash mention. Unfortunately as this video shows Bo Diddley wasn’t as enamoured with the chance to open for The Clash as they were with having him guest (and takes a good percentage of the takings by the way). Yes he’s talking more about the PA than the band but it’s a pretty funny interview.

Another CIA while we’re at it. A new book about ‘Rage and Rebellion across the Islamic World’ takes the title ‘Rock the Casbah’. I do hope that Topper Headon gets at least a credit and ideally some royalties; here’s a review of the book in The L.A. Times book section by Wendy Smith. Sounds an interesting read, Rage and Rebellion would make a good album title.

Much more soon including a special event Clash infused event in Cleveland. Yes…Cleveland. Tim

Saturday night, the big one eh? Hopefully yours went well where ever you might be reading this and the weekend still has some mileage left in it. I would be wrong to not mention today being the anniversary of the tragic events that befell not just the US but anyone who wants a more peaceful world back in 2001. Hard to believe that nine years have passed since then, I have some strong sentiments about the event but don’t want to rehash what I’d already briefly written about it on a post at this time year, but please feel free to jump back to that and read it if you would like. What I would like to touch on this evening concerns another of the world’s great cities namely Sydney, Australia and the event ‘Revolution Rock’ that marks the anniversary each year of Joe Stummer’s Birthday. This summer it took place a few weeks ago on Saturday Aug 28 and spread for the first time to a second city – Melbourne – where the show also hit town the next weekend. Sorry for the delay in reporting back on this but Evan to co-organiser of the event had such a high octane week that he has been down with the flu ever since and I wanted to wait for his notes and suggested videos/photos. So before we get started huge thanks to Evan who starts working on the next year’s event with the help of Strummerville almost as soon as this event concludes. It takes a serious dedication of time and energy to coordinate these events and appreciation should go out to him and people like him. Celebrating the life of Strummer does things on many levels, it brings Clash fans together on a regular basis, it furthers the influence of The Clash and raises some funds for Strummerville to continue the great work that they do. Cheers again – the notes below are taken from Evan on his sick bed – get well soon mate.

• This year in Sydney was held in a new, bigger venue at the iconic Annandale hotel.
• Sydney show had bands from around Australia
• Sydney show featured The Domnicks, featuring Nick Sheppard of the Clash
• Show expanded into Melbourne with a 2nd show being held at the Birmingham Hotel (capacity crowds)
• Both shows raised a solid amount of money for Strummerville. (Last year we raised around $1,000. This year exceeded this by a fair bit, not sure yet of final amount)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Garage Joe playing Garageland in Melbourne

Hello again, nice to get back in the rhythm of blogging once more, I actually missed it this weekend. I’ve got to put that CLASH77 license plate on the car soon…it’s sitting on my Clash shelf at present just apparently there to make me smile it would seem. I’ve a few headlines for you which I’ll get to but first I wanted to say thanks for all your growing support for the blog – August has been the busiest month of the year for the blog and its great to see so many return visits so I appreciate that. In the next week or so I’m excited to say we will be welcoming our 200,000th visitor ever to the blog and this week will see our 100,000th visit of the year – so cheers to you all on helping reach both landmarks! September will also see the introduction of our monthly interview series – so keep your eyes open on that.

So the last few days…..Don Letts usually manages to get flagged down around the time of the Notting Hill Carnival and this year was no exception. It was Letts of course who features on the striking cover of Black Market Clash as a then 20 year first generation proud young black man walking the tightrope of tension that was the riots of the summer of ’76. I can’t say enough about Don Letts, he’s just such a likable character and always looks to be moving the tide forward and celebrating the unique period of time where he grew up and helped reggae and punk reach to cross sections within both camps. In addition he always shows pride and optimism which are so often lacking in some quarters. Anyway, getting back on track I’ll point you in the direction of both recent interviews with Letts as he sat down and spoke to the Telegraph and SKY TV in recent days.

Over at the Telegraph check out the feature on Don as he talks about his heritage, racial integration and his part in what was to be the forming of a soundtrack for mid/late 70′s Britain. Letts was always it seemed in the right place at the right time, or was that part of who he was? Hanging out with Malcolm McLaren and the various incarnations of his shop on the Kings Road, becoming the resident DJ at London’s first punk club The Roxy, befriending The Clash and later even Bob Marley. Then to follow that up as a member of Big Audio Dynamite and an accomplished filmmaker. As Letts himself explains he had an early taste for the counter culture from McLaren and it seems his thirst has never left him in the decades since. As for the music – he knows how vital it was to his peers:

As first generation British born blacks, we copped it the worst. But we came up with a good soundtrack. Tell you what!  They’d better come up with a good soundtrack, these eastern Europeans – that’ll help ‘em!”

Letts shares a sentiment that many of you reading this of a certain age probably reflect on all too frequently, with the current social upheaval globally and lack of equality its remarkable that music/culture seems so passive…so pedestrian when surely the need for a real change resonates as loudly as ever. Letts puts it in better terms than I can:

“Right now it feels like punk never happened. All the things that helped create punk rock, racism, recession, strikes – other than power cuts – all the things we had in the late seventies are happening again today. What’s happening about it? I don’t know. All I know is that all the interesting ideas are coming from the amateur and the naive, and it’s increasingly difficult to find anyone who meets those criteria in the west”

He’s right….and I don’t even know why apathy is suddenly the most popular flavour for much of the generation who should really be tearing down the walls instead of watching the bloody television and youtube. Don is doing the rounds partly because he certainly should but also because two of his more recent projects are getting released to UK cable television and a special film fest at the ICA respectively. More of that in a minute but  the Blighty channel  also premiered at the weekend the Don Letts film Carnival (Notting Hill Documentary from 2009) and interviewed him in conjuction with that event. Well worth a read and a good taster for the film also, full information via this link.

As a reminder – the Don Letts documentary about his life will be getting its UK premier at the ICA (talk about a historic venue!)  ‘Superstonic Sound, The Rebel Dread’, shows at the ICA on 6th, 9th and 10th October. Ticket information and to purchase via this link.

Superstonic Sound: The Rebel Dread plus Q&A (Don Letts will appear at the Oct 6 Screening)

Hello again everybody I wanted to make sure this post out in time especially for those who are many hours ahead of me sitting here in the desert of Arizona. It’s already tomorrow breakfast time in Sydney Australia and Sydney is where you want to be this Saturday night if you are a Clash fan. My sincere appreciation to Evan who has kept me informed about the event taking place on Saturday evening at 8 PM at the Annandale Hotel in Sydney. Not sure if tickets are still available but last year’s event did sell out so make sure to get there early or better still book those tickets online.

“Revolution Rock – a Joe Strummer Tribute” is being sponsored by Bombshellzine.com, Drum Media and Renegades Empire. The event in supported and in tandem with Strummerville. Bands paying homage for 2010 are: The Domnicks (WA) featuring Nick Sheppard from The Clash, The Rumjacks, The City Lights, Madonna (VIC) and The Tearaways (VIC)

This marks the fourth annual occurrence of the Joe Strummer tribute night which has grown in popularity year-over-year and has become Australia’s premier opportunity to recognize the work of Joe Strummer. Better still the expansion of the project now includes a second city in Australia with a special night being held in Melbourne which will cover on the blog also. I believe Evan will be forwarding photographs and video from the night in Sydney to expect those early next week, by which time I hope I’ll have finished covering each of the Joe Strummer events that took place last weekend. Naturally enough there will be some interest with Nick Sheppard appearing on Saturday as a result of his time spent with The Clash during their last years.

Evan and Baz were interviewed about the event by Renegades Empire which is an independent Australian punk music magazine. Evan has kindly allowed me to reproduce the interview below but do check out the Renegades Empire website (as a thank you for sharing this).

1. What brought about the decision to put on Revolution Rock originally?

Basil: As a massive fan of both The Clash and Joe Strummer it made perfect sense to do such an event…I guess the catalyst was a few years after his death I was seeing lots of tribute nights and simply couldn’t believe no-one in Sydney had done one for Joe.

Evan: Baz had mentioned the idea of doing something in Sydney. A lot of people world wide were affected by Joe and his music. So when he passed away people felt compelled to do something. At a rather enthusiastic Bronx concert we started getting serious about the idea. The next day we started putting it together and the rest is history.

2. Are you both fans of Strummer? How has his life and legacy impacted your life?

Evan: Joe Strummer was always making new music as he went on. He never lost his passion or faded away and if anything got better with age. Also, there was also a very human side to Joe in which you saw the highs and low and you could see a real person behind the performer. I always liked his honesty and rather a musician who can be honest and somewhat real than one merely writing a polished bio about how honest and real they are.

Basil: Sure are! The way the guy lived his life everybody should aspire too, he would talk to anybody about anything anytime. He stuck up for the little guy, he had a heart of gold and made amazing music to boot! It is truly amazing to see his legacy live on all over the world and it truly is a testament to what he did when he was alive to impact people’s lives.

Evan: Also in terms his influence in doing these events, I think his DIY approach helped push a couple of guys who were a bit new to putting on shows to pull their resources together and give it a go.

Also his world music sensibilities helped make us look at different styles of bands for these shows. It was important to make it inclusive to all people and musics and not just be about mohawks and three chords.

3. How has previous Revolution Rock’s gone, and what have been some of the highlights for you over the years?

Basil: Every year we are amazed and every year is a highlight…in 2009 we took a gamble and put a completely unknown band on to headline the event (King Cannons) and the gig sold out within half an hour of doors opening! Which goes to show, it is not just the substance of the bands but the idea of the night that brings the punters in.

Evan: Whilst the bands and the music are always amazing, it’s a highlight to meet people from different places, ages and walks of life and see how passionate they are for Joe Strummer. Meeting a guy who’s twice your age who can tell you about seeing the Clash and how it affected him, hits home. I think over time these events have become about the people at the shows and the thing that binds them and that has formed a community in itself.

4. What is the selection process for the bands you choose to play Revolution Rock? Who is playing this year and any insights into what Strummer tributes they will be playing?

Basil: We just want bands that “get” Joe Strummer and The Clash. Not bands that want to be there for fame or money (after all it is a charity event), but bands that genuinely love to play music and genuinely want to pay their own tribute to the great Joe Strummer.

Evan: It’s usually the bands who have that genuine love and excitement for Joe always make the best bands. The bands who are watching the first band till last or who will talk about how stoked they are to play the show are the ones who always give the music the proper respect and connect with the crowd.

Basil: This year we have playing The Domnicks from WA which features Nick Sheppard who at one point in his life was actually a member of The Clash! We also have The Rumjacks, The City Lights, Madonna and The Tearaways, couldn’t hope for a better line-up! I hear one band is doing White Riot this year, which is a first for Revolution Rock, believe it or not!

5. Tell us about Strummerville and why should people support the charity? How can people support it if they can’t get to the gig?

Basil: Strummerville is an amazing charity which was set up by Joe’s family and friends following his passing in 2002. It provides facilities and resources to young bands that perhaps otherwise wouldn’t have access to these facilities. It also provides mentoring for the bands, and who knows maybe one day the next big thing could come straight out of Strummerville!

Evan: I think people who are into Joe’s music are also into new music’s and diverse forms of creativity. So getting behind Strummerville is essentially helping support the very music and ideas we all care about. Back in the 70’s Joe Strummer had Tymon Dogg to help him learn his chops and get his start and now in 2010 kids now haves Strummerville to help them out.

Also Strummerville have always backed this event 100% and have given it great support.

Basil + Evan: If people cant get to the show on Saturday at the Annandale or the Birmy on the 4th of September in Melbourne they can donate online or buy some merch at www.strummerville.com You can also do things like organize a benefit and spread the word and let people know of their work.

6. The night has only been held in Sydney the last couple of year, what influenced your choice to take it to Melbourne as well this year?

Basil: Every year we get bigger and bigger and we always wanted to expand to other states as there is a lot of interest from bands and fans in those states. One guy and his wife flew over last year to Sydney from Adelaide just for our Sydney show! So we really want to take this to the other states and spread the love so-to-speak. Next year – Perth!

7. What can we expect for this weekend’s Revolution Rock in Sydney?

Basil: You can expect 5 of the best bands in this country all playing dedications to Joe Strummer and The Clash in their own way and style…it really is something for all ages (over 18 of course!) as we have young punks every year and then old rockers, and people that attend the events love getting together with like-minded fans and dancing their arses off!

Evan: Five great bands, a lot of good vibes and Baz’s long awaited return to the stage (the sleeping giant has awoken)

8. What’s next for you guys?

Basil + Evan: After the post show nap, we’re launching a small music label called Paperbag Music which will be a host to bands, shows and a distro for a variety of great bands and hope to continue helping up and coming bands get out there for all the world to see. Also bunch of new shows on the boil and the sad realization that we’ve gotta wait till 2011 to do another Strummer show.

9. Last words?

We just wanted to give a quick thanks to everyone who has made the pilgrimage from near and far every year to this event. Also to all the bands who give their time and do great performances each year. Finally everyone who’s supported us over the years by posting something online, telling a friend about the show or just letting us know how much they enjoyed the gig.

The show just isn’t about bands or hearing Clash songs but a community of people coming together and sharing their enthusiasm and love for music and for Joe. They’re the heart of this event.

I do have something else about the event planned for you tomorrow evening so check back then, and if you happen to be in or around Sydney really hope you make it along on the night. I’ll be back more with some more new stuff – Tim.

Hello once again and thanks for dropping back in to the Clash Blog. What’s new around here you might ask, it’s been an up-and-down day. Up due to the very late and highly anticipated arrival of my Clash license plate for the car (more on that tomorrow) and rather down due to the official Clash blog cat “George” having to be returned to the emergency vet this evening. She’s in for observation so we will know a bit more tomorrow, I don’t think she’s used more than three or four of her nine lives yet so hopefully the news will be good. I tend to like cats more than most people so it’s fair to say I’m worried sick and more than a little sad.

Tonight though I wanted to continue our look back at the Joe Strummer birthday events from the weekend just past. Last night we had a look at Austin Texas and tonight we go to the West Coast for the annual Joe Strummer night that is held in San Francisco. If I’m not mistaken the Bay Area also celebrates Joe in December though I may be wrong, perhaps a whole year has passed and covering last year’s event, this was the seventh year that San Francisco has hosted a Stummer event. First of all though a quick look at the venue itself: the club is called “Bottom of the Hill” I’m assuming because it’s located near the bottom of the hill (which indeed it is). Located just south of the heart of San Francisco in a neighborhood that could be best described as semi-industrial the club looks like a pretty standard San Francisco home from the outside, check the image to the left to see what I mean. Inside however it’s been refurbished into a pretty cool night club which Rolling Stone magazine has called ‘the best place to see live music in San Francisco’. You MUST watch the InterChords on the right video sidebar…stunning!

Come to think of it I’m pretty sure it was a year ago when Billy Bragg appeared at the Joe Strummer event in tandem with each the Jail Guitar Doors project. This years event went off without a hitch by all accounts and with tickets at just $10 a Joe Strummer/The Clash evening was in the capable hands of half a dozen bands including the Armagideons, The Hooks, Monkey, Sistas in the Pit, Stigma 13 and Interchords. Once again San Francisco did a great job supporting another Strummerville event when the date rolled around. I’d like to ensure a huge thanks is offered to Gil for providing and filming the video clips (and recommending clips) of the evening and also huge thumbs up to The Call Up for the summary reproduced below via his MySpace page.

Great show, thanks to all!
Not fully rested yet, but another great tribute this year. We seem to manage to pull in a bit more each year for Strummerville. This year we are able to send $968.50 (USD) to Strummerville!

There were even a couple more last minute backline donations and raffle items. Marlon from the Interchords contributed to both

Sistas In The Pit - Joe Strummer night SF 21/8/10

causes and gave up an autographed copy of London Calling, signed by Paul Simonon. How amazing is he?! The acoustic set he played with his brother takes the tribute where no band has gone before and they pulled it off amazingly. Hopefully the video comes out okay. To pull off acoustic Mag 7 into Ivan meets Gi Joe? Come on!

The Hooks donated an autographed limited edition copy of their recent release in vinyl, Everything is Golden! Marble disc beauty it is! And the music…well, its The Hooks! Its great. They played a fantastic set as they always do, full of energy and Joe’s spirit.

New bands to the tribute this year all played great. Stigma 13 just nailed it blew some doors away at the front of the club! Thanks to Commander Cookie Wolf for the suggestion of Stigma 13! Sistas in the Pit paid a soul groove funky tribute to Joe and the crowd loved it. Monkey, the first reggae/ska band at a San Francisco tribute (I believe) kept the crowd moving and played great.

That leaves Cliff Truesdell and his Armagideons. For those who don’t know, Cliff is a veteran of Strummer tributes, having played with The Black Furies. When it looked like a tribute wasn’t going to happen in ’06, Cliff, along with Eric McFadden, saved the tribute and introduced me to Strummerville! The Armagideons line-up may change over the years, but the delivery of the music is fantastic every year. I still cannot get Pressure Drop out of my head. They ended the night with a damn furious White Riot and just like that, the show was done. Time to pack the gear, close up shop and head home.

A hearty thanks again to all the bands for playing so well, to the great audience and raffle ticket buyers, Justin the always emcee, Gil on point for pics and vids, Neil on some pics this year, all the donors to the backline on the wall of thanks, to Bottom of the Hill, to Jock at Clashical Threads for all the support with flyer, schwag and moral boost, to Trish and all at Strummerville for their support and trust with Raffle items, to Henry Rollins for the autographs on last year’s flyer, to my family who gives me time and space to pull this off, to anyone else I’ve forgotten and to all fans, family and friends of Joe.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Excellent 4 tracks from The Hooks

Sincere thanks to everybody who attended and played in San Francisco, I watched even more of the video clips and you truly ought to do the same, loads of excellent cover versions – I really wish I was there – hopefully next Summer. You could do many worse things with your time than heading over to Gil’s youtube page where most of the evening was captured. Please read more about the participating bands via the links provided. That’s all for this evening more tomorrow I’m sure.

The (frankly brilliant) Hooks

InterChords

Sistas In The Pit

Monkey

Stigma 13

Fresh from purchasing a fistful of tickets for the Gorillaz appearance here in Phoenix I awoke this morning offering apologies to my bank account but a wry grin at the same time. I know its not The Clash, I know we won’t hear any Clash songs but I still never honestly thought I would see a US tour of any act that featured Simonon and Mick Jones a few feet away from one another on stage. It probably (certainly) helps that Blur were one of my favourite bands of the 90′s and that I follow Damon Albarn with some respect. Yeah he’s often labeled as arrogant but look at his track record its not too shabby and if anything more experimental post-Blur. There’s also an about to turn 12 year old in this household who has never been to a concert yet, this will be her first and I quietly hope that she remembers it forever and it keeps her seeking out music a little more innovative than the chart topping shite her peers are listening to. She has taken to indie-rock with some aplomb but tends to like darker things than I would like, so I’ll let that one be. Anyway, yes its bloody expensive and yes the promoters are taking us to the cleaners but I don’t think I’ll regret taking advantage of seeing two members of The Clash (I still see them that way) when they are playing just 8 miles from my front door. So this seems a good morning to look at more of the venues on the North American tour. Part one is covered here.

11/10 Washington, DC – Patriot Centre: After those other dates up in the northeast the tour goes a little bit south to the nation’s capital. I can’t tell you much about DC except the metropolitan area includes Baltimore and the large population of NE Virginia in the suburbs of Washington, collectively a big area to pull from. I’ll assume Obama will make this event but if not we need to find out why. The 25 year old venue is a monster, located on the campus of George Mason University its a basketball arena that hosts concerts and not vice versa. It was recently fully renovated and seats 10,000 and it might be a tough place to fill.

Interior of the Fox Theatre in Detroit

13/10 Detroit, MI – The Fox Theatre: Ah yes Detroit…this town is full of hard knocks and I take no pleasure in saying its reputation is fairly well deserved. It is a tough town but also per capita supports live music better than cities that are far larger. As a result British bands almost always seem to include Detroit on a tour schedule due to the support from the city. This might be one of the best venues on the entire tour – a classic theatre built in 1928 and unlike so many venues not stuck out in the suburbs but right in the heart of the city. It’s the largest surviving theatre of its era and seats 5,000. I think it will be filled. The Clash have a rich and deep connection with Detroit as does Motown with the UK. If I still lived in Chicago I’d probably drive to Detroit to see them here rather than the selected venue in Chicago.

14/10 Toronto, ON – Air Canada Centre: Here was my clue that the tour had some trouble confirming venues on a logical schedule as the band zig-zag back to the East and up on into Canada before heading back towards the midwest in the States. Not a normal  way to handle the middle part of the US when you include Toronto on your tour. Including Toronto however makes perfect sense, aside from cities on the coasts – alongside Chicago, Toronto is the hippest city on the continent with a huge population who support the arts and live music. I’m sure this will be hotly anticipated in the city and of course both The Clash and Blur have a long associated with the town. The Air Canada Centre isn’t at the airport but in the heart of town and is another giant hockey/basketball arena and one of the largest on the tour. Somewhere this large (19,800) makes me pretty thankful that I’m seeing the band here as how intimate can you get in a place that size even with the best intentions. That said with some playful marketing I hope they can sell most seats.

16/10 Chicago, IL – UIC Pavilion – A day off then to allow the tour to cut back to the midwest and arrive in Chicago to play at a venue I’ve actually been to. Chicago is FULL of amazing venues to see a band and this sadly isn’t one of them. The giant basketball arena/hangar is on the UIC campus, and somehow I was there for a concert to celebrate the World Cup in 1994. A number of acts played and I remember little about the day except for I was there to see James. The venue left the memory of “I hope I never have to see another concert in this place”. Perhaps I’m being unfair but it seemed as concert friendly as a giant DIY superstore with acoustics to match. Different configurations are available at the venue with capacity of up to 10,000. Surely two nights at the Clash friendly Aragon Ballroom would have been a better fit?

17/10 Minneapolis, MN – Target Centre- Another day and another sponsored venue. Minneapolis is a great town though but can it sell out a venue this size? The arena was again built for basketball and holds either 13,000 or 19,000 for concerts depending on the configuration. I’ll go out on a limb and say this might be the hardest venue for Gorillaz to sell out, so if you can’t get a ticket in Chicago you might want to consider a road trip up to Minnesota.

I’ll finish the tour preview in a future post and hopefully in September I can team up with some of you to get reports for as many of these shows as possible – or at least some.

Oh….I’ve also added an ‘EVENTS’ page to the blog available on the top navigation bar or via this link. I’ll use this to add concerts, television events, appearances or art events. Please give me time to play around with the tool but I’ll make it so you can click on the date and link to the event where possible. If there are things we need to add to the events page please get in touch. Just got back from the vets with our sick cat, this is turning into an expensive week indeed. Oh well….

Cheers ~ Tim

Good evening to you all, thanks for making you way back to the blog (or welcome for the first time if that’s the case). Not a lot of excitement midweek but no complaints either. What I do have is a sprinkle of Clash related stuff for your reading/viewing and listening pleasure.

Let’s start with the visual! If you are in or near Toronto (based on the traffic to the site that’s actually a good number of you) there is a great exhibition of photography of bands that visited the city in years gone by. Including shots of the first appearance by The Clash in Toronto (Rex Danforth Theatre Feb 20, 1979) the exhibition is titled ‘Toronto Calling’ and begins today and runs until April 1. Admission is free, included are  The Clash, The Ramones, Johnny Rotten, U2, The Specials, and many more. All images were taken in Toronto which gives is not only a local feel but also will make it a unique collection. If you can make it along I’d love to know what you think of it. Excellent additional information on the Torontoist site and the Steam Whistle site. If you can’t make it to the exhibition it’s still worth visiting the first site I mentioned for a brilliant photo of Strummer on stage.  This all takes place at Steam Whistle Gallery at the Roundhouse (255 Bremner Boulevard in the middle of the city). More on the photographer here.

Audio next right? Yes yes yes…you can hear the entire Gorillaz album online for free via The Guardian. If you’ve been paying attention you know exactly why, if you don’t either ask someone about The Clash connection or read some earlier posts from the last couple of weeks. Having been a Blur fan since the first album and then followed Damon Albarn ever since I’m not the person to ask if the new Gorillaz disc sounds good. Of course it does…

I better offer you something to read too as I’m a bit knackered and won’t be stretching this out to one of those endless posts where you wonder when I’m going to end. This is really worth a read – if you’re in the UK you are already aware that in keeping with the rest of the planet the BBC is struggling (not to make money as it’s not American TV/Radio) to justify it’s current operations. Essentially it looks as if up to 25% of the BBC’s staff, programming, empire need to be removed – on the chopping block is BBC 6 Music. This would be tragic in the extreme, 6 music is perhaps the most diverse, informative, fun, rewarding and consistently innovative places online or offline to find music. I could write an essay about what I think of the station – but it’s better if I refer you to this post. For new artists there is no better venue for them to be found by joe public than BBC 6 music - new artists are always at the heart of music in my opinion. This story on The Daily Growl does a great job in explaining where things stand at present. I’ll get up to speed in the days ahead – I hope the station (and the BBC Asian Network also!) will be spared from closure.

G-night

Good Morning from a wet and gloomy Phoenix, funny after living in London that you can grow to love mornings like this but it’s quite lovely and almost (51f) brisk outside. I’ve got the coffees in and I have some time before Arsenal play Chelsea, I can only hope that unlike last weekend we actually remember how to defend as I can’t stomach another defeat today. I was also putting together the list for 2nd round of The Clash Cup, if I get that finished I hope to have the second round started tonight.

I’d written about this once last year but was reminded how great his work was and he’s since added more items. Japanese artist Nob Suzuki came

Strummer T-shirt by Nob Suzuki

to my attention with the Clash figures he made but has added more since to his collection. He sells items privately via ETSY and unlike so much artwork it is actually pretty affordable. In addition to the figurines there’s wall art, t-shirts and more – if you are ever struggling for a unique gift for a Clash fan in your life I suggest you visit his page (and I hope those that love me are reading…).  If nothing else it makes a nice change from some of the less than stellar sweatshop crap you see elsewhere on line, the very fact that Clash shirts are mass produced by people being paid insulting wages is wrong on multiple levels, not that I’m limiting that statement to Clash shirts of course.

I’m always on the lookout for artists who were inspired by The Clash and Ebony Bones isn’t shy about her influences in this recent article in the Chicago Tribune. Ebony Bones (Thomas) first got noticed via her MySpace page and first toured supporting The Slits. The subsequent two years have seen her getting bigger gigs and appeared at SXSW last year. Her look and sound are both memorable – there is a crossover of that old Burundi Beat sound from Adam and The Ants and a bit of rap with punk, she’s been championed by Damon Albarn, Rat Scabies and many others. The best thing about the music is that you can’t file it one place – and she looks marvelous just a sense of ‘why not’. South London punk for the new decade. Anyway she knows her roots and it’s interesting to hear her background (she was born in’85 I think) and influences in the interview.

“When I was growing up in the ’80s, my dad had a small market selling punk music to West Indians, Punk and reggae were mixing in London, and bands like the Clash galvanized that.

Take a few minutes to listen to some of her stuff – and get past the Bow Wow Wow comparisons, as there is more under the surface in the lyrics. To get an idea about her fashion and visual style that’s caused a stir check this video.

On a related note – here’s a great article about fashion, Central St Martin’s College and being at the heart of it all in Soho in the late 70′s. I remember people just name dropping St Martins when I was a teenager was like ‘oh wow, who do you know?’ seems not much has changed.

In addition to London, Sheffield and Manchester I think Liverpool has been the most important scene for punk and post punk over the last 35

Bernard Sumner at Pickwicks - Image courtesy Francesco Mellina

years. For what is a relatively small city the number of bands that I’ve been fixated with that come from near the Mersey has been remarkable. From The Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes and Wah! the blueprint was there for so many that followed. I just stumbled upon an article about a photographer who has captured so much of what was happening in clubs and gigs during those formative years (including snaps of The Clash) Francesco Mellina. Many of his classic B/W photos have been made into T-Shirts under the ‘Icons’ range including this one of Joe Strummer. However its the photographs I really wanted to draw attention to – just remarkable images from a time that seemed to be lost to history. His exhibition hopefully will get a future run elsewhere – for now please have a look at the pages for that site and also I recommend his facebook page. For an appetiser just look at the photo of Bernard Sumner up above. This site has some fantastic photos and an interview.

Have a good one.

Hoping to expand upon this over the weekend with a lot more info from Mark Matthews the man behind the project. If you’re new to the blog Shatter The Hotel is a project in conjunction with Strummerville to create a CD of Clash songs performed in a dub / reggae style. The disc itself is brilliant and benefits the Strummerville  charity – if you haven’t bought it then you can do so and learn more on the site. The UK launch event took place last night at Inn on The Green in Ladbroke Grove. By all accounts it was a great event with a smashing vibe and hopefully I can furnish more info over the weekend. Pete was their with his camera and has captured some lovely images – starting with Dubmatix beneath:

Dubmatix at The Shatter The Hotel event - courtesy Pete Stevens

I’ve been listening to the disc a lot recently and as opposed to other ‘Clash cover compiliations’ this is a really cohesive piece of work and makes for a worthwhile sit down and listen (or drive…or skank). The disc has liner notes from Chris Salewicz and features among others Don Letts, Dubmatix, Chomsky All Stars and of course Prince Blanco (Mark) himself. You can get a flavour of the album on the MySpace page. Back later tonight…

Strummerville Merchandise - image courtesy Pete Stevens