Welcome back you fine Clash people on this very special Tuesday, it’s election day here in America which reminds me of both an awful song and some equally awful memories. More on that later this week I’m sure, for now though the final installment of a 6 carriage train that departed the day after I saw Gorillaz in Phoenix last week. I know I stretched out the story quite a bit but with hindsight rather a lot happened over those two days. Catch up on the earlier posts if you like as it’ll be more fun or jump right in below.

Mick signing my London Calling inner sleeve

So it was that less than 30 minutes after the concert ended Damon Albarn was outside with a crowd that numbered probably about 60 people or so. It was a beautiful evening outside which further added to how shocked I was at the relatively small gathering of fans and autograph takers. Damon seemed perfectly polite and peppy throughout the 10 minutes or so he spent saying hello and signing memorabilia. Although a fair few years have passed for Damon also since I last saw him in  2002 I would give anything to know how he keeps his energy so high. Eventually he headed off toward the bus and I noticed that with his departure the crowd gradually reduced to about half of its original size. Two friends of mine Scott and Jessica continued waiting with the rest of us but they were in danger of missing the last train so they said they had to head off and hoped I would be able to meet the boys from The Clash. Jess said “don’t worry as soon as I leave they will come out, wait-and-see” Bless her for being such a clairvoyant.

Just a few minutes later the glass door about 40 yards down opened once more, I may have been the only person looking for I was definitely the first to react by yelling out “Jonesy” at the top of my lungs. He looked up the pavement and grinned as he stepped towards the bus he held up one finger indicating just a moment. Suddenly my brain started swimming with the incredible rush of emotion you only feel every so often in life, some that they first love you times with tragic news like an unexpected death, or at times such as when somebody first reveals that they are in love with you. This is one such rush as all I could think of was staring at that first Clash album cover, studying the lyric sheet and photographs that came with London Calling and endless hours (hundreds? thousands? more?) I spent listening to all of their music and trying to perfect my own lacking tonal ability to sing along. Especially I remember as a 13-15 year-old to Mick Jones, the higher notes better matching my own limited range. As he walked nearer all I could think was ‘bloody hell it’s Mick Jones’ (I don’t know what I was expecting) and then suddenly he was just a few feet away smiling, chatting and signing autographs. The remaining crowd were patient but initially I felt frozen to the spot, unable to move or really even comprehend that I had a chance to say hello. I did manage to lift up the mobile phone and get some typically poor photographs from above head height. Then at last there was an interlude between his exchanges and a chance to say something. As I wrote before it would be great to tell you that your Clash blogger pulled out a microphone and asked the most interesting questions ever posed to Mick, stopping him cold and insisting I come on the bus for a full interview post-haste. I’m sorry to tell you that never happened, I knew I’d be excited if I ever met any member of The Clash, what I didn’t expect was to be completely overcome by emotion. The emotion was palpable and throughout the 15 minutes that they were outside (Paul was to follow) I basically felt like I was 15 again and transported back to a time when we were all waiting for the next Clash album. So what came out of my mouth when I first met Mick?

“Shepherds Bush”

Yes at the very moment I’d waited 30 years for I blurted out the part of London I used to live in when I first got my own flat. The ground floor flat

Damon....and the Edge?

off the Goldhawk Road was just a few hundred yards from where Mick and Paul were first introduced to Joe in 1976. Although The Clash were no more when I moved there in 1985 I chose the neighborhood specifically to be in west London and near where it all began. But maybe I just chose it so a quarter-century later I could tell Mick? God knows?

“Mick how are you, lovely to see you finally. I used to live in Shepherds Bush”

He grinned in a way that said he’d seen it all before, but was more than happy to see it again. I think he said ‘nice, that’s great’ and extended his hand to shake mine. I then recalled saying ‘it was a great show, thanks so much for everything, just everything’. What struck me most on the night and again a week later was just how sincerely happy, courteous and warm both he and Paul seemed to absolutely everybody who was around. In Mick’s case I would add the adjective gentle, his whole persona was remarkably so.

Luckily I did have a second extended opportunity to talk to Mick which I’ll get to in a moment for by this time Paul Simonon had joined his former (and present) band mate. Seeing Paul in the same view as Mick was just lovely, I can’t think of a better word to describe it. Both smiling and laughing not just at those gathered but also with each other, Paul also was extremely patient with each person who wanted him to scribble his name, or grab a quick photo. I’ve never been one to collect for autographs and the whole process feels a bit daft and really obtrusive. Reluctantly I was part of that pack, and watched Paul patiently sign one piece of Gorillaz merchandise after another. I finally caught his eye and holding the lyric sheet to London Calling I asked

“Paul would you mind signing this?”

I swear his grin got a bit bigger and he replied

“Yeah of course”

He finished signing yet another photo of Murdoch or 2-D or whatever character and then grabbed the London Calling lyrics. He turned it over a couple times before deciding just where to sign and then handed it back to me. By now my composure  was about the equivalent of a three-week-old puppy so I managed to hold at least part of a conversation. As you’ll know Paul has got a very unique speaking voice, as if standing next to him wasn’t strange enough chatting certainly was. It went a bit like this.

CB “Hello Paul how are you?”
PS “I’m great mate, really great cheers”
CB “It was a great concert Paul, really good, you were great tonight”
PS “I’m glad you enjoyed it, it was a good time”
CB “I first saw you lot years back, I was just a teenager” (I then proceeded to give him probably far too much information about my earliest Clash experiences)
PS ‘Nice, you saw some great shows, those were the days eh?”
CB ‘Yeah, I never thought I’d get the chance to see you sharing a stage with Mick again so tonight meant so much to me it was just brilliant”
PS “I’m glad, its been really nice…really good fun”

Me and Paul

Luckily the bloggette was paying attention and asked if we’d be able to get a photo, Paul stood beside me and put his hand on my shoulder, I was in tears by then if I remember rightly and as we were preparing for the quick photo I told him how The Clash practically reared me, and I’ll never forget them or Joe and then thanked him once again. He said something like Cheers…and Thank You.

I must have told him my name as when I said ‘see ya Paul enjoy the rest of the tour, thanks for everything’  he replied with

‘All The Best Tim’.

Maybe the only time I’ll ever speak to him so it ended a treat. The next part is told to me rather than my own recollection, after saying goodbye to Paul I marched around the corner against the wall of the building and was leaning against it with my hands over my head. The emotion was just too much for a few moments and I was crying a bit…just lost it…totally. Kim came over and asked what I was doing and that Mick’s still here…so is Paul. I think I said “I’m not coping, that’s what I’m doing”. I guess some might say I was star struck, but it runs deeper than that. I sincerely feel that The Clash have been maybe the most constant thing in my life. No other thing (apart from Arsenal) that I was mad about in 1979 am I still mad about now. You could play one of 60 different Clash songs right now and it will impact me and my mood, almost always for the better. Starting this blog has perhaps brought that into sharper relief and I thought of all of the wonderful fans the band has, and just how much passion remains for the band and its members. I know that all was whizzing through my head as well.

Kim managed to get me to come back round the corner and Mick and Paul were together again, with many grabbing photos as they chatted and relaxed. There were not many people left when I went back to Mick and asked if he could sign my  sleeve and he did so right with Paul’s signature. I’ve committed to memory our brief chat that was surely less than a minute or two but apart from one private thought it was essentially this.

CB “Thanks Mick, just so much, for all of the music and all the memories for so bloody long”
MJ (Shyly) “ah of course”
CB “I wondered, do you think the Rock and Roll Public library might eventually make it over to the States?”
MJ (eyes lit up) “I really hope so, we’d like to do that, a lot, maybe next year”
CB “Oh brilliant, that would be great, East Coast? West Coast? (like a dick) Somewhere in the middle?
MJ (laughing) “Not sure yet but we really hope so”
CB (I rambled longer and harder than this but essentially) ‘That would be cool, I keep in touch with Ade back in London via email about it, I also am friends with Pete the photographer…who came out last summer and took loads of pics of the library and met you”
MJ “Oh right, great…yeah”
CB “Yeah and I wrote about it on the blog…my blog…The Clash Blog…I write it you see….(whoops!)
MJ “Oh….it’s you….! Nice one…nice one mate, that’s great”

His recognition seemed sincere enough, whether he thought oh it’s YOU who writes all that…or just was being very polite I’ll never know, but he seemed to smile a bit more anyway. I think he meant it in the former manner.

I ended up reeling off far too many thank yous and far too few words of logic but said something about how you’ve always been there Mick and that really mattered. He just smiled and took it in, I could never had said the right thing but I had a go. I did say ‘Stay Free Mick’ as he walked away…completely without intending it.

Soon after the two of them headed off to the buses and Los Angeles, and we made it back to my car. I don’t know if I’ll see them again, but at least I did that night. I’ve been regretting never meeting Joe Strummer now for nearly eight years, and on the rare chances when I could have I convinced myself I’d not know what to say and Joe was too great – he was Joe. I was a stupid reason and one I curse myself over, but I feel some of the pain has lessened.

My favourite memory of the night wasn’t the concert, or the brief exchanges I managed to have with the two of them, but it was of standing just five feet away from the two of them and seeing them happy – happy and on top of their game, just like it’s always been, just as it will always be…and somewhere in the dark night I remember hoping that Joe – or the energy of Joe that is everywhere could somehow see me and know my passion was also about him of course – and I’ve finally met you too now…at last.

Monday evening here at Clash Blog Towers – nearly 7 PM and I’m finally getting around to the post I had hoped to get written last night. I apologise in advance if I’ve been a bit too wordy in recapturing the events of last Monday and Tuesday, to a certain extent I have been writing for myself just to ensure that I document as well as I can something that I hope will stay with me for many years to come. Thanks for your patience and enjoying the ride, if you’re a first-time visitor to the site you might want to page back and begin with part one.

It wasn’t until fully 60 seconds after the appearance of Paul Simonon on the stage that one final person join the assembled cast, even without significant lighting it was clear by his frame that Mick Jones was indeed here and my worries had proven to be unnecessary. What followed for the next two hours was not the greatest concert that I’ve ever attended but definitely the greatest concert of its type you could ever expect to attend and one of the most unique experiences I’ve ever had the pleasure to see and hear. Like some of you I’m sure you’ve either already been to a Gorillaz concert earlier on in the tour or have had the chance to see much of the material performed live online or via that David Letterman special, but nothing really prepares you for the visual/aural and organizational brilliance involved with this particular tour. I’ll get back to that in a minute but first of all Paul and Mick. Above and behind the stage sits a video screen with image clarity that’s quite amazing, the timing of the images with the music and what’s going on a few feet below is really little short of magnificent. With that said I don’t think my eyes really left either Paul or Mick until at least the third or fourth song, such was the sheer emotional joy and oddity of seeing them down beneath us so many years removed from The Clash.

Paul simply dominated his part of the stage, I suppose a neutral observer would have just said ‘ah yes, the bass player seems to be enjoying himself’ – but there was far more to it than that. Simonon (when playing) was truly prowling around the stage and for whatever reason you could hear his bass much higher in the mix than on recorded output by Gorillaz. Even when he stood patiently still you couldn’t help but wait anxiously for him to return to slinging his instrument around like only he can. On the other side of the stage Mick Jones was continually trotting off his combination march/shuffle, his side of the stage in general had far more activity with guests coming and going while Mick moved to accommodate that constant traffic. The overall cohesion of the busy stage was a constant source of interest, with our vantage point providing excellent awareness of that. As early as the fourth song ‘Stylo’ started bouncing along my favorite recurring moment of the evening took place, with Paul moving some 50 feet to his right to play alongside Mick. Although I was a long way from the stage the significance of seeing them so close to one another meant that that was all I watched for the better part of the entire song, simultaneously and not for the first time that evening the thought of Joe Strummer entered my head and stayed there as if to remind me exactly why I was there. I’ve no idea if I looked as overcome by emotion as I felt at that moment, the more than 30 years of Clash songs and Clash interviews and Clash album sleeves all crashed into my head at the same time, I hope that others like me have had moments just like that during this tour where you reach back if only for a few moments to what brought you there. It wasn’t a Clash concert and there’s no point pretending it ever could’ve been, but it was a chance to get a direct glimpse back at some of the brilliance of these two chaps. It’s 27 years since they shared the stage in any true capacity, even if you saw the last proper Clash concerts at age 13 you would already be 40. I couldn’t help but think of the thousands of Clash fans who were born just a bit too late and never had that chance, just think about the joy they derived from seeing these two together at last.  Who’d deny them that opportunity – and unlike The Doors and others not some watered down version of the original deal with a guest vocalist filling Strummer’s place. Thank **** that we’ve never had to endure that. More than once I remember mumbling to the mug emptier about a “Clash moment ahead” as Paul decided to wander over to Mick….each and every time that sent a shiver down my spine.

What can you possibly say about Damon Albarn that hasn’t already been said? You can overlook his ability as a songwriter if you wish, you can

image courtesy Carrie Musgrave

downplay the fact that he manages to merge a remarkable roster of talent into a cohesive concert and idea, you might not even like the way he sings. What you can’t debate is the energy of his performance, if not quite the heyday of Blur but he hasn’t slowed down much that I can tell. He was all over the stage, from his piano to the lead mic stand, from the backing vocalists to the entire width of front stage – he’s simultaneously master of ceremonies, lead singer, welcoming committee and musician. If you looked away (invariably at Mick or Paul) chances are he wouldn’t be at the same part of the stage as he was where you left your vision just beforehand. The overall mix and sound was amazing, layers of vocals and instruments seamlessly filling the large hall. I essentially failed to watch the video screen for most of the show. I won’t detail each song and guest vocalist you can find out far more elsewhere and I wasn’t taking notes. Personal highlights were ‘Glitter Freeze ‘where Paul and Mick just took over proceedings for four minutes, Mick’s belly dancing during ‘White Flag’, a remarkable performance of ‘Empire Ants’ which took it far beyond where it is on the disc,’Punk’ was simply great, a minute and fifty seconds of racket that is more like early Blur (and via lineage The Clash) than anything else on offer. Paul continued to have issues with his guitar strap and Mick was always interacting with the guests and audience.

I’ll throw up the full set list beneath but I wanted to share my personal highlight specific to this show, very late on during ‘Feel Good Inc’ one of the never ending guests De La Soul was standing on Paul’s lead to his bass. Simonon initially gave it a tug to free it up facing away from the singer, then seemingly bothered he turned and gave it an almighty yank which made the singer temporarily lose his footing. This was during one of the many times where Paul seemed to be exacting revenge on his bass for something long ago. A very fitting visual memory for me if that’s the last time I see Mr. Simonon on stage. If you get a chance to attend in Europe or Australia/N.Z. please do so, I’ve a feeling you’ll have a great time. For me – it was a chance to see a band I really like anyway complimented immeasurably by two members of the band that got this all started for me in the first place – a pretty perfect evening. All that was left was for me to see if I might get a bit closer outside.

Outside the crowd near the tour buses was big but not ridiculous, the corner where they were perched was too full already for additional occupants so we took up our wait across the city street. A few guest vocalists from the gig made brief appearances but after 25 minutes or so Damon Albarn came wandering over after chucking his acoustic on the bus. Our position enabled us to see that neither Paul or Mick had yet ventured out so we remained hopeful.

I’ll finish this up soon….cheers- Tim

SET LIST

“Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach”    “Last Living Souls”    “19-2000″    “Stylo”    “Melancholy Hill”    “Rhinestone Eyes”    “Super Fast Jellyfish”    “Tomorrow Comes Today”    “Empire Ants”    “Broken”    “Dirty Harry”    “Doncamatic”    “El Manana”    “White Flag”    “To Binge”    “Dare”    “Glitter Freeze”    “Punk”    “Plastic Beach”    Encore:   “Cloud Of Unknowing”    “Feel Good, Inc.”    “Clint Eastwood”    “Don’t Get Lost In Heaven”   “Demon Days”

I’d be an arse if I neglected to mention the news that Danny Baker has announced he is battling cancer, if you’re in England you already know Baker I’m sure. He took ever as editor of ‘Sniffin Glue’ from Mark Perry and I’ve always wanted the blog to be a bit of a fanzine for the modern age. Baker went on to write for the NME and was always a huge supporter of punk and post punk music, especially The Clash. Perhaps only beaten by his love for football and specifically Millwall. He’s now been in the spotlight in the UK almost as long as The Clash as a writer, DJ, radio and TV personality and is a throw back to my youth for all the right reasons. A good and intelligent man I wish him a full and speedy recovery.

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