Hello again and a very good Friday evening to you from the soon to be deserted ClashBlog towers. Haunted forever by memories of The Clash Cup, unfinished ideas and blogging logjams….blogjams? Where did this week go? I need some of it back, not that I want to work more but that I’m not even vaguely ready for the holidays and instead find myself with bloggette looking for a new home in another city. Quite frankly it’s the wrong time of year for that but when opportunity presents itself you have to seize it I read once. Anyway, enough of my bleating.

I’ve got a lot lined up in the days ahead and part 2 & 3 of the Hillsborough post should see the light of day over the next few days, if my appearances are a bit sporadic I’ll be over in California until Wednesday so my access to the blog and blogging might be less ideal than usual. I’ll count on all of you to keep things interesting. I also need to get prepared for all the Joe Strummer memorials/tributes and assorted events in the days ahead, this weekend sees them kicking off with the inconvenience of the anniversary not landing on a weekend we’ll probably see events almost every day starting today. If you want to help spread the word about a local event please do so on the comments section of this post or feel free to use the facebook page which usually has a fair few readers – anything to spread the word of a Strummer night is alright with me. One of the biggest Clash/Strummer events of all actually takes place tomorrow in Parma, Italy – this one has been going for years and gets bigger on an annual basis it seems. It has to be said that it is one of the largest and best organised tributes to Joe and I’m sure attendance this year will once again do the Italian Clash contingent proud. Full information is available via this link and you’ll see that no less than 14 (!) bands are performing with the action kicking off at 1pm local time. I wish I’d have covered this earlier but some tour in the UK dominated proceedings. It’s more than live music though with (if my poor italian translation serves me) artwork, vinyl collection, djs and an auction all being part of the festivities. If you happen to be attending and would like to send in any photos to the blog please feel free to do so.

For tonight I wanted to leave the rest of the post in the excellent hand of Pete Stevens. Pete as you may know has been a giant friend of the blog since the very early days, his friendship and support has been immense as not only is he a brilliant photographer but he also will literally scale walls and scramble down gutters to get some of the concert and event photography I’ve been lucky enough to share on the blog. I’ve seen thousands of concert photographs over the years but I don’t think it’s any exaggeration to say that Pete is as near to a modern day Bob Gruen or Pennie Smith as you’re going to see. Live concert photography isn’t easy nor does everything go to plan but the composition and sheer brilliance in so many of Pete’s stills would make you think he had days to plan his photos rather than fractions of seconds.

Luckily for us Pete was able to get full access to the Justice tonight event at The Scala in London last week. By now you probably know what happened that night and who the key players were on stage. While it’s great to read the accounts and see the choppy live footage on youtube unless you were there nothing does an event justice (tonight) like great photography. With that said I picked some of my favourite photos that Pete took from that night and they feature in the gallery below. Just click on any photo and they will enlarge and you can scroll through them. If like me you have a bit of time to linger please study the photos, if you had any doubt how much Mick enjoyed this along with the others the photos will enlighten you. One of my favourites is the expression of Peter Hooton when hugging Mick, magic stuff.

Thanks as ever to Pete – you’re a great friend and it’s my pleasure to share your work with everyone.

All the best, I’ll be in touch from San Diego or somewhere out that way. Tim

Good day Clash people. The days after that tour….have me thinking rather a lot. What a tour it was, for all the right reasons. Often when I’m far afield it’s been hard to imagine the events from the wrong end of a telescope but somehow Justice Tonight was easy to picture, easy to relate to and so bloody hard to be missing out on. Someone wrote somewhere over the course of these gigs that it was ‘all a bit rough and ready at times, exactly in keeping with the origins of the music’ and I couldn’t agree more. This wasn’t sponsored by Carlsberg or simulcast on MTV. This was a series of benefit gigs like no other in recent years in the midst of a tour that kept raising the bar for a cause that truly does matter. Could anything be more in keeping with The Clash and their fans?

“The way you get a better world is, you don’t put up with substandard anything”       Joe Strummer – 1999

This might be one of those posts I tend to write that will ramble a bit, in fact I’m fairly certain it will be. I’ll get there in the end I hope so I’ll beg your patience. I doubt I’ll manage it all in one sitting. I want to write about the story of The Clash, I want to write about The Clash and their audience, I want to write about making a difference and caring and I want to write about the cause that led to this tour in the first place. I also want to try and write about the Hillsborough disaster. I’m not an expert but I know how I felt about it then and still feel today.

Pete Wylie (image kind courtesy of Pete Stevens)

You don’t need to be English to understand the impact of Hillsborough to any greater degree, no more than being English will help you understand the importance of punk rock. If you feel and care, if you’re awake and alert, it transcends the fact it might not be local to you. What helps is a belief that wrongs should be righted, that change is the responsibility of us and not ‘them’ and that music isn’t the solution on it’s own although it can bring together passionate people who want to affect change. That’s what punk rock was really about, empowering the kid with no money and no contacts and get out there and do it for himself. It is often applied to music but can apply to anything, just allow it and it can be so.

“The most important thing for anyone, I think, is to be engaged, whether you’re an artist or a journalist is to be engaged in the process at some level”    Billy Bragg

When I first saw Billy Bragg it was during the coal miners strike in the UK. They were dark, tense and really militant times. At the same time activism wasn’t seen as pointless pursuit. The 1980′s are portrayed by the media as a time for silly haircuts and synth-pop but they were also the last time (until recently) that I saw activism being seen as worthy and full of potential to bring about change. We had the East/West divide, the cold war, a wall in Berlin and Apartheid to combat. In tandem with some right wing governments and fascist seeds being spread around they were good times to kick against the system. I know I did, it came naturally. As for Billy Bragg, for me he embodied the spirit of The Clash and I thought we can change the path of the country, people will listen, the wrongs will be righted. A few years later Bragg and Paul Weller toured as ‘Red Wedge’ which essentially was to get young kids involved in politics and vote labour. Was it a success? Yes, if like me, you became more engaged. No, if you judge it on the fact that Thatcher was again the winner in the following general election. At least people were paying attention.

Joe Strummer became the de facto mouthpiece of The Clash and with that the voice of that generation, a tough mantle to take on and one that I think caused him untold pressure and strain during the years the band were active. ‘Spokesman’ is not a role that anyone other than a dictator would comfortably adjust to, Joe was never a dictator. Joe often said things like we know the world has a lot of problems and four punks from London don’t have all the answers but essentially we’re here to encourage you to ask questions and get involved. Years later when I saw Billy Bragg again for the eleventh or twelfth time his message had moderated a bit but in actuality it was more valid than ever before, he didn’t ask you to wait for him to take the lead position. He said ‘I’m not able to change the world, music can’t change the world, but you can. The community we can build around music can take an idea such as not letting apathy win and bring it to work tomorrow and to the polls when we vote. I can’t change things but you surely can”.

To my ears he was channeling Joe Strummer – the same message really and the right message certainly. Not coincidentally Billy Bragg played with Mick Jones, Pete Wylie and The Farm in Liverpool on the Justice Tonight tour. The message remains, a good cause is one you will fight for and a good cause can result in justice if you push it. Part 2 of this will follow soon, sorry for the gap.

Ninety-six people died in a football ground that afternoon, the only thing they were guilty of was going to see a game. Here are the first thirty-two names that we should never forget and their age that spring afternoon in 1989. These were my peers and were for many of you as well. You can learn much more and help the Hillsborough Justice Campaign by visiting this link.

John Alfred Anderson (62)  Colin Mark Ashcroft (19)  James Gary Aspinall (18) 

Kester Roger Marcus Ball (16) Gerard Bernard Patrick Baron (67)  Simon Bell (17) 

Barry Sidney Bennett (26)  David John Benson (22) David William Birtle (22)

  Tony Bland (22) Paul David Brady (21)  Andrew Mark Brookes (26)

Carl Brown (18)  David Steven Brown (25) Henry Thomas Burke (47) 

Peter Andrew Burkett (24)  Paul William Carlile (19)  Raymond Thomas Chapman (50) 

Gary Christopher Church (19) Joseph Clark (29) Paul Clark (18)

  Gary Collins (22)  Stephen Paul Copoc (20)  Tracey Elizabeth Cox (23) 

James Philip Delaney (19) Christopher Barry Devonside (18) Christopher Edwards (29) 

Vincent Michael Fitzsimmons (34)  Thomas Steven Fox (21)  Jon-Paul Gilhooley (10)

  Barry Glover (27) Ian Thomas Glover (20)

Good evening from a soggy and pleasantly cold Arizona. Almost makes me think of winter today and definitely has me reflecting on the fact that 31 years ago today (or more likely tomorrow by the time I get this written and posted) I acquired my copy of the only triple album I’ve ever owned - Sandinista! Last year we were all drawn in to the rumour and then soft confirmation that a 30th anniversary special Legacy edition of the 4th Clash album was going to surface with added ‘rare’ material. Speculation was rife that we’d get unreleased tracks or better still an excellent live document of the band circa 1980/1.  However more than a year later that ship has obviously now sailed with Sony confirming it wasn’t to be. Perhaps the 35th anniversary will see the vaults finally opened up.

I mentioned it on Facebook today (the anniversary) and it led to some good discussion as to the merits of the album which are worth a look. As I wrote there I remember clearly buying it on release and being a bit confused, a bit shocked and rather annoyed that this wasn’t The Clash as I knew them or at least expected. I was only 13 at the time and if you asked me then or even a few years later I would have placed Sandinista! as my least favourite Clash album (excluding Cut The Crap – different parameters altogether). As the years rolled by and my maturity arrived the album was revisited time and time again, instead of my initial feeling of five or six good songs, there were suddenly a dozen. A few years later more than half the album was obviously brilliant and by the time the 90′s rolled around I realised that most of the album was excellent – one of the most ambitious, challenging and bold records ever made. You can argue that it’s not the best Clash album but it may well be the most interesting and certainly contains some of Joe’s best lyrics. Beyond all that remember how quickly it was made and so soon after the brilliance of London Calling, also think of how many new barriers were broken down in particular by Mick and Topper. The band released 55 songs plus Bankrobber within 12 months, unheard of output. Brilliant stuff indeed, at a later time we’ll try and determine the best Clash albums whilst remembering there are no wrong answers. Happy anniversary then to Sandinista! and its far reaching, sometimes ugly beauty – an album that will last a lifetime.

Image courtesy WrongEmBoyo

Sorry for the brief detour there, I owe it to myself and to you to share a few more guest contributions about the Justice Tonight tour, specifically the final night in Glasgow which ended everything on quite a high. Glasgow as you all know holds it place high in the list of cities with Clash lore and with that, great affection for the band. There are a number of rumours/quotes doing the rounds about whether this concept might be revisited in 2012 and whilst I naturally have no inside track on that knowledge I’ll say only that many rumours concerning Mick Jones in the last few years have come to fruition. We’ve just been through the most active 3 years Mick has seen since I don’t when, the early 90′s I’d guess. I hope that doesn’t signal the end of that spell but only Mick knows what he’s doing next – what is apparent is that he is thoroughly enjoying playing live. Glasgow then; please join me in thanking Geoff (via Martin who provided us with his summaries of London and Liverpool) for the overview beneath:

Based on the Liverpool start time we arrived at 8.20 only to find The Farm ending their set with All Together Now. Pete Wylie then launched straight away into his set of: Come Back, Better Scream, The Day That Margaret Thatcher Dies, Story of the Blues (with a neat little segued start of Drift Away as a tribute to Dobie Gray who passed away this week) Heart as big as Liverpool and ended with Sinful. I Have to say I was really impressed with his set, fantastic sound and vocals (despite the ‘hometown hangover’ from the previous evening) ably backed up by Joe, Paul and co Mick then took centre stage sharing vocal duties with Pete and James Allan from Glasvegas.

As a side note James Allan was a footballer playing in the Scottish lower leagues including Queens Park (not QPR). (ClashBlog ed: that’s news to me, but then again so is the overall interest in Glasvegas, looking a bit like Joe doesn’t make you Joe).

Immediate set after Pete Wylie was: Train in Vain/Stand by me, Stay Free, Clampdown, White Man (in Hammersmith Palais) – which is James Allan’s favourite Clash track. Then we went into a short break forJustice Tonight speeches and a single Glasvegas song – Daddy’s Gone. This was followed by the return of Mick and Co for Bankrobber, Armagideon Time, Should I Stay or Should I Go and London Calling before launching into All Together Now, at the conclusion Mick shouts ‘see you next time’.

Hmmmm wonder if he meant as B.A.D. who were brilliant earlier this year at the same venue or another cause that is deserving of the Clash set. Either and I’d be happy, just keep getting on stage, Mick. They left the stage to ‘make way for the disco’ only for them to return with Janie Jones. Disappointingly a fair number had left immediately after or during ATN. Another reason you should never leave before the final whistle. (Eds note: Anfield ’89) They’ll never be the same without Joe though I’m sure he’d have approved of the cause. Despite having mixed emotions as I did when the Skids reunited without Stuart Adamson I’d rather see Mick and Paul belting out Clash songs than some tribute band. More please……

Image courtesy mckingv on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/44867841@N02/

Thanks so much for that, a great review I thought cheers Geoff. I also have another short summary from Murray which I liked, he may be a bit more forthright than some but just remember opinions about music are simply that and everyone is entitled to one. After all you’ve been digesting mine for the better part of three years now. Does he like Glasvegas? Read along and find out:

The Farm – I never bought into that baggie nonsense the first time round and other than Altogether Now this just washed over me. Pete Wylie was brilliant, a greatest hits set worthy of the price of admission. The Clash set was great, better than I’d imagined. They took a break and the guitarist and singer from Glasvegas got on to do “Daddy’s Gone” – their one great song it seems ! He didnt get the best reception, while he was havin trouble plugging in the guy next to me was repeatedly yelling “you are a wank” at the top of his voice to much laughter around. He’d maybe win a Joe Strummer lookalike competition, but he was struggling with Bankrobber, fluffing the lines he had to read off the page, but then Strummer was always prone to fluffing lines so maybe it was some kind of homage ! or maybe the event was just too much for him. The night ended with John Robb taking a mic to the crowd for Janie Jones. Good fun and by what Mick was saying onstage I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened again sometime ….

 Thanks for that Murray, I can just hear a Glaswegian punter shouting that at James Allan in my head. Made me laugh I’ll confess, but as a guest I think he merited more class or am I getting soft? Right then I’ve got to go and drive with the lunatics in the rain this morning but please join me in thanking our guest reviewers for taking the time to write. Speaking of John Robb – his tour blog on Louder than War has been exceptional from the first night in Cardiff and provides so much insight you’d be a fool to miss it so please check that out. I’ll be back during the week, things are going to be hectic around here for the next six weeks as it looks like ClashBlog towers will shortly be relocating to new accommodations in California (more on that soon) but I want to keep up the momentum on the blog – we’ve had an exceptional number of visits over the last month for which I thank you and if you ever want to help our your humble blogger there’s a small banner ad over on the right. Thanks so much to those who already have. Also remember you can keep up to date by  Facebook, Twitter or get the RSS feed which will see the blog sent to you directly. Cheers – Tim

Well it’s been quite a day (Friday evening as I write this) and I’m sure those who saw the concert at The Scala in London last night are still pinching themselves over what they saw and heard. Indeed more than a dozen Clash songs were played and sung live by a variety of vocalists with Paul Simonon joining the Mick Jones/Pete Wylie led crew for the last few numbers. Unreal of course, overdue perhaps but momentous most certainly. I’ve started writing a bit more about the tour in general and Hillsborough specifically and found my thoughts running into overdrive so I’ll break that up over three posts most likely starting tomorrow. We’ve got hundreds of amazing photographs from Pete in London to work through in addition to a stack of videos to share but I’ll ask for your patience as we get those compiled because as they say the show must go on and tonight it made it’s way all the way up to Liverpool for another night that exceeded expectations. Martin, our intrepid reporter from last night in London managed to make the journey up to Liverpool today and see the gig. He’s also up there to see his beloved QPR take on Liverpool (come on you hoops) tomorrow afternoon. Like a dedicated war correspondent he managed to file a report from the front line in Liverpool which featured another round of guests including one of my favourite people ever Billy Bragg. Let’s hand it over to Martin then….but first a quick photo:

Like old times.... (image the kind courtesy of Peter Stevens)

Justice Tonight – Liverpool University – 9 Dec 2011

The home town Friday night gig for the bulk of the artistes on the Justice Tonight tour and the special guests were out in force again. This time it was Cast who opened the evening’s proceedings at 8.25 with a 4 song set that included ‘Timebomb’ and their new single ‘See that girl’.

At 9.10 Liverpool comedian John Bishop took the stage and he treated everyone to the first of two Monkees songs that we were to hear tonight – this time it was “Daydream Believer”. John would be the first to admit that he is no singer but he IS very funny and he then introduced the next group of hometown boys – The Farm. I thought they were stronger and more confident tonight with the same set as they performed in London – Groovy Train, Steppin’ Stone, Love See no Colour and All Together Now, for which they were joined onstage by Mick Jones and Pete Wylie. The band then went straight into the set of Wylie’s songs starting with Come Back, You better scream, The Day that Margaret Thatcher Dies (complete with a crowd chant at the end of ‘Maggie, Maggie, Maggie! Die! Die! Die!), The Story of the Blues, Heart as Big as Liverpool, Johnny Thunders’ You can’t put your arms around a memory and then closing with Sinful.

 And then at 10.20pm it was into the Clash songs, commencing again with Train in vain. The beam on Mick Jones’ face as he performs these songs is incredible – he’s clearly loving every single second! Stay Free was next, sung by Pete Wylie and then John Power joined for what was my highlight of the night – a tremendous version of Bankrobber.

 We were then treated to Clampdown with Wylie singing, White Man (in Hammersmith Palais) with Peter Hooton doing the honours on vocals.The band then took a short break to catch their breath with Mick saying “We’re 2 goals up at half time” as he left the stage.

Mick Jones and Billy Bragg, two of the most important people in my life. (image kind courtesy Martin P)

 The next special guest was the ‘One Man Clash’ himself – Hammers fan Billy Bragg to sing (very appropriately) Scousers never buy The Sun, dedicated to the late great John Peel. The band then returned to the stage with Pete Wylie grinning from ear to ear saying “I just met Jimmy Case!”. Billy Bragg sang Jail Guitar Doors and then we were treated to a great version of Armagideon Time. A young guy whose name I think was Jay from a new local band called the Ladykillers then came on stage to play guitar on Should I say or should I go. The set finished with London Calling and the evening closed out with a finale of All Together Now and thanks were made to the 3 backing singers, who included Pete Wylie’s daughter Mersey..

 All in all yet another tremendous night on what’s becoming the tour of the year, but it will be very tough to top the London gig!

Brilliant stuff Martin. Thank you so much for taking the time to share that with us, can I talk you into flying up to Glasgow after the final whistle at Anfield? Please join me in thanking him for more great coverage of the tour. The first photo tonight I just had to borrow from Pete was of course from 24 hours prior but needs to be shown! The second was taken by Martin in Liverpool. Too much to cover, please be patient with me.

I really need to say that without you – without Martin and Pete these last few nights and Charlotte in Cardiff, Barry in Manchester – the blog would just be my views from far across the ocean. It’s your efforts and participation that make us feel like we’re at the concerts and sharing in what’s been an amazing week. So please let me thank you again. It’s the best community around a band ever, I think we know that. Clash City Rockers keep on keeping on.

All the best, Tim.

Good evening and welcome back to The Clash Blog. It’s a pretty historic night (now 3am) in London as I write and one that I never really thought we’d see again. When I started writing this blog about two and a half years ago I assumed (logically at the time) that the bulk of what I’d be writing and compiling would be looking back to years long gone. Not that there was anything wrong with that idea in the first place, The Clash were important enough that I hoped there would be an audience of people who’d get together to celebrate the music and the purpose of the band. Having a purpose was always part of The Clash and as fans I think many of us found appeal in that and in turn it gave us a bit more purpose to be engaged in the world around us. You could have got very long odds a few years ago on Mick Jones taking a tour on the road playing a huge number of Clash songs to passionate audiences throughout the UK. It hadn’t happened up til then and didn’t seem likely until about eighteen months ago, around the same time a B.A.D. reunion was first rumoured, if Mick would do that then perhaps the right reason would see him playing Clash songs live again. Perhaps it was Mick realising he holds the keys to The Clash now, perhaps it was allowing enough time to pass since we lost Joe, perhaps it was the simple undeniable fact that the Hillsborough Justice Campaign is the right cause for Mick to align himself with. I think it’s probably a bit of all three but all three were needed to make it happen. I’ll write much more about Hillsborough in the next few days as I think that’s appropriate.

Tonight though the tour with so much more headed down to London, a sold out and very expectant audience at The Scala had already seen the tour bring out some remarkable guests. This was London though, might the stakes get even higher? Not a Clash reunion – don’t even use that phrase – but a return of others to the stage alongside with Mick Jones. Eight hours ago I had high hopes and had read and heard lots of rumours, here’s what happened courtesy of a special friend of the blog – Martin who promised and delivered a review of what happened tonight. Let’s hand it over to him….

The Savage Nomads, including Chris Salewicz’s son Cole, opened the night. Very quickly the venue filled up until it was rammed solid. Tickets had sold out in under 3 hours for this London gig - ironically there are still tickets on sale now for tomorrow nights Liverpool show! I did not catch the name of the next band up and after them was the Rotten Hill Gang with Hollie Cook and Lauren Jones on vocals – the daughters of Paul Cook and Mick Jones.Next up were The Farm and for the next 2 hours the Scala rocked, with more or less the whole of the Farm plus Pete Wylie onstage for the duration.Groovy Train | Steppin’ Stone | Love See no Colour and then All Together Now – which saw Mick Jones arrive onstage, not to leave until the end of the night.

Next up was Pete Wylie’s set:

Come Back |You better scream – dedicated to Kelvin MacKenzie, the editor of the Sun in 1989 at the time of Hillsborough | The Day that Margaret Thatcher Dies (ed’s note – soon as possible please) | The Story of the Blues | Heart as Big as Liverpool – dedicated to the 96, a song that Wylie said Sony had warned him not to release as a single as “it will only sell in Liverpool…..well it didn’t even sell in Liverpool!” | You can’t put your arms around a memory (Johnny Thunders song) | Sinful

And then, at 9.30pm, we moved onto the part of the set that everyone had been waiting for – The Clash songs!

Train in Vain
Stay Free
Bankrobber – with Hollie Cook on vocals who needed help from Peter Hooton and Pete Wylie with the words
Clampdown - with Richard Archer from Hard Fi on vocals – a Brentford fan. He did a good job
White Man (in Hammersmith Palais) – with Peter Hooton on vocals
Should I stay or should I go – should have been Rex from the Rotten Hill Gang on vocals but he forgot the words and again Wylie and Hooton had to come to the rescue!

There was then a short break and Bobby Gillespie plus 2 other members of Primal Scream join the band on stage PLUS PAUL SIMONON!

Rocks Off
Jail Guitar Doors
Brand New Cadillac
Guns of Brixton – sung by Paul
Armagideon Time – calls for Don Letts to join them onstage but he had vanished after being seen earlier
London Calling
Janie Jones – with John Robb, who spent most of the song crowd surfing!
All together now – a final rousing rendition of The Farm song and then it was good night…..or was it?
Rush – one last song, the Big Audio Dynamite song closed a fabulous, never to be forgotten night!

Roll on Liverpool!

Thanks so much Martin, I can’t even imagine how brilliant it would have been there and to see Mick and Paul sharing a stage.

Simply an amazing setlist , so many Clash songs and so many other great tunes. Photos from above are courtesy of our good friend Peter Stevens, I’ll be working on a gallery tomorrow for you. Added to that Paul Simonon and you’ve got a night that can’t be topped. Please join me in thanking Martin for taking the time to chronicle the details. Nice one.

I’m still reeling about this to be honest whilst simultaneously sickened that I wasn’t there. I know we’re going to have some excellent photos and perhaps passable video over the next 12-24 hours so please drop back in. If you’re going to the Liverpool gig you’re in for a treat on what I’m sure will be an emotional night. All the best – Justice For The 96 – Tim

Good evening, welcome back to the blog and I hope all is well in your corner of the world wherever that may be. I’ll start this post late tonight (Tuesday) and probably get it completed tomorrow by which point everyone in the UK will be halfway through the Justice Tonight tour with three nights still to come. Apparently it’s going to snow in England today so I hope that doesn’t impact anyone’s travel plans for the remaining three nights yet to come in London, Glasgow and Liverpool. More special guests are promised and I can now officially say I wish like mad that I was going to the Liverpool concert.

However I’ve been a bit busy so I need to backtrack a few nights and focus on events that took place on the second night in Manchester at The Ritz. From the early planning stages of the Justice Tonight tour it was clear that we were going to be in for something not only very special but also very different. Guest stars on tours seems like a very 1960′s thing which sadly (with the exception of many concerts in the obvious cities like London and New York) has for the most part stopped happening. Perhaps it’s due to a lack of camaraderie amongst musicians, or the lack of a ‘scene’ or it could just be because of money and politics. Whatever the reason it’s a pity it doesn’t happen more as it’s often a brilliant thing. This tour already had three elements that meant it would work, Mick Jones performing Clash songs, Pete Wylie and The Farm providing excellent ambassadorship for Merseyside and a cause that means something to the audience at the gigs and the musicians themselves. It’s those elements that have seen the list of special guest appearances swell and it looks to continue. So to Manchester….

ClashBlogger bias alert: When I look through my collection of music I’d argue that London and Manchester have been the two greatest cities for music over the 30+ years that I’ve been paying attention and buying music. A huge percentage of my favourite artists originate from one or the other or at worst the surrounding towns, it’s been that way for decades now and shows no sign of stopping. I’d give honourable mentions to Liverpool, Glasgow and Sheffield too but London and Manchester are top of that pile. London’s greatest band over that time of course has been The Clash whereas from Manchester you could make a good case for Joy Division/New Order, The Smiths, The Stone Roses or perhaps Oasis depending on your vintage. (I’d vote for James also but that’s for another post). When the lights went up at The Ritz rumours were already flying around that the gig would feature very special guest stars that were previously unannounced and so it was. I’d wager that few seriously expected to see Mick and Pete joined front and centre by another notable duo of guitarist and vocalist who wrote one of the best albums ever. As the lights rose there were Ian Brown and John Squire of The Stone Roses ready to launch into Bankrobber (after a snippet of their own work with Elizabeth My Dear).

Now’s not the time to launch into a history of The Stone Roses but I think many will agree that their debut album was one of the best things to happen since The Clash split up. Seeing those two share a stage with Mick Jones was like one of those gathering of heads of state photos except these are decent people. Ian Brown of course still can’t sing in tune but seeing him do this apeman shuffle along with John Squire adding to the guitar noise is one of those moments that will last forever in the memories of those lucky enough to attend. It also speaks volumes as to the importance of this tour, the cause itself and the relationships and respect commanded by Mick Jones and Pete Wylie. I’ve not found much in the way of interviews but I’ve a feeling many of these special guests have volunteered rather than being asked. Which tells you so much about The Hillsborough Justice Campaign.

Image courtesy John Johnson Photography - Three legends at The Ritz

Here’s a link to some great photographs of the pair of Stone Roses on stage taken by John Johnson, one of which I’ve borrowed above. I’m also overdue in pointing you in the direction of John Robb (I’m sure many of you have already been following it) and his excellent site and friend of the blog Louder Than War. John’s got my dream job, formerly a member of Membranes (you’ll need to be my vintage) and Goldblade John has gone on to become a successful writer and has authored a number of books before launching the frankly excellent Louder Than War site which focuses on music and the arts. If you don’t visit it often you should, it will remind you of the good old days of the UK music press when there was something to be said. John has been the MC of sorts on the Justice Tonight tour and has been maintaining a superb tour diary which you have to read. I wish he’d have told me I’d have been happy to tag along and proof read each article and help with the odd interview. Here’s where you can get current and I’m hoping to catch up with John for an interview after the tour is done.

I can’t not mention London and Manchester in a football context this morning either and I don’t need to explain our London superiority over our northern friends at City and United I’m sure. However this is really the time for football unity not division. (but losing at Basel…?)

Right then, I’ve got to run but will do my best to be back later today with the early news from the London concert which takes place in a few hours. Why the fuck am I sitting in Phoenix? Tim.

Good evening, how was your weekend? Bloody hectic one here but that’s alright it’s going to happen from time to time. On the plus side it’s been really cold and rainy most of the weekend which sounds a bit glum but when you live in a desert it makes a lovely change. The clouds were so low that the mountains to the NE vanished for two days and finally left today to reveal snow, if I liked snow I’d be more encouraged. With that said the best laid plans of getting the blog updated a few extra times this weekend fell to the wayside but I’ll surely get back on track tomorrow. There’s a lot to cover from the Justice Tonight tour but that needs to wait as The Clash time machine has thrown up something really brilliant this weekend.

On Friday I was made aware by a few people of some live footage of The Clash that was filmed in high quality but as it was super 8/cine film there was no sound. A number of people around the net and on If Music Could Talk started trying to work out which concert film was from. Luckily the uploader on Vimeo also added another file called ‘Manhattan 1979′ (linked) which I watched with some faint hope it would lend some clues. Initially it showed the World Trade Centre and various street scenes around New York and then some bounty – an early evening shot of the marquee at the New York Palladium advertising The Clash, Sam & Dave and The Undertones – Sep 20 & 21 and towards the end of the footage live action of Sam and Dave. Clash historians will know the second of those dates led to the famous incident between Paul Simonon and his bass that was captured by Pennie Smith and became the cover of London Calling. What wasn’t certain was whether the film on the other upload featured live footage from September 20th or 21st.

It was at this point where the community that surrounds The Clash went into overdrive and also impresses the hell out of me. Everyone wanted to know which songs were being performed and match the audio to the performance. After going through existing recordings and matching up what was happening on stage in terms of lead vocals, backing vocals and other indicators there were enough clues to match it up perfectly. I’d like to thank Dom who I’ve been in contact with, for painstakingly adding the audio to the super 8 film with all the cuts and edits included – I thank you.

What’s remarkable about Super 8 film is that although the technology is older than many of us, the quality of the film far surpasses much of what you see compiled these days via mobile phones or even the less expensive digital cameras with video capability. I’ve watched the tape below a number of times and although it’s often blurry and edited badly you certainly feel the energy of The Clash on stage and the chemistry of the band which was perhaps at it’s very peak in the late months of 1979. Thrilling to see and priceless in it’s rarity what we have is a new document that in addition to being 32 years old also captures the band on a night where Paul Simonon was going to create an unrehearsed image that has become as famous as the the album cover it graced, perhaps even more so. While there are no complete songs on the tape we have pieces of I’m So Bored With the U.S.A., I Fought the Law, Jail Guitar Doors, and English Civil War. Enjoy it – it’s brilliant. I’ll be back soon with lots more. Tim

(Full credit from the YouTube upload) – The Clash – 1979-09-21, at the New York City Palladium performing the songs I’m So Bored With the U.S.A., I Fought the Law, Jail Guitar Doors, and English Civil War. It is only short clips of the songs but great nonetheless. This concert was the same night Paul Simonon smashed his favorite bass guitar thus creating one of the greatest moments in rock and roll history ever captured, seen on the album cover of London Calling, and taken by photographer Pennie Smith. More info about this special gig, including the full setlist, can be found here: http://homepage.mac.com/blackmarketclash/Bands/Clash/reco…
The original source of this video was a silent Super 8 film camera. I layered the audio over it and synced it together.

Welcome back to the Clash Blog with another update on the Justice Tonight tour. Because I have to sleep, eat and work I’ll probably be about 24-36 hours behind events in the UK during the duration of the tour. Life goes on I suppose, although I wish I had a railpass and was going from venue to venue taking notes of these concerts first hand. Speaking of life going on I’m actually sitting at a Girl Scout’s meeting for the Clash bloggette’s daughter tonight as she can’t be in two places at once. Talk about the opposite of punk rock, this is surely it. Of course I’m not making it up how could I….

Cardiff then – I wanted to say a huge thank you to Charlotte from Birmingham who I caught via Twitter on her way out of the gig last night and hoped she might be able to put together an account of the night from her perspective. I woke up this morning and she’d kindly obliged by sending a summary through to me to be posted on the blog. Last night was fun even to track from miles away, as soon as it got to around 11pm UK time I was checking Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to try and find some early feedback. Lots of comments on Twitter like “Can’t believe I’m seeing Mick Jones playing Clash songs” and “Mick Jones with James Dean Bradfield, surreal” plus a fair few about the very strong communal aspects of the gig, rallying cries from Pete Wylie about the state of the nation and the Hillsborough cause. As I wrote earlier in the week I hoped that the cause would be a key aspect of the tour and so it’s proving. One great quote relayed from Charlotte last night as stated by Pete Wylie:

“If you rob a bank, you go to prison; if a bank robs you they get a bonus.”

As you know these are very politically charged times and it seems ironic (probably using that word incorrectly as usual) that the gigs are taking place the same week as the largest national action in the UK since The Clash were at their peak in the winter of 1979. Add to that the ongoing occupy movement and things have a definite early eighties feel at the moment. Enough of my viewpoints, let’s instead hand things over to Charlotte with her rather brilliant account of proceedings:

It’s been a while since I’ve felt so excited by the anticipation of attending a gig, but I just knew that Justice Tonight would be everything I expected and more.

The Farm kicked off the gig, with Peter Hooton explaining why the Justice cause means so much to him, before launching into five of their biggest tracks, including Groovy Train and All Together Now in which Pete Wylie joined them onstage for.

Wylie gave an extremely passionate performance, particularly during Heart As Big As Liverpool. It was clear to see just how much the cause means to him. Joining him onstage, special guest James Dean Bradfield certainly added even more energy to Wylie’s Come Back, successfully throwing his trademark hop-on-one-foot-spin into the equation.

Despite the political issues and seriousness of the gig, the atmosphere couldn’t have been any more relaxed. Don’t get me wrong, there was plenty of correctly projected anger at the government, the Murdochs, and of course The Sun, but everyone also seemed to be having a good time and enjoying the music. The most outspoken person on the night was Pete Wylie, whose constant jibes at Margaret Thatcher sparked much applause throughout the gig, and his new song The Day Margaret Thatcher Dies was received incredibly well.

After casually chatting to fans at the side of the stage, the rather dapper Mick Jones kicked off the Clash songs with Train In Vain, followed by Pete Wylie’s choice of Stay Free, then James Dean Bradfield’s rather spectacular rendition of Clampdown.

At one point, the modestly sized stage held nine musicians, all of which genuinely looked as though they were thoroughly enjoying the gig, especially Mick who spent the whole gig with a slightly cheesy, yet sincere grin spread across his face.

There was no questioning of the cause for the gig, and deafening chants of “Justice for the 96” could be heard throughout the interlude before the first encore. I don’t think I have ever seen so many people look so passionate at a gig.

Of course Joe Strummer wasn’t forgotten, Mick Jones, Pete Wylie and Peter Hooton all giving reference, with the general consensus being that he would have loved the cause, and would have been proud that people are fighting for what they believe in.

Being 22 I know this will be the closest I will ever get to seeing The Clash, and for me, it was definitely awe-inspiring not just to attend a completely non-corporate event, but also to watch a gig where every person on stage genuinely appeared to be thoroughly enjoying themselves.  I’ve never left a venue feeling so elated.

Wow….what a great night and a marvelous summary of it. Please join me in thanking Charlotte for her guest post, I really appreciate it when someone takes the time to give a first-hand account and Charlotte did the Cardiff audience proud. I’ve got many more bits and pieces from the tour to follow and I’ll try as best I can to update every 12-18 hours until the tour is over so all of us overseas or unable to get tickets can feel part of it. I wish I was there…I think I’ve said that previously. Enjoy the gallery below, just click on any picture to enlarge and then cycle through.

The photos last night were rather good with Mick Jones looking dapper and elated throughout and its great to see Pete, Peter, James and all of the others looking so committed. I typically try and make sure I credit the photos but I pooled tonight’s gallery from a number of people on flickr, if you need a credit please let me know. I saved these files at home and now I’m on my laptop so don’t recall the source on each one. I’ve also been wondering what you felt about the sound and the overall execution of The Clash numbers by the composite bands. While it’s nice to see the videos captured on mobile phones the sound leaves a lot to be desired. Right, that’s me done for now. Thanks for dropping in to the blog. Don’t forget to keep current via via Facebook, Twitter or get the RSS feed

Good morning, how are you? You lucky people who were in Cardiff last night for the Justice Tonight gig got your fill it seems. I’ll be back later with a special guest review of the concert, some extra information about last night and the rest of the tour and more. It’s going to be great wherever you catch it, that much I’m sure of. Mick Jones is unable to stop smiling.

I think seven Clash songs were played and the reception and atmosphere were electric, ‘like being back in the 80′s’ said more than one observer.

For now I wanted to post a few videos of last night, the audio isn’t great (turn down those speakers) but it certainly gives you a flavour of proceedings in case like me you’re completely unable to attend one of these historic nights. Have a great night in Manchester if you’re going and I’ll be back as soon as I can with much more. Sorry this is so short and frankly, sloppy. Tim

White Man (in Hammersmith Palais)

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Good afternoon everyone and cheers for stopping in. It’s lunchtime in the desert so therefore Thursday evening in the UK as I write on December 1st which just happens to be the first date of six scheduled concerts on the Justice Tonight tour in Cardiff. I’m going with my gut on this plus some of the feedback from the Liverpool concert that took place earlier in the year, these six concerts are going to be something really special for Clash fans and indeed those who believe that music has the power to make an impact. While many of us have seen B.A.D., Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros, Carbon Silicon or other events that featured member(s) of The Clash the emphasis has always been on the artists own work outside that sphere. Which is as it should be but until now there’s never been something performed live with the promise of Clash songs being performed.

Of course Joe Strummer worked many Clash songs into his set, even going back as far as his time with The Pogues. Conversely Mick Jones has seemingly until more recent years left history on the shelf in favour of his subsequent material. That stance has only really changed in recent years which leads me to believe that his change is probably due to the loss of Joe in 2002. Mick has apparently felt that the Clash songs are too good to be left unperformed live and that with Joe gone the most appropriate person left to honour these songs is himself. Even when it would have been a huge crowd-pleaser (last year with Gorillaz for example) Mick has never added a Clash medley just for the sake of it. I’m all but sure Damon must have suggested it at some point, probably met with a scowl by Paul Simonon as a result. When I saw Gorillaz last year I remember watching Paul and Mick beside each other on stage again and just wishing for a Clash song (I certainly had flashbacks to seeing them as a teenager so long ago) but of course it wasn’t to happen.

So tonight, and for the other five concerts to come I hope those of you who are able to attend get something I didn’t really ever expect to see. Part of a set quite rightly dedicated to The Clash and perhaps just as importantly it’s truly in the spirit of Joe Strummer. I’m positive that he’d approve. We’ll see what songs get played and who picks up the vocals and see some moments that should he held onto for a long, long time. If there is one concert I’m really aching about missing over the last 5-10 years it’s this tour. The guest stars plus Pete Wylie and The Farm all appeal to me as well in equal measure to the cause itself.

The floral tributes at Anfield (home of Liverpool FC) on the days after the Hillsborough disaster

This is for those who lost their lives at Hillsborough after all, on an afternoon where they’d headed over to Sheffield simply to watch a football match. Something I did countless times at exactly the same age and in the same places. This isn’t a football blog but I love the game almost as much as the music and though I was actually at Highbury that afternoon the events of that day will always be with me. Somehow a ‘modern’ country paid the ultimate price for treating hundreds of thousands of people like cattle and the loss of lives remains as inexcusable today as it was that grim day. If you’re under 25 it’s almost impossible to imagine how we supporters (much like fans at concerts) were once herded and simply taken for granted. Tragedies and disasters can and do happen but this one was so avoidable that it’s painful to even reflect on. Going to matches was never the same after that, nor should it have been. Time does heal the wounds to some extent but the vitriol and lies from parts of the British press can never be forgiven. I sincerely hope a significant aspect of these concerts is raising awareness of the cause itself.

Enjoy it and perhaps savour it. Best of luck to Mick and those on the tour and to you who are heading out to see it. Roll back the years and have a laugh but please remember why the concerts are taking place. You also ought to know I’ve heard from people in deep despair because they can’t make one of these concerts. If you care to share your experience on the blog even if its just a sentence or two I’d be glad to include in the days ahead, photos too please!  Cheers – Tim