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

Hello again, I’m back again and so I hope, are you. It was a perfect day today, the sort where you feel like leaning against a tree with a good book and just letting the sun warm you and the wind create the only external sounds. Alas I had to work. Then again I’m glad to have work so one can’t complain.

I hate it when I’m unintentionally late with event news on The Clash Blog but I regret it’s happened. I recall asking months ago for a secretary to help keep the blog current, where is that mystery girl (or boy if need be)? This post won’t be very lengthy as I want to be sure that those readers in and around London are aware of a rather special night tonight (Thursday December 1st) that’s about to take place. It happily coincides with the first night of the Mick Jones review and I’ll have more on that later I’m sure, but for those in the capital that need a Clash fix before the Justice Tonight tour hits town you can get your dose a week early.

Here’s the short version – an action packed Clash themed evening down at the Earl of Chatham in Woolwich SE18. The night is designed to ‘remember Joe Strummer and celebrate The Clash’ and will be headlined by punk tribute band 48 Thrills with a raft of special guests. Here’s the official blurb:

Arms Aloft in Acton Town are pleased to support a Jail Guitar Doors benefit taking place on Thursday 1st December 2011 at The Earl of Chatham, close to Woolwich Arsenal station. Quality punk tribute band, 48 Thrills will play a Clash-heavy set to mark the 35th anniversary of the start of the Anarchy Tour (the first important Clash tour); to remember Joe Strummer (close to the 9th anniversary of his passing) and celebrate the 50th birthdy of 48 Thrills frontman, Joe Williams. ‘Rude Boy’, Ray Gange will play a DJ set and former Clash road manager, Johnny Green will sign books.

Tickets are £10 from which proceeds will go to Jail Guitar Doors and can be purchased via Pay Pal by clicking the button below. In the spirit of back-to-basics punk rock you have to buy each ticket individually – apologies for the inconvenience! Please bring your e-mail confirmation to the venue where it will be swapped for a souvenir ticket.

Tickets are available online via this link but are also available on the door. More excellent news is that proceeds will be going directly to helping the Jail Guitar Doors cause. There is also a facebook event page with more information and the site from 48 Thrills as linked above.  I so wish I could go…for the music, for Ray Gange and his DJ stint and in addition to Johnny Green author Pat Gilbert will be there. It should be a blinder of an evening. If you happen to be going please share with us how it goes. Please do all you can to share this event on Facebook and via Twitter even though it’s at very short notice hopefully more will make it down. Sorry about that (my tardiness) but please tell Ray, Johnny and Ray that the Clash Blog says hello! Here’s a timetable of events for the evening:

REMEMBERING JOE STRUMMER – CELEBRATING THE CLASH

Earl of Chatham, 15 Thomas Street, London SE18 6HU

7.30pm Doors open  
7.40pm Rube Boy screening
8.45pm Book signing
9.00pm 30 minute DJ set
9.30pm 48 Thrills live
10.15pm Clash Poster Auction
10.30pm Pat Gilbert Interviews ‘Live On Stage’
10.45pm 30 minute DJ set
11.15pm 48 Thrills live
11.45pm 60 minute DJ set
12.30am Last Orders
1.00am Finish

The Earl of Chatham is at 15 Thomas Street in Woolwich SE18, nearest rail station is Woolwich Arsenal. More details on the map above. Hope some of you can get along to this one. Cheers – Tim

Good evening, a buoyant Arsenal inspired mood then last night (that’s how you do it Manchester(s) and Chelsea) and a heady dose of medicine has me on the happy train. Thanksgiving has been spent sleeping which sits with me more effortlessly rather than celebrating the events that unfurled due to the European expansion in North America. However that’s a longer tale for another day. With that said a short post is probably best for all concerned and I think I’ve got just the thing.

I can’t profess to have seen every single video clip of Clash related footage that exists online, nor can I verify the authenticity of everything I see. I do know that there are some serious Clash anoraks out there who (it seems) are aware of every single live recording and the origins of all video footage available for public consumption. One of those experts may well explain that the video below exists elsewhere or was taken from source a or source b – but I know for myself this is the first time I’ve seen the video below. With that in mind I hope it will be first time for many/most of you also. If you have seen it before my advance apologies, but it’s still worth a watch I’d venture.

Background on this: It was sent to me by a Rikki E who asked me to take a look at the Super 8 video footage that he’d just converted to digital (thank you Rikki). The video was filmed in 1979 and while he’s not sure of the exact date I decided to do some research. Based on the weather and chronological events early in 1979 this looks like it was the day of the infamous cancelled appearance at Beaufort Market on March 31st, 1979. The market was to be closed down and the partial owner (I believe) had arranged a benefit show for free with a number of punk bands that day. Punks streamed into the Kings Road and it seems The Clash were present but the gig was canceled before it ever took place due to a very heavy police prescence and sporadic outbreaks of violence between the police and those who would have made up the audience. I’d only ever read about this event and see one photo of Joe in the crowd before things turned ugly but never seen video before.

The video below is fascinating for the first 1:25 just for the scenes of that part of west London in early ’79 and the fashion of the young punks (they look incredibly young!). At around 1:27 you’ll see a group standing on the pavement and the back of a hat which then cuts forward to reveal none other than Joe Strummer mingling with the kids. Is that Gabby to his right by the way? I need a historian. Things did get messy that afternoon with more than seventy arrested and a number of policemen injured. Were you perhaps there that day?

Enjoy this – it’s rather cool and please join me in thanking Rikki for sending the video over, I genuinely hope it to be unseen (of course most of it certainly is, I refer to the Strummer ‘appearance’). The only similar footage I’ve seen is much of the work compiled by ‘Captain Zip’ between ’78 and ’81 all along The Kings Road and Sloane Square but none of it features Joe Strummer. I remember finally getting down there in early/mid 1982 when hadn’t yet turned 15 to still find stragglers with giant mohicans loitering about, but by then the scene had changed to being one where photos of the punks were exchanged for money or cigarettes.

Archive footage of punks and Joe Strummer. Kings Road, London March 31, 1979