Good evening Clash types wherever you may be and welcome back to the blog. I do hope that you have had a chance to watch the first of those Strummerville session video uploads that I wrote about yesterday, it really is worth a watch and is great to see the foundation seeking to continue the work that Lucinda Strummer and Damien Hirst first outlined almost 8 years ago now. I must make some inquiries to find out the likelihood of future endeavours on this side of the Atlantic also, after appearing at SXSW this past spring hopefully the profile of Strummerville in Canada and the US can be raised even further. Like most things obviously it will come down to funding which is an understood reality but it never hurts to ask.

Image Courtesy Eric Rife

I realised the other day I was little bit harsh about US television and probably unfairly so. Where America has excelled for generations was the format and concept of late-night chat shows. Stemming back to the eras of Ed Sullivan and Johnny Carson there has been a legacy carried on in more recent decades by David Letterman, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and others that have come and gone (plus some new ones that remain). It’s entirely fair to say that Jonathan Ross in the UK built his entire Fridays show originally on the foundation of what David Letterman has now been doing for over 28 years and he in turn will always nod in the direction of Johnny Carson as his mentor. You can argue that late-night chat shows in the US don’t always have the edge that they used to but from time to time Letterman, and these days Jimmy Kimmel and Conan still manage to satirise at a high-level yet still acquire some of the best and more casual celebrity interviews. It’s also one of the few forums on network TV in the States where you can often see more alternative/independent acts perform live, sadly it’s usually at the very close of the show and typically just one song. Nevertheless it’s the only time you’ll ever see someone like Billy Bragg on network TV here and notably Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros which I’ll get to in just a moment. Years ago Letterman especially was also very likely to interview the musician before they played live but now days that only happens on the rarest of occasions, a really good example was with David Byrne round about 1983, at short shift I can’t find the interview but you may like this. One moment some of you may remember happened on the Monday following the death of Joe Strummer in 2002, Conan O’Brien (a genuine lifelong fan of The Clash) signed off for the evening by expressing his sadness about the loss of Joe and also played a video replay of Joe and the Mescaleros performing London Calling on his show from an earlier live appearance in ’99.

I stumbled across a blog called ‘Spool Going Round’ in association with Chicago Now and it seems the author has been compiling a list of the 10 best live performances by acts on the Letterman show over the years. At number two he had what has long been my personal number one with Joe’s appearance on Letterman performing ‘Johnny Appleseed’ in October 2001 – don’t forget that’s the very same stage that Mick Jones and Paul Simonon were on with Gorillaz just a few weeks ago. Please hop over to his blog where he pays a classy tribute to Joe and The Clash and then make sure you watch the video below. It’s one of my favorite ever live performances of Joe with The Mescaleros – every part of it is just perfect from how he sings and also tries to communicate with an audience who are primarily there to see Letterman and whatever actor he interviewed earlier. It’s a great clip and worthy of repeat viewing. This definitely opens up a series of possible posts about Clash television appearances and of course post Clash camera time, there have been a number of really good ones – if it wasn’t for bandwidth I would’ve already tried to create the best video page possible, but it really does stress the site to the limits. Maybe sometime down the road (to quote Joe). Have a good one.

ClashBlog reprise for Halloween, how is everyone doing today? I tried out a new Indian restaurant last night and slept like a baby, I swear I was born in the wrong country – at least gastronomically speaking.  Right let’s launch into part 4 so we can get this put to bed today and resume normal Clash transmissions for the week ahead. Parts 1,2 and 3 are naturally below so tuck into them first if you haven’t done so. On the last post I wrapped up the Monday evening which brings us to….

Tuesday: From the moment I woke up on Tuesday the level of anticipation was just stupid, feeling like an 8 year old on Christmas morning is an emotion I thought had escaped me forever but it seemed the clock was going to taunt me all day, still 11 hours before we even leave. I made coffee and was tempted to head back to the Bilton to see if Jonesy might be spotted having egg and chips or Damon and Paul outside in the morning sun sneaking a smoke and a cup of tea. I instead worked all day instead, the Gorillaz twitter account asked ‘what shall we do with our day in Phoenix’, a suggested ‘Clashblog interview with beer paid for’ didn’t elicit a reply so I worked away. Late morning there were no signs of  a radio interview or such (poor show Phoenix) so it was wait for the evening. One last bit of prep remained in determining the best post-concert spot to park close to and perhaps see the band outside the venue. With that done it was time to head into the city for our appointed rendezvous with friends and yes I was optimistic enough to still bring something to have signed just in case.

We stopped for a bite to eat on the way to the gig but I must confess I was lost in my thoughts, as I’ve written about on the blog for months now the very idea of seeing Mick and Paul sharing a stage once again more than justified going to the show. The last time I saw Mick Jones on stage must have been round about 1992 and for Paul the gap was even larger having seen MKII of The Clash twice in 84 and 85 I think. I know a lot of people have mixed feelings about them playing with what they neither see as a real band nor a particularly relevant one (relevant to The Clash). I’d argue with both statements but especially the second one, I think what Damon has accomplished with Gorillaz ranks right up there with decisions you would associate with Mick Jones if not Joe Strummer as well. The diverse path that Damon took from the early days of Blur through to the indie/funk/rap/pop that is Gorillaz compares favourably with the path trodden by The Clash from a song like London’s Burning through to Magnificent Seven for example. So much of that is due to Mick Jones being such an addict for music and culture that constraining the sound or the musical style of The Clash simply to where they were in 1976 would have been completely against his instincts. In fact you don’t need to look any further than Big Audio Dynamite to draw a really strong parallel between the two situations. What makes it even more remarkable is that The Clash made that transition from early punk to soaking up Grandmaster Flash and Chic in just four years. Add to the mix Paul’s existing relationship with Damon and then he and Mick Jones playing with Gorillaz seems perhaps the most natural thing to me. I probably come at this with a degree of bias, I’ve always enjoyed Blur and purchased each Gorillaz album upon release. Then again I also don’t think music history stopped in 1983 or at any time since, good and interesting music will always be made, it might be harder to find than in the past but it’s definitely miles easier to hear.

We parked two blocks north of the venue on purpose, knowing that any post event opportunity will present itself on the northwest corner of the hall. As we walked down the realization of what a big production the concert was hit home, five luxury tour buses and three giant lorries were parked alongside the building. I had read that in excess of 45 people appear onstage during the shows and the touring party with crew numbers over 70 all told. While I understand the complaints about ticket prices, this wasn’t just one man and his acoustic guitar. We did slow down by the crash barriers but there was no sign of anybody apart from security and associated riffraff. As for the venue the Dodge Theatre had just changed names a few weeks prior to the Comerica Theatre, I really must find sponsorship for the blog eh? It’s a big boat of an arena but thankfully located right in the heart of the city rather than stuck in suburbia surrounded by car parks. I think it’s only six or seven years old and holds about 5500 people on three levels, this was to be my first visit and I’ve heard previously that the acoustics were poor which I am glad to say didn’t apply that evening. We waited out front to meet friends and it was a beautiful evening to be standing around watching the punters walk up from all directions. The audience was younger than I expected with most fitting into the 20-30-year-old bracket plus a fair number of little kids (!!!) and a handful of old punks. To my surprise I only saw two Clash shirts all evening but of course I only saw a few hundred of the entire crowd.

The tickets said 7:30 but it was probably 8:15 before we ventured in, there was no coherent desire to see N.E.R.D. so urgency was not applied. The lobby was squeaky clean in that homogenized way you only ever see in America, you could’ve been about to attend a movie or a baseball game such was the blandness of the construction. They even sold popcorn which made me laugh about how much things have changed since I last saw The Clash. Forgoing the hot buttery snack of some popcorn, I did part with $24 for two bottles of beer and we didn’t even get to keep the bottle. So this is why I don’t go to venues like this often. As we stood and chatted it seemed like we might be missing N.E.R.D. so made our way to our seats which were up in the balcony. I didn’t want to part with the equivalent of half a mortgage payment for four seats close to the stage so I decided balcony seats would give us the best possible view for the investment. The good news was we were in the very front row of the balcony so our sightlines were perfect and unobstructed the entire time, the bad news for the Clash Bloggette and the Mug Emptier (barcuicci’s name for the duration) was the seats were really high up, much higher than we could’ve expected and both of them (I found out later) were impacted greatly by a mild case of vertigo for the next 2 hours. What didn’t help was the wall in front of us couldn’t have been more than 30 inches high so the feeling that you might tumble over to your death at any moment just added to the experience. It really was a low balcony wall, it didn’t feel like you were in a box like at the London Palladium but more like you were a downhill ski jumper about to compete for a medal. The first Clash moment of the evening occurred when we found our seats (N.E.R.D had finished) as the between set music was some really good heavy heavy dub, no points for guessing who may have selected that.

Shortly after 830 the rear curtain was raised to reveal the giant GORILLAZ lettering at the back of the stage, soon after that the house lights dimmed and the string section started up with the introduction to the new album, then the giant video screen appeared with Snoop Dogg getting things started but my eyes were fixed on the stage, first the brass section, backing vocalists and drummer appeared followed by keyboard player and Paul Simonon stage right, the extra guitarist preceded Damon and at that stage all that was missing was Mick Jones. As you recall the last I heard was that Mick wasn’t guaranteed to be there that night, I elbowed the mug emptier to my left and said “oh shit, I don’t see Mick!’

To be continued (it’s just like the end of an episode of Kojak isn’t it)….. more this evening.

Friend of the blog Gil (who has a fantastic track record of chronicling all that matters in San Francisco) captured some great footage the following night, I think you’ll love the video below – especially between the two songs. Check out Gil’s youtube page, lot of great stuff including Strummerville events in the bay area.

GORILLAZ – “Glitter Freeze” / “Plastic Beach” @ Gibson Amphitheatre, LA, 27/10/10

Friday night then and a late late post which is in keeping with a week that always felt like it was wagging me rather than the reverse which I simply would always prefer. I’m so glad and fortunate to be (self) employed though and appreciate it always. I know a huge number of people remain without work so the idea of taking any time off seems an almost guilty pleasure, I think its tragic when people who want to work and are able to work can’t find employment. Its something I feel quite strongly about, that work brings a sense of pride and value to the individual. Having seen what mass unemployment has done to communities both in the UK and here in the States its a stark reminder of how fragile our society can be and remains.  The mid 80′s and the early 90′s in the UK were both very divisive times to observe and somehow the last few years seem even deeper, darker, more difficult perhaps. I’m not sure why but I think it might be because many struggle to see how ‘the good times’ can return without a lot more hardship and changes yet. I also hope I’m completely wrong….that’s not a political statement – but an economic one – the current model is unquestionably broken.

the making of the Joe Strummer mural in Lima

Anyway I’ve rambled away from the cause of the blog so lets review a few things I saw over the last day or two – as ever there’s loads of different things spinning around the internet. One piece I read with interest was an article about ‘when bands should split up’ on Suite 101.com – its a very broad topic with no easy answers but in the piece the example of The Clash comes up. The author suggests that The Clash should have ended as soon as Mick Jones was kicked out of the band. Its a safe and obvious statement to make though I think its written purely with the power of hindsight. I can (and have managed to) debate myself as to how I feel about that. On paper at least Strummer and Simonon plus the new recruits laboured on a lot longer than I would ever have expected. The Clash MKII were officially an act all the way up until 1986, releasing one album, one single and touring more often than I recollected during that time. I remember being annoyed as can be when Mick was kicked out of the band and was rather cynical about ‘The Clash’ continuing with the same name then the press release from Strummer/Simonon in September ’83 that claimed that the band would be ‘continuing the work that The Clash had set out to do’. I was always a huge Mick Jones fan and was probably more likely to give up on a new Clash than the average fan at that time, but still I bought ‘This is England’ and then ‘Cut The Crap’ and saw the new lineup perform live twice – I gave it a try and I’m glad I did. I subscribe to a belief that its better to know why you don’t really like something than why you do, the final incarnation of The Clash wasn’t the same thing nor anywhere near as good. It also should be said that any strength in the songs records post-Mick was washed away by the mid 80′s production on that final album. Hindsight says they should have ended yes, but the list of bands that have lost a major part of the engine and then continued to make great music so it is possible. There are also those (Echo and The Bunnymen first time round come to mind) who made one final album without a key member and it damaged the legacy. I think Paul and Joe felt they had to continue to see if it could still work, the band were coming off the back of their most commercially successful album and the right chemistry could have seen that continue. However the final album was too long in coming and 1985 was a very different playing field to the one last visited three years earlier, none of that aided by what was a really poor record. I do think that a name change might have been a better idea based on the music that was released.

Finally I’d like to offer a huge thank you to those of you who have written in about seeing Gorillaz on the early legs of the North American dates. Thanks for the photos and the news I’ll work in as much as I can. What is most exciting to me is the comments about the gigs themselves have been consistently excellent and affirm that my idle speculation this week has been correct – that the band are much improved and more cohesive live playing as a tight unit (albeit an 18 piece one). Paul and Mick are also receiving wonderful receptions when introduced…Damon knew this would happen!! Glitter Freeze is going to be our highlight as I mentioned yesterday, with no vocalist to take centre stage it will be 4 minutes where you can squint and see a direct piece of Clash history, I simply can’t wait to see them. I’ll leave you with a clip from the Letterman broadcast the other night to get you in the mood. Will be back later in the day, I started writing this last and ran out of steam.

Gorillaz – Rhinestone Eyes on the David Letterman Show