Hello my friends and welcome to the home stretch of 2012 on the blog, it’s been a long an interesting year but I’m hoping for a better new year assuming the Mayans are wrong which they certainly are/were. By some strange twist of fate this being less than 24 hours from the 10th anniversary of losing Joe Strummer this happens to be the 1,000th ever post on The Clash Blog. That number seems a bit mad even to me.

I worked out that since beginning the site I’ve probably spent about 2,500 hours writing, editing and getting the content out to you – add in time for site design, fixing it when it gets hacked, improving the site and working with the Twitter and Facebook pages I’ve probably spent at least 3,000 hours over the last three and a half years on the blog. That works out to a worrying total of 40 whole days per year. That does worry me, if it was a full time job I could justify it but for a hobby that’s a lot of time. If you’ve enjoyed some of the 800,000 words so far you can always buy me a cup of coffee over on the right hand margin. My thanks to you for reading so much nonsense about music, football, punk rock and life in general. I appreciate it. Someone asked me the other day where I find the time, the short answer is I never watch TV. I do watch certain things online but the television is never on and sucking up my free time. Plus of course I really enjoy it.

Enough about me, I promised my revised listing of Joe Strummer related gigs and events over the coming days and here it is. Links where possible are in red and I’ve simply listed all cities alphabetically. If you know of something I’ve missed just let me know and I’ll update later today.

Brighton, England. Jan 5th @ 7pm. Komedia. 44-47 Gardner Street, Brighton and Hove, East Sussex BN1 1UN, United Kingdom 1273.647100 Four live acts including Rebel Truce, event is in the new year so don’t head along this weekend. Event is in conjunction with Strummerville.

Buffalo, USA. Dec 22nd @ 8pm. Mohawk Place, 47 East Mohawk Street, Buffalo, NY 14203. 716.465.2368. More than six live bands plus DJ – $12 at the door, event is in conjunction with Strummerville.

Chicago, USA. Dec 22nd @ 730pm at Schuba’s. 3159 North Southport Avenue, Chicago, IL 60657 773.525.2508. 8th annual Chicago Calling featuring Clash tribute band, The Jam tribute band and other special guests. I love Schuba’s – go along if you possibly can.

Dublin, Ireland. Dec 22nd @ 8pm at The Academy 2.  57 Middle Abbey Street DUBLIN 1 Dublin, Ireland. Featuring Clash Jam Wallop and other acts.

Edinburgh, Scotland. Dec 22nd @ 8pm. Bannerman’s Bar. 212 Cowgate EH1 1HQ, Edinburgh, Scotland. Featuring the Counterfeit Clash.

Glasgow, Scotland. Dec 22nd @ 8pm. King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, 272a Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow, G2 5RL, United Kingdom. This is the 10th annual event and always well attended. It may be sold out so please check locally – ask for favours to get in.

Hertford, UK. Dec 22nd @ 730pm. ‘Merry Clashmas’ at Hertford Corn Exchange. 39 Fore Street, Hertford, SG14 1AL, United Kingdom 1992 442992. Six bands, special DJs and much more.

London, England. Dec 21st @ 7pm. ‘London’s Burning’ at Surya, 156 Pentonville Road, London, N1 9JL. Please note that this event is on Friday night. Five bands confirmed plus special guests expected, looks like a great night.

London, England. Dec 22nd @ 4pm and 8pm ‘Meeting Joe Strummer’ the play. Final two presentations at the Cockpit Theatre Gateforth Street, City of Westminster, NW8 8EH, United Kingdom. See recent post on the blog for more information.

London, England. Dec 22nd @ 730pm. ‘Ignore Alien Orders’ at The Windmill, 22 Blenheim Gardens, Brixton, London SW2 5BZ, United Kingdom. Five live acts plus DJ Tolly, event is in conjuction with Strummerville.

London, England Dec 22nd and 23rd – The 100 Club. I really shouldn’t need to give you an address (Oxford Street, you know this). The two day event is in association with Strummerville and features a bounty including Ruts DC, Glen Matlock, TV Smith, Spizz Energi, Ray Gange DJing and lots more.

London (Ontario), Canada, Dec 22nd @ 9pm ‘Minstrel Boy a celebration of Joe Strummer’. The Office, 216 York Street, London, ON N6A, Canada. 519.432.4433 The Kensington Hillbillys as The Crooked Beat with Special Guests NFG $10.00 Cover

Los Angeles, USA. Dec 22nd @8pm. Trash City at The Three Clubs. The Three Clubs 1123 Vine Street Hollywood, CA 90038. This looks like it might be the pick of US events including Joe’s dear friend Zander Schloss and Mike Watt to name just two. Should be special, I hope some of you will make it.

New York City, USA. Dec 22nd @ 8pm. Tammany Hall Clash/Strummer tribute night. 152 Orchard Street, New York, NY 10002 Featuring Straight To Hell and other special guests.

Osaka, Japan. Dec 22nd @6pm. Strummer Jam at the Club Stereo, 2-11-1 Nambanaka Naniwa-ku, Namba Pier 6026 Osaka, Japan. Three live acts, specials DJs, event is in conjunction with Strummerville.

Philadelphia, USA. Dec 22nd @ 8pm. The North Star Bar, 2639 Poplar Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130. Tel 215.787.0488 Seven live acts, event is in conjunction with Strummerville.

Phoenix, USA. Dec 22nd @ 7pm. The George & Dragon, 4240 N Central Ave, Phoenix AZ 85012. Glass Heroes and five other bands on tap for the 10th annual event organised by my friend Keith Jackson.

Portland, USA. Dec 22nd @ 9pm at East End. 203 SE Grand Ave., Portland OR. 5th anniversary of the East End featuring a local recreation of the 100 Club Punk Festival…and it’s free to get in.

Portsmouth, England. Dec 22nd @8pm. Wedgewood Rooms, 147B Albert Road, Southsea, Portsmouth PO4 0JW, United Kingdom. 023.9286.3911 Nine live acts, 10th annual event in conjuction with Strummerville.

Stockholm, Sweden. Dec 22nd @ 8pm at Snövit. Ringvägen 147, 116 61 Stockholm, Sweden. Three bands, special guests and DJs

Thessaloniki, Greece. Dec 22nd @ 7pm. Spitimou, 3 Fragkon St, Thessaloniki Greece. Special documentary film premier, live music and DJ sets, the event is in conjunction with Strummerville.

Tokyo, Japan. Exhibition until Dec 22nd. Sho Kikuchi photography exhibition of The Clash and Joe Strummer. Daily until 6pm 〒150-0011
東京都渋谷区東3-16-6 LIQUIDROOM 2F

Meanwhile if you can’t get out of the house, are under house arrest, or don’t trust yourself in public there is another option. Of course it could just be that you live in a remote part of Kansas or Macedonia, in which case Andrea is hosting a Joe Strummer online Facebook day. Not sure what that will consist of but here is the link.

Thank you all for reading and for taking time to remember Joe this weekend, I hope to be back in about 20 hours with a liveblog. I’d love to host your favourite Joe Strummer memory, quote, lyric, song, video, tattoo or photograph tomorrow so I’ll see you then. Tim

Hello again you fine Clash people and welcome back to the blog on a chilly (for here) Winter’s day. We’re getting toward the end of the year now and of course this Saturday marks the 10th Anniversary of the death of Joe Strummer. Even if I try I can’t get my head around the fact that it has been a decade since reading that news, everything changed that day and has never really been the same since.

It is only when I take a step back and remember that a decade ago I lived in a different home in a different city, was working in a different career and was in a different relationship that I can mark the fact that ten years really have passed and a lot has changed. I wouldn’t attribute it solely to Joe but at least in part his attitude made me think about my old job. I earned more money then but was in a ‘safe’ job that I didn’t enjoy, a job that took nothing creative from me more than very occasionally and a job where I didn’t feel challenged. I do remember asking myself if I was being true to myself by settling into that job forever and a day and being unhappy or whether I should take a risk and do something totally different. With the help of Joe’s DIY instructions and heavy encouragement from the Clash Bloggette (thank you) I left that job behind and now find myself helping clients with blogging, web development, online marketing and writing. In fact this blog has helped me keep my eye on what makes a blog work. I earn less now but I’m more satisfied and learning more and hopefully making more of a tangible difference.

Joe made me think why not try this blog and simply see what would happen with it. I’m not a ‘rock journalist’ or an ‘accomplished writer’ but I love the band, I wanted to see if I could help Clash fans connect with one another. I started the blog three and a half years ago as an extended thank you to The Clash, I hoped that there were enough people out there who would want to look back at the impact the band had on us and also cover the events that remember Joe in addition to keeping current with what Mick, Paul, Topper and Terry are doing now.

There’s been more than enough to write about and you returning to read this thing every few days makes it 100% worthwhile. Thank you for reading, for your support and for your memories and friendship. You have contributed so much over the years and I really appreciate it.  Your dedication and efforts to keep the fire that the band started burning is inspiring, we all know that this wasn’t ‘just another band’. As The Baker recently wrote on the blog – we were a part of the history also – we must not forget that.

Tonight I plan to write an updated summary of all the Joe Strummer 10th anniversary events I could find this week so that the likelihood of a few more people raising a pint to Joe and enjoying some great music is improved. I hope many of you might be able to attend something in your neck of the woods. I think I have a near comprehensive list but if you know of something local to you please add it to the comments section below or the facebook page if you like. I’ll get that published tonight. On Saturday I hope you can spend 5 minutes or more on the blog, I’m going to try a live blog which will update in real time – as always I’m hoping many of you will share a favourite Joe Strummer lyric, quote, video or photo — over the last three anniversaries it has been my favourite part of the blog so I hope to see you here on Saturday. Cheers – Tim

Hello fine people and thanks for dropping in. I hope you’re well and getting your holiday mood lined up for the next few weeks ahead. We already knew December was going to be a difficult month as Clash fans we’re faced with reflecting on a ten year anniversary that is bottom of the things we would like to see pop up on our reminders list. With that said I’m usually trying to inject some positive inspiration into our daily grind when we think of Joe Strummer and not be overcome by sorrow, it’s a fine line for me so I imagine the same for many of you. Then, from out of the blue you find yourself impacted by something that puts everything into perspective.

I’m sure I could write a few thousand fairly inarticulate words about the events in the US last Friday morning that resulted in yet another mass shooting leaving over two dozen dead, amongst them twenty 6 and 7 year old children who were simply attending school. We have run the gamut of emotions from anger to sadness, horror to helplessness but fundamentally a deep and dark feeling of utter gloom that it has happened again and lets face it – predictably really. I’m not going to try and add much to the growing debate as to how the US begins to recover from this or more importantly what changes can be made to decrease the likelihood. Now the arguments will begin about gun laws, better care for mental health issues and community building. These debates are not political, they are moral and societal. I feel that a solution must be sought on many fronts, it won’t be easy but that can’t be an excuse to do nothing. If a society collectively deems this to no longer be acceptable then change can surely follow, therein lies my hope. Condolences of course to all of those impacted, such pain is unimaginable.

I’m sure you probably visited the blog not to hear the news you already know about, so let me try and accomplish a bit of that at the very least. One of the forthcoming events I’ve been very neglectful at covering is the newest engagement with the wonderful play “Meeting Joe Strummer”. The two man play originally ran at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2006 before touring the UK in 2007. The interview below explains far more than I have room for today, please check it out.

In one sense I suppose you could say it features all of us essentially – two old friends now in their 40′s who together saw The Clash back in the early days  and are reunited by fate decades later at a Joe and The Mescaleros gig and not just any gig but the Acton Town Hall FBU Benefit.The play takes on so many topics that are deep in the heart of Clash fans, the establishment, politics, growing up and relationships and looks back at the idealism and inspiration of 1977 and early punk.

Reviews (see below) have been wonderful during previous engagements so I’m sure you can count on a brilliant night out. To mark the 10th Anniversary of the death of Joe Strummer the play is back this week for a short run in London and Brighton. The play itself comes highly recommended but there are other special events each night featuring music and other Clash related events. The play is in Brighton Monday and Tuesday of this week before moving up to London from Wednesday through until Saturday. Full details are available via the Facebook page, as far as I know tickets priced at £12.00 for London are available on the door. If there is any chance you can make it along to a performance this week please do, I think its another of the perfect ways this month to remember Joe. If you can’t make it please do all you can to spread the word so that a full house attends each night. Much more information is below:

Brighton:

17 & 18 December 2012: The Latest Bar, Manchester Street, Brighton at 8pm

London:

19,20,21 December 2012 at 730pm plus two performances on Saturday December 22nd at 4pm and 8pm
The Cockpit Theatre, Gateforth Street, London NW8 8EH.

Facebook page for the play

Tickets and additional information including reviews of the play

“Striking performances, well chosen tracks… oozes authenticity” - Evening Standard

“Paul Hodson’s marvellous play – required viewing for anyone who enjoys funny, perceptive and passionate sincere new writing.” - Manchester Evening News

“Glowing with warmth, humour and self-deprecation… sincere and inspiring” – Metro

“I was honoured to be there. My mate Alan and I both thought it was a fantastic night out – and we are both very resistant to the theatre experience!” – Chris Salewicz author of Redemption Song (biography of Joe Strummer)

“This is a magnificently simple, heartfelt, clear and brave show, created by three men who are not afraid to put themselves on the line and try and analyse what that meant to them emotionally, politically, in terms of their masculinity, in terms of what they did with their own creativity and their chances of bettering themselves in the late twentieth century” – Joyce MacMillan, The Scotsman – Fringe First Award

Meeting Joe Strummer on BBC6 Music; interview with Steve North and Jason Pitt