Welcome to Friday, especially good news after what was a short week for me but I still welcomed in the weekend with open arms. Hope all is well on your corner of the planet too. You might remember I was contemplating getting tickets to see The Psychedelic Furs and Tom Tom Club for old times sake next month. Today I found out the price of the tickets – a remarkable $57.50 per person. For $57.50 I’d want Richard Butler to buy me a few pints and let me jump on stage to sing Sister Europe. Still, I find myself in a tricky position as the Clash Bloggette really wants to go. Due to her age I get the feeling that the Furs might have been The Clash for her generation. A good band I’ll agree but a tough stretch to make that comparison.

Don Letts checking in (thanks Brenda!!)

So another day and another triumphant Big Audio Dynamite concert last night in Philadelphia by all accounts, in keeping with New York and Boston the previous two evenings. As it happens we also had a fair few Clash Blog regulars at the show in Philadelphia so I have a surplus of photographs and a video to share with you later. My favourite photo of all was courtesy of Brenda who was able to spend some time with Mick and Don last night and Don Letts was handed the piece of paper that you see to the left greeting Clash Blog readers. How bloody great is that? Thanks Brenda and thanks to Don for being game! I’m sure he was bemused but very nice of him all the same. Mick was given the same prop but managed to lose it – so that’s the task I set the rest of you – to hand Mick Jones a written message to the blog that he can hold up and get his picture snapped for blog readers. Over to you on that.

I love posts like this as the bulk of what needs to be said about last night is done via the photographs (courtesy of Jen and Brenda) and the same two aforementioned ladies who also put together a quick summary of the night’s events. Over to Brenda first – and thank you both for documenting what sounded like an exceptional evening and then spending the time to write the following:

(Brenda) – “Well that was an extremely great show. spectacular, tighter than ever, shimmering textures, gorgeous harmonies, tons of energy from Mick & Davo’s dancing & raging dual guitars, Don Letts has blossomed into a great presence, he’s all over the stage. the new songs were great , well received and the whole audience sang along on key for ‘Rush’ , the encore. I don’t know if it could have been better. As usual, no one is nicer to fans than Big Audio Dynamite.”

(Jen) – Last night I was lucky enough to see Big Audio Dynamite at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia. Aside from meeting a lot of awesome people, as well as the band, we were treated to an amazing show. The set list was great, and the band sounded so tight it was hard to believe they’ve only just started playing shows together again after such a long hiatus. Everyone on stage seemed excited to be performing again, with Mick joking and laughing with the crowd between songs. After the show the band came out and signed autographs for the crowd that had gathered by the bus. All in all it was a phenomenal show, and with the debut of a new song I can only hope that we’ll be hearing more from Big Audio Dynamite soon.

Setlist: Medicine Show, V. Thirteen ,A Party, BAD, Rob Peter Pay Paul, Just Play Music, Sightsee M.C., Everybody Needs A Holiday, C’mon Every Beatbox, The Battle Of All Saints Road, Rewind Encore: The Bottom Line, E=MC2 Encore 2: Rush

That plus all the photos should keep you busy, if I uploaded them correctly you should be able to click on one and get it enlarged the click through. I’ll be back with a video capture from last night from another Clash amigo. Thanks for dropping in. Oh, wait, before I forget to mention it (and if you live in the right part of the world) Stiff Little Fingers just announced a short tour of the East/Northeast part of the States: full details below and (s00n) via this link - please go and see them. They are playing in Maine! Nobody plays in Maine. Talk to you later, please share the blog via twitter, facebook, comments and all the usual stuff.

10-Sep SAT Bangor, ME Bangor Waterfront
11-Sep SUN Altamont, NY Altamont Fairgrounds
12-Sep MON Pittsburgh, PA Trib Total Media Amph.
13-Sep TUE Columbus, OH LC Pavilion
15-Sep THU Portsmouth, VA Ntelos Pavilion
17-Sep SAT Rochester, NY Armory
18-Sep SUN Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory Lot

First two in the section below are from Brenda (the tattooed lady is not Brenda) and the rest are from Jen. Please join me in thanking them both.

It’s me again it seems. Posting like a squirrel or something similar that does a lot of posting. A post office perhaps? Bollocks, whatever.

I hope that you managed to see the clip of E=MC2 from the Jimmy Fallon show last night, I’m still blown away but just how strong B.A.D. sounded. In keeping with that the various reports and accounts I’ve been reading from both the Boston and the Brooklyn gigs have been overwhelmingly positive. I can’t put my finger on it exactly but there certainly appears to be a greater swagger about the band now than earlier in the year, I suppose a twenty year hiatus will do that to you. From Mick’s added guitar support (which grants him more space to be Mick) from Davo to Don Letts continuing to carry on like someone in his 20′s (why not) the whole thing looks tight and sounds even better than that. You’ve probably already seen the other video from Fallon last night (the one that went out on the broadcast) of the  new song Rob Peter pay Paul but if not it’s below for your viewing and listening pleasure. It’s great to hear a cleaner version that we’ve seen from various phones and recording devices at concerts in recent weeks and you can really measure the strength of the song. By all definitions I think it is a traditional B.A.D. tune but with a very 21st century hook which borrow a little from some of Mick’s more recent work. I hear a bit of Caesars Palace in there but that could be my imagination.

I’ve got to get back to work but wanted to also point you in the direction of a recently completed reader’s poll from Rolling Stone magazine that asks who the greatest punk band ever were. Although we know the answer I wondered what the readers would do. You start the list at number ten and most of the choices seem pretty valid if a little US centric as you might expect which is fair enough. When I didn’t see The Clash before the final three I assumed top spot was secured. However they managed to choose Green Day!

While I could have stomached The Ramones or even The Sex Pistols (horses for courses) being above The Clash I can’t fathom Green Day being top of that list. If there were no Clash there’d be no Green Day. I think that’s a reasonable statement so how can the latter surpass the former? I know it just reflects the (youngish) readership of the magazine but I still can’t see how a second (third?) generation punk band could possibly top a list for any sussed out reader. I do think Green Day should be in top ten, if only for bringing something back to an audience who never saw earlier punk artists, to say nothing of their own work. Perhaps the part I’m falling down with is expecting too much. Either way you can see the full list and share your thoughts here or preferably just do so here on this site. Incidentally where are Buzzcocks on that list?

Hello hello and welcome back to The Clash Blog. Sorry for the interruption in services, I took a few days away from the dusty desert of Phoenix to celebrate my Birthday out of town and am just getting my feet back under the desk so I’ve no clue what I’ve missed. Beyond the fact that Obama has just become a careerist which is sickening to say the least. The lack of nerves in the halls of power to upset the richest 1% (not just in America mind you) is more than bewildering at this point, it’s a fucking outrage – and in the meantime those with the least are assured to stay exactly that way.

Do we need a new sort of punk rock? Yes….perhaps now more than ever or at the very least musicians who want to switch people on to the things around them. Make an audience ask questions and encourage involvement or participation. When the underdog makes it all the way to the White House and then realises that you have to sell out to survive it’s a bloody good indicator that the voices of the people aren’t being heard. This has such a feeling of 1980′s deja vu with Europe shaking in the wind, Cameron not knowing which way is up and a global recession (sans Asia) looking like a permanent state of affairs that something’s got to give soon. Or perhaps it won’t. Meanwhile your average 16 year old is going to mortgage their future for a degree they’ll probably not be able to use because they were too busy watching American Idol and drinking bad beer to realise the direction things were heading in. If I sound pissed off it’s because I am. I’m not working for the Clampdown. I know you may not come here for politics but I can’t ignore the events of the year to date when governments can only make decidedly shit decisions when looking down the barrel of a gun. In Europe it’s the same – the panic sets in when things are too far gone. I think nine-year-olds would find a better path than these old bastards in power.

image courtesy GMDOK on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/64683846@N06/

So what’s been going on in the world of The Clash? I’ll try and find out first hand and relay it here. I saw Billy Bragg give an extended interview on Democracy Now during his recent stint in New York. It’s full of interesting stuff and a fair few songs while The Clash, Joe Strummer and Woody Guthrie each get more than a little mention including some live footage from 1978. I also found it worth hearing his point of view about the music industry as it currently stands in as much as touring/playing live is the only way forward for the vast majority of artists now. In essence a good thing but still a shame that nobody (in relative terms) purchases music anymore. Here’s a link to the whole interview with Bragg, Clash references occur near the middle.

I’ve been looking for clips of B.A.D. in Japan to no avail – if you’ve seen some let me know. In the meantime this is less than 2 hours old (well it was when I wrote some of this post last night) – the band playing Rush in Boston this evening. (Aug 2nd). Camera from side of stage (?) and audio is alright.

B.A.D. – ‘Rush’ House of Blues, Boston

Speaking of B.A.D. thanks to the chap who posted this link to a review of their concert in Manchester earlier in the year. Yes it’s a few months old but captures some of the concerns I think many shared when the reunion was announced – for the most part those fears have been unfounded as I’m finding it hard to recall anyone saying that they saw the gigs as a major let down and I’ve read a lot of reviews and comments. Some people were annoyed about ticket prices which I can understand, others that the news surrounding Dan Donovan was never really clarified but I’ve yet to see people write that the shows have failed to reach expectations. In fact quite the opposite as many are amazed that the sound is so good and the performances as tight as they’ve been with the added probable advantages offered by 2011 technology. Anyway there are still a good number of dates to see them this summer and I don’t know where my money would be on them playing beyond then. Will Mick Jones want to put the band into a studio and write new material, indeed has all the time together this year provided the impetus to write new songs beyond one or two. Does B.A.D. have a future after this summer ends or was the reunion something Mick felt he had to do. All this will probably be answered in the months ahead, I think it would be interesting to see what they would record in 2011 especially as in my opinion Mick’s songwriting with Carbon Silicon has remained really strong and socially aware. If you bump into Mick this week or next ask these questions! Incidentally check out that entire site it has a few things well worth a look.

Hope you have fun at the New York, Philadelphia and Chicago concerts in the days ahead. Please send in reviews if you have time. I’ll be back soon. Tim