Hello again and welcome back to the Clashblog. I realise that last night’s update was one of the briefest things I’ve ever written on the blog but it was late, it had been a long day and I was quite excited about the ‘scoop’ factor involved with confirming that Big Audio Dynamite would indeed be playing Coachella in about three months time. As far as I can tell from the news feeds we were the second website on earth to publish this news – and while it wasn’t earth shattering to some we all know the significance in our particular orbits. It’s now been picked up by most news and music outlets and has created some interest.

The initial rumors about a (4th?) incarnation of B.A.D. I think began as long ago as last summer and while I was a little skeptical about it happening I figured the likelihood of the reunion was that much higher due to the approach from Mick Jones when it comes to collaborations and changing gears over the last few years. After all who would have imagined that you would follow-up appearance on one track with Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz by (literally) throwing your hat in the ring and joining up with the band as a full-time member for the better part of six months; resulting in both a worldwide tour, a chance for Clash fans to see Jones and Simonon together again and even more surprisingly further contributions to new Gorillaz output. At the same time Jones is kept busy with Carbon Silicon who are still rumored to be putting together some live dates in the very near future, how can that possibly leave time for a Big Audio Dynamite reunion? I am less concerned with the how as I am with the actual results, Coachella has a famous track record of announcing appearances in January only for them to never materialise so I hope that jinx doesn’t strike again.

More to the point CBS/Sony are still sitting on archive material which in theory at least will see Legacy reissues with bonus material of the second third and fourth Big Audio Dynamite albums which from the perspective of a Clash fan is potentially going to unearth some treasure, but for the record company the opportunity to have Mick’s post Clash band back in the spotlight is probably more than they could have hoped for in 2011. At the time of writing there is nothing more official to draw upon than the lineup artwork released for Coachella as featured yesterday but I’m sure in the coming days we will see either a new B.A.D. website make an appearance after a long absence or a more detailed interview with Mick Jones about why the band have chosen to reform. My first question would be what lineup will be featured and do you intend to record anything new. Unbelievably it’s about 15 years since the last version of the band ground to a halt with the website still offering an audio file of their last recording and a message that they would have updates soon. Yes I’ve been waiting that long. Tony James must be the most patient man in rock and roll….

As for Coachella, I’ll try and write more about that tonight – there are actually four or five good reasons on the Saturday to drive out to the desert of Southern California but I’m both hoping and assuming that a reformed B.A.D. wouldn’t fly all the way to Los Angeles just for one single appearance though of course I could be wrong. I’d much rather see them in a venue. That’s all for now….back later with Coachella thoughts and how the story broke elsewhere.

God it’s chilly today – and I’m not referring to the country or the food (just a note for those keyboard warriors who I see almost everyday who can’t spell). I love the cold weather though, it makes you think quicker, act quicker and move quicker especially when you’re used to summers here where shorts and short sleeves are the order of the day from April until now. I hope you managed to check out the Clash Cup on yesterday’s post, not only is a great pairing but the voting has been incredibly close over the first 24 hours – so do go and have a peek.

I know the recent weeks and months have been somewhat overshadowed on the blog by events concerning Mick and Paul touring with Gorillaz. Of course it’s not The Clash but I still think the significance cannot be ignored, especially when I see the reaction of so many who put to one side the fact that the music was very different and not connected to The Clash but wanted to enjoy it for what it was rather than what it wasn’t or perhaps simply because it appeared that those two men have been enjoying it so. I felt my convictions to cover the US/Canadian legs of the tour were appropriate and worthwhile but I realised it created a backlog of covering other things as fully as I’d like to. That’s one of the reasons I think firing out shorter posts when needed might be more commonplace on the blog now so that information isn’t misplaced or tardy – you in turn can filter out what you don’t find relevant or interesting so long as on balance I manage to cover more ground. So on the downside I never really found time to cover much from the European/UK legs of the tour. Tonight I wanted to link you towards some of the best things I have found about those dates though at the same time encourage you to please send in any comments or summaries of seeing the band over the last couple of weeks. Don’t worry about state-of-the-art journalism (I never do) but just send in 100 words, 200 words or whatever of how you feel and what you saw, plus how you felt the band and specifically Paul and Mick were received and performed. I’d love to hear any recollections you might have and I’m sure everyone else would enjoy that too. Let’s move on to the stories that I found which are pretty good, I’m going to stay loyal to my tried and tested ‘monkey rating system’ because I want to:

Damon and Paul in London (Getty Images)

On ABC news Damon Albarn gave a fairly lightweight interview with the Associated Press although I blame much of that on the interviewer who seems to have taken their questions from a preschool class in terms of the lack of examination. 1.5 monkeys

This article by The Independent is somewhat interesting as it states that in November Gorillaz was the most blogged about artist/band online. Initially I felt a bit guilty about that, have I unknowingly contributed to their top spot? Any guilt was quickly eroded however when I saw the other acts in the top 10, at least (with the exception of British Sea Power) there is one good act in the list. It does of course beg the question – Where are The Clash? 2.0 monkeys

ITN News provided this video clip which caught up with the band in Berlin at the weekend. A few tasty clips of Paul onstage plus an interview with Damon in which he seems more interested in the ceiling than the interviewer (maybe they got the same guy from the Associated Press) as Damon explains more about the concept of the band and the charisma brought to the group by members such as Paul Simonon. Worthy of a few minutes of your time which is all the video takes. 2.5 monkeys

You may well have caught this story about a week ago (here represented in Entertainment Weekly) and I had meant to write about it at the time but got waylaid. It seems that the next Gorillaz album might be much sooner than you think, perhaps in just a few months as Damon revealed he has been working throughout the tour on new material on his iPad. The main reason that interests me of course is that Paul and Mick have been part of the tour throughout and I’m guessing (but not knowing) that the friendship especially with Paul has furthered itself in that time. Keep an eye out for more news on this and whether future participation from the former Clash members is part of what’s being created. 3.0 monkeys

When I saw them live I thought one of the more intriguing guests was Bobby Womack and the Seattle Times is one of the few media outlets to taken the time to interview him during the tour that I’ve seen. The 66-year-old Womack gives a pretty funny interview where he reveals he hadn’t heard of Gorillaz but certainly knew of The Monkees. Worth a read. 3.0 monkeys

Simon Price from The Independent offers a fairly glowing report on the appearance on the south coast in Brighton. It seems that most of his research is in good order except for speculation that Damon might be running the entire tour at a loss due to the scale of the production. Obviously he didn’t pay for his own ticket with a comment like that and it rather detracts from the paragraphs that follow. All the same a good review and well-written. 3.0 monkeys

There’s so many more that I’ll catch up with them over the next few days and some more interviews are going to be in the mix as well. I’ll leave you with the video below which I thought was pretty creative using just the lights of New York (thankfully devoid of Times Square) in synchronicity with Melancholy Hill – view as full screen! I’ll be back soon – have a good one. Tim

Good Morning everyone, it would be best if I don’t say much this morning as I’m thoroughly pissed off with Arsenal losing at home to Newcastle…I mean really. A perfect opportunity to change the tune however exists with part 2 of Shannon’s story about Mick, Paul and seeing Gorillaz in New York at the David Letterman appearance. Part 1 is required reading and the link is right here and then I’ll just leave you in the capable hands of Shannon who is in the midst of the first song of the evening…..

The song ended and for a moment I stood there surveying the stage trying to take it all in. Before me were Mick and Paul, something I was just a few short years too young to ever have witnessed when The Clash were still together. I thought a moment about all the memories that existed between the two of them, memories beyond what is known and written, and it was really quite something to have my first time seeing them reunited on such a small stage and so close. It was truly a moment I’ll treasure throughout my lifetime. And this is where the coherent words begin to fail. Watch the webcast if you haven’t already, and just know it was every bit as exciting as it looks (then multiply times ten, television may add pounds, but it also reduces excitement factor when all said and done). Damon launched into full on performance mode for the entire night, dancing wildly, sweating fiendishly, and conducting his mad circus of performers and audience members, whipping everyone into a complete whirlwind of excitement. They all played their hearts out, and we danced our asses off. And all the while, we knew the world was watching, including our family and our kids. It was truly surreal in so many ways.

We could see the set list on the floor in front of us, and finally when “Feel Good Inc.” was over, we knew there was only one song left. Noooooo! But it was “Clint Eastwood.” If you’ve watched the webcast, you’ll know that is when the final frenzy occurred. All hell broke loose, and we jumped headlong into the chaos on stage. Then, it was over. There was a brief dash for the stage as people began asking for things from the stage, mainly the set lists. My sister asked for one, but it was intercepted in the process. At that moment I noticed an upside down button on the stage. Somehow I knew to look at my bag and noticed mine was gone. It was my Strummerville pin (*editors note=badge), and it must have come of in the thick of things. I called to one of the security guards but at first he thought I was asking for something from the band, so he semi listened but didn’t do anything until I finally yelled “that’s my pin up there!” I got it back thankfully, and then we were out the door.

After the show:

We headed outside and walked to the side of the building to see who was around. Equipment was being lugged out the side stage door, and crew was all over the place. A few people from the audience were hanging around, but not many. Bit by bit we began to see people come through the side stage door. Yukimi Nagano was talking to someone, and then was gone. Bootie Brown came and went quickly. Members of De La Soul were hanging out, and CBS staff were milling about. I was actually surprised at how few audience members were there, so talking to everyone was very relaxed and so casual that it almost bordered on feeling intrusive being there. Finally, a few more fans gathered around outside near us, and I think only because he felt like what he was supposed to do, one of the CBS staff asked everyone to move off the side and away from the door, and pointed to an area about 3 feet away from where we were standing. Ady and I chuckled at the fanfare that was made of moving us such a short distance. But it was now that I was starting to get nervous because I knew I was most likely going to be meeting somebody, whether it be Damon Albarn, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon or Jamie Hewlett . . . I tried to pretend to myself that I wasn’t, but there was no getting around it in the end.

Somehow, through all of that however, I knew that if it was anyone, I had to meet Mick Jones. My nervousness translated into me becoming single-minded and I just basically declared that I had to talk to Mick Jones. Had to! Looking back it’s all very amusing to me now, and much to the credit and kindness of Maseo from De La Soul, he saw my determination and indulged me (in all honesty, probably with a bit of a hint of amusement on his part) and called over to my sister and I and told us to hang low by him to help deflect any further shooings from the staff. We thanked him and discussed the show, telling him that we enjoyed ourselves so much it ridiculous, which he seemed truly pleased to hear. My sister asked him what it was like performing for such a small audience, and he said it was great, the smallest they’d ever played together for with Gorillaz, and that they were all having a blast together on the tour. It was nice to hear that.

Jamie Hewlett came out for a bit after that. Jamie, I have admiration for on an entirely different level than I do for Mick Jones, and for Damon Albarn. As an artist, his territory is much more familiar to me and I feel that I have at least some common foothold in his world, or at least feel that I can speak the same creative language. For this reason I think, I was actually able to hold a regular conversation, thankfully. We also had a couple photos taken with him, which we did not look at until he was gone. They are priceless, every bit as comically demented as his art work, with my sister and I playing part of the straight man. I put one of them on my desk and laugh every single time I look at it.

Then very casually, Mick Jones was there……

Thanks again Shannon…it’s really a great read and part 3 might be the most enjoyable of all which I’ll have posted soon.  Tim