Hello you lot….all excited about the royal wedding on Friday then are we? No…me neither and better still it’s all kicking off at 3am my time so I am fairly certain even I’ll be asleep at such a time. I’ll get the condensed version when I wake up on Friday morning and be looking for some of you London based readers in the massed ranks crowded around Westminster Abbey in the pouring bloody rain. Wear something obvious so I know it’s you. I don’t know if I could see a less practical thing for a country so in debt to be lavishing out on in 2011 besides I don’t know, another war in Libya perhaps? I hope wherever you are on Friday you aren’t forced to watch it for politeness sake. If they want to get married have at it but surely there’s more important things people could be doing with their lives than watching those two. Such as trying to guess where else Big Audio Dynamite are going to play this summer – the official festival band of this year it’s beginning to look. Message to Mick – we’d far prefer that you played proper venues rather than an $85, 5pm support slot for Coldplay (when if anything it should be the other way round).

Speaking of B.A.D. I’m thrilled and honoured to have another guest post tonight and it comes from the east coast of the States – Philadelphia to be exact. An old friend of the blog and a friend of some more illustrious people than I (read on) Brenda has been a great advocate of the blog since the earlier days for which I’m grateful. A seriously nice person in general she was kind enough to chronicle her trip up to New York City to see B.A.D at the Roseland Ballroom last week and to say it was a special night would be as understated as Donald Trump’s boorishness (more on him soon I think). With that said let me hand you over to Brenda for her tale of Manhattan magic, she was so generous with her account I’m splitting it into two parts. Pre-show and the concert itself and then part two will be what happened afterwards. Read on…you’ll like it:

I’ve known Mick since 1979, so I ignored the high ticket prices, hoping to contact Mick before the show. I’d been saving money to go, but between the train tickets and a room for overnight at the Chelsea , there wasn’t much left. I checked my cash. Nothing for a ticket….. I had brought my friend Brian Linson with me. He split the cost of the room so at least I now had my ‘just in case’ ticket money.  I brought matzoh and coffee makings from home, wasted nothing on food….

Setlist from the Roseland B.A.D. gig, complete with footprint

I was unable to contact anyone before the show so, we needed to buy tix….We thought they were going to be $75.  We went to the box office around 5 in a last ditch attempt to leave a message for Mick. I thought the tour manager might pick it up when the guest list got dropped off.  We found out that tickets would be 60 bucks at the door. With what we saved , I bought 2 peace sign scarves from a cart near Times Square . Black with white for Brian and white with black for me. They warded off the strong winds that were kicking up and we looked like we belonged together. When we returned at 8, We were able to get 60$ General Admission tix at the door. It was a bargain.  But ,now we could see the show, but couldn’t even say hello to Mick… I kept checking at the box office to see if anyone sent a pass for me.

No opening act was the first surprise..there was a dj instead. I saw Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth come in the front door ,all smiles about 15 minutes before the set started.   Second surprise, the crowd was polite and a joy to be with. I like Big Audio Dynamite fans, everyone said ‘sorry’, if they accidentally bumped into you. The place got hotter as the crowd filled in, it was packed by showtime.  The band has a sample laden version of the Good, The Bad and The Ugly going as they took the stage. Mick was wearing Leo’s plush derby as they started, but was otherwise was wearing the shades , black suit & white shirt (and big smile) that looks so good on him.  The monitors were feeding back during the first two songs and we were able to hear the feedback up front. Much to the band’s credit, they ignored it , didn’t wince and played on. I was distracted by the feedback ,so we moved back to the side by the soundboard where the sound was perfect.

The Music.

Unbelievable good. Tight, enthusiastic, energizing and well paced. Everyone was dancing around me and lots of people were singing along. Bob Gruen was in the photo pit and at least half the audience were taking stills or video so I was content to watch and listen during the show. I was glad that we would have their photos for later. By All Saints we had to get up closer so we watched to the end from house right, right against the railing. It was perfect. Everyone was moving, singing along and totally focused on the stage. Time stood still. There was only there, and the music washed over everything

It’s me (Clashblogger) again now, thanks so much to Brenda for part one. Part two is definitely worth the wait if you can sit tight until the next post…I know you can. As for me, I need to make some dinner (just had it General Tso’s chicken no less) – more tomorrow of course. I always welcome guest posts and if there’s a topic you’d like to cover please get in touch and we’ll work it out. Please join me in the comments in thanking Brenda for a great guest piece.Cheers – Tim

Good…it’s Friday. I think that’s how today got its moniker in the first place right? (I started this last night but finished it today…sorry) For a country that seems as overtly religious (compared to England) as this one seems I can’t quite understand why everyone is working and shopping today. My best guess is the distinct lack of decent chocolate, hot cross buns and bank holiday football fixtures but answers on a postcard if you can.

Very little writing from me today except to point you in the direction of the two largest newspapers in New York (Times and Post) and their overtly contradictory/negative/divisive/cynical/weak reviews of Big Audio Dynamite’s gig at the Roseland Ballroom earlier in the week. Both journalists find new and interesting ways to be petty while (by all accounts) missing the atmosphere in the arena entirely, failing to find strength in the songs or realising the path carved out by the band in the first place. As I commented on one of the articles (the Post) it seemed that this reviewer had written most of his piece before even setting out that evening and merely needed the setlist to verify his attendance. I’m not sure if in the post Interpol / Strokes New York rock world that it takes something far more hip or young to draw a positive review or if the two critics in question are keen to cite the influence of years gone by in their own armoury of music knowledge and then when actually confronted with it look to make some currency in saying that time has passed it by. Without nitpicking even the research in the article in The Post is shoddy and simply wrong. Ignoring that lyrics that are 25 years old apply just as suitably today as back then is criminal. In fact one of the reviews even said something along the lines of Big Audio Dynamite don’t sound as fresh because so many bands have since aped what they did. What the fuck is that ? It’s like going back to Thomas Edison thirty years later and saying ‘your electricity invention wasn’t all that, everybody’s running a light bulb these days‘. I don’t tend to worry that much about negative reviews except for in this case they both fly in the face of what everyone else has been saying and this represents the two large daily papers in the biggest city in the country. Moreover it’s better you read them for yourself and determine if you find anything well off the mark, plus it’d be fun to see your comments added to those already there. Here’s the link to the New York Post assassination and the slightly less acerbic piece in the New York Times.

I can’t sign off this afternoon on such a negative note so I thank Morris for sending me this link of the entire Big Audio Dynamite performance (as broadcast on YouTube) at Coachella. Rin time is about 55 minutes and the quality of the video and audio are both pretty good. Mick’s on good form throughout if a little less chatty than he has been during the indoor dates. I have to say that things really raise up through the gears when Don Letts wanders away from the labeled keyboards. Enjoy it – I’ll be back a little later. Almost forgot – we just passed our 400,000th visit ever to the blog yesterday – thank you all so much for visiting, commenting, contributing and being part of the Clash community! Tim

Big Audio Dynamite at Coachella Festival 16/4/2011

Hello from a warm and windy Phoenix, dog has been walked, exercise completed and trying to stay awake long enough to at least get this post partially completed. Last night was a late one as I saw The Joy Formidable in blistering form make an unexpected stop in the desert. I know many of you had nothing but praise for the B.A.D. concert in New York last night but I’ll wager my ears were ringing more all day today. I was actually really glad to see a show last night as it took my mind off of what I was missing over on the opposite coast. I’m not sure if the B.A.D. concert ended up quite selling out at the Roseland Ballroom (we’ll blame ticket prices I think) but that didn’t take the shine off what was another great show to wrap up this very brief (just the 3 concerts) trip to the US. Seems like everyone who is anyone made their way along to the concert including of course old Clash friend and genius photographer Bob Gruen. If you were at the concert in the city that almost became a second home for The Clash and would like to submit your own review please get in contact with me or add to the comments below. I’d love your first hand assessment.

Before we get to that though I’d like to confirm a rumour that has been percolating now for more than a few weeks and seemed that much firmer with the announcement of B.A.D. appearing at a festival in San Francisco in August. Three different sources have now confirmed that the band will be back in North America for a more substantial tour this summer. Looking at the current commitments the first half of August looks to be the most likely dates to shoehorn some more cities in before and after existing confirmed festival appearances. With that said the calendar isn’t going to allow for a 15 or 20 city tour, my best guess is we’ll see 6 or 7 new dates most likely encompassing the west coast, perhaps Chicago and then on to the east coast. As soon as I learn more I’ll let you know but it does now look likely. I’ll also have to hope that no other festivals are confirmed in the meantime which would seriously hamper your chances of seeing them anywhere outside of the most obvious 5 or 6 cities. If you’ve been following the news you’ve probably already seen that the band are now confirmed for a date in London at the Festival Hall on July 23rd not to mention being confirmed for Glastonbury on June 24th (bring Topper and Paul). It has to be said that if you live in the UK and fail to see the band this year you weren’t trying hard enough. The London date is a week before the concert at the Fuji Festival in Japan which leaves a US mini tour starting around Aug 2/3 the most likely scenario.

The image beneath was kindly approved to be shared by the ‘According to G’ blog who did a special post about the BAD show at Roseland. For me it’s a photo I won’t forget in a hurry as Mick is pictured (post gig?) with Chris and Tina from Talking Heads along with Clem Burke from Blondie. I should add that for me Talking Heads are held right up there with The Clash as being the one of the most important bands of the first half of my life and much like The Clash the importance of their work only grows as the years roll by. Then of course Clem….and you’d be a bit daft to suggest that Blondie weren’t quite special back in the day also. Not to take any thunder away from the great post over at ‘According to G’ about the New York show itself , the atmosphere and those in attendance I’ll instead refer you over to that blog, it is worth a read. Also worth a click for a nice write up and lots of great photos and videos is the review over at the Brooklyn Vegan (a great site you should bookmark anyway).

Mick, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Clem Burke. Image courtesy 'According to G' blog

I’ve more to share from L.A., Coachella and New York which will follow soon. With the first two legs of the reunion tour now complete it’s time for some analysis as to whether this was a good idea by Mick (and you have to accept it was Mick’s decision ultimately). From all the happy reviews I’ve read the initial answer has to be yes and maybe not just from the aspect of nostalgia – I think (and hope) that many are realising that the band were very much ahead of their time time in the mid 80′s blending sounds before it was fashionable. Not to say they were the first but they did break ground. I’ll dig deeper into that soon but the most popular quote I keep seeing is ‘They were far better than I expected’ and I’d have to agree. Bringing a band back after so long isn’t often very successful from any perspective other than financial, as ever with most things Clash related you don’t get what’s typical. Long may it continue.