Good Morning indeed, it’s a beautiful morning, I’ve got coffee ~ the house is silent and I was able to sort my cd/record collection yesterday. You know how rewarding that can be. More importantly after 36 hours of problems the internet (well my connection)  seems to be working properly again – what a wank the last 2 days were. No internet for me means I can’t work nor update the blog, so I’m the hole on both counts.

So expect a quick ramble and not much in the way of enlightenment. Thanks for all your comments the last few days, speaking of reunion concerts seems to bring out emotion of satisfaction and disdain. I think the difference might be whether you saw the band first time round? I confess though I did see two bands that weren’t near the original line ups (I failed to mention this) and had mixed results. First the positive, a few years ago I saw Buzzcocks for the first time in about 16 years and it was brilliant. Small sweaty club, songs at breakneck speed, loud, energetic and an enthused audience. I was even impressed with their new material and of course the final 6-7 songs reinforced just how bloody marvelous the band were in their prime. Of course I was shocked at how they had aged (I was reminded so had I) but the power and delivery of the buzzing guitars was a fantastic rush for this old punk. Trivia time, please explain the connection between Buzzcocks and Twin Peaks.

Then there’s the other experience which I stupidly neglected to mention. I also think this example of seeing a band without original key member(s) has caused me a 24 year scar that led to me avoiding most similar concert circumstances. It was of course seeing The Clash without Mick and Topper. The emotion I can recall was confusion, I felt guilty (for seeing them without Mick who I adored), I felt betrayed (especially when Police On My Back was sung by another), I felt inspired (Joe was still Joe, how could you fail to enjoy being close to the front with him on stage?) I felt  embarrassed (the new songs were simply not just a step down from expected songwriting they were horrible). Yes I was 16 and didn’t have hundreds and hundreds of concerts under my belt yet but somehow this impacted me ever since. It was like seeing Ian Wright playing for West Ham after he left Arsenal, or drinking Ribena from a can instead of the bottle or carton. Just really odd variations of the original. It’s not the same and it’s daft to pretend it compares.

I know there are exceptions which I’ll hear about, but even Echo and The Bunnymen who I’ve stayed loyal to; it’s never been the same since Pete Defreitas passed away. Right back to my coffee….Clash updates will follow today (Mick Jones video worth coming back for) and a Clash cup match up.

Cheers!