Hello again from Ice Station Zebra and welcome back to the blog. Alright I’m exaggerating a bit but when summer finally buggered off on Monday afternoon and temperatures fell by some 45f in 48 hours we all felt a chill in the air (relatively speaking). Any sense of some calm hours catching lovely Autumnal weather was rudely shattered yesterday as a storm rolled in that then rumbled around the desert for the next 18 hours, the highlight being a hail storm featuring chunks of ice as big as golf balls smashing into the neighbourhood. It was all exciting to watch until I heard glass shattering, then more of the same. A number of houses and cars lost windows yesterday in the hail and my car has a series of lovely roof and bonnet dents to now show as war wounds. Exciting…? Oh yes.

More exciting though is the news that Paul Simonon, Mick Jones and some bloke from Blur are now on these shores. In fact the stage will be filled with eighteen official band members throughout the now commenced tour by Gorillaz. Then you add to the mix the revolving door of guest vocalists it will make for a bit of a chaotic seen, or will it? According to review of the opening night gig in Montreal it all went quite smoothly with more than a little flash sequencing that more than made up for a crowded stage. The whole gig review is right here and it augurs well for those of you like myself clutching bloody expensive tickets and yet not quite sure what we will get for our hard earned cash.

Paul thinks 'this ain't The Roundhouse'

Seeing half of The Clash on stage with bass and guitar in hand makes it a proposition I couldn’t say no to, and I know from emails and comments that many of you felt it would be foolish in the extreme to presume such an opportunity might present itself in the near future if indeed ever again. Though I’m sure like you I also want to enjoy the show and music and yes in my case it helps that I like Damon Albarn’s work a great deal and have done since the first time I saw Blur back in 1991 (bloody hell, even that is almost 20 years ago now…how did that happen). For others though I know you are taking a punt on Gorillaz and are there essentially to see former members The Clash, but honestly I think it will be a good concert in addition to the two chaps that will be our primary focus. I say this because the indications are that the summer festivals were mostly a chance to get the band ship-shape and the intervening weeks were used greatly to work out the kinks and refine the live experience of seeing Gorillaz, don’t forget its a new proposition as a live act. Based on the review above and clips I’ve seen and read on Twitter the show is indeed a few gears above what was trotted out this summer. Good news for us, not so much if you weathered the Glastonbury warm up gig. I’ve seen Blur enough times to know that Damon is miles better with an audience that reacts and pays attention and a bit of a sulk at other times, sounds like someone I know. Hopefully the huge scope of these gigs won’t derail the gigs into what could potentially be arena (dance) rock. I’m being optimistic and staying there, its not the time to get sour.

It did get me thinking if I’ve ever seen a band with more than a dozen members before and came up far short of anything that approaches the 18 strong Gorillaz crew. The Specials, The Men They Couldn’t Hang, Belle and Sebastian all peaked at about 7 or 8 I think so I’ve a feeling the toughest job on this tour may fall on whoever sits at the mixing desk. This (giant arena/guest vocalists) is all a bit foreign to me, I’ve never ached to be in audiences more than 3,000 strong unless it was a festival (wrong..I stumbled into Wembley Arena a few times) and I’ve forever struggled with the concept of sitting at a concert, what a trial. I’ll adjust right? It will be alright in the end.

In the meantime…I know many of you have tickets for the intervening 3 weeks at venues across North America, so please share your thoughts when you get home with your Gorillaz merchandise safely tucked away. Photos and gig notes will be happily received and reproduced and first Clash reference on stage wins a gong of some sort. Be good….and enjoy the Plastic Beach. Don’t forget Letterman tomorrow and the webcast and to get your Clash shirts laundered and pressed. Brothel creepers are acceptable footwear.    Tim

Nearly forgot – enter this competition over at Spin to win Gorillaz tickets at a selection of tour dates.

Good evening and how goes it? I trust well and thanks once more for dropping in to the blog, I think its finally happened – Summer has ended in the desert. If you live somewhere with a long and bitter winter you know that feeling you have in April when you know the worst you might be left to face are some chilly nights? That’s very similar to the feeling I have tonight, after about 100 days with the air-conditioning running constantly it looks like we can finally open our windows and get some air at least for much of the day. It is a pity I have no musical talent as surely the submarine like conditions of an Arizona summer would be conducive to dedicating a lot of time to writing music. I was trying to weigh up what needs to be covered in the next seven days and unless I do some more frequent Westway Traffic editions you’ll be looking at getting information that is already weeks or even months old. I don’t really have time to post more frequently so Westway Traffic Volume 11,12,13 might represent every 2nd or 3rd post for the coming days. Thats alright? Good…let’s be getting on with edition eleven then – as ever to find out the full story click on the bold paragraph heading if you fancy. Cheers ~

Libertines ‘best festival moment’ of 2010: Just 18 months ago it seemed like the least likely reunion we’d see in the near future such was depth of the divide between Pete and Carl not just from the fallout over The Libertines but fairly constant bad blood in the intervening years. As recently as the Spring the reunion gigs were a ‘maybe’ but when the summer festival season descended upon us there they were ready to go. For my money the two albums that The Libertines did muddle through at the start of the last decade were some of the best releases in the last decade and come as near as any other band to capturing some of the energy of The Clash, I’ve never convinced myself one way or another how much of that may have been due to Mick Jones producing the albums? Either way they worked well together and now the question is were these gigs a chance for fans to say goodbye or the start of a new chapter? It seems a bit unsaid at the moment but should it happens you can’t belt wonder if Jones is anything other than the natural choice to produce once more. This recent interview with Carl Barât does everything but ask the question but keep your ears open for more soon. As for the main story the band won the annual NME award for the long awaited gigs this past summer at  both Reading and Leeds.

Albarn promises Gorillaz to be more ‘real’ and improved on forthcoming tour: A short interview with Damon Albarn is worth a quick read just for some of the details and words chosen when talking about the expansion of the band to include ‘full time members’ including Paul Simonon. He also explains that the various summer appearances by Gorillaz were essentially a public rehearsal and that the band will be tighter and more like a band (for lack of a better phrase) on the forthcoming dates. Considering he’s been working with Paul Simonon on and off now for the better part of six years I’m left wondering if Simonon has quietly become a mainstay of the band? All conjecture is a bit frail however as you can’t really say Gorillaz are a regular concern either with the three incarnations releasing just 3 albums in a decade. On the other hand the sporadic nature of the band might be what keeps Paul involved beyond this tour as he has not indicated that being in a band full time is on his list of priorities. Either way the tour takes on an added layer of interest as it infers the rehearsals have been more intense in the build up. The tour kicks off tomorrow in Montreal and as mentioned previously I’d be happy to post any reviews you have or photos on the blog.

Film Review – ‘Mystery Train’: I do enjoy films but I have found in the last year or so (I’ll blame the blogging) that I don’t really have much time to sit down and watch a DVD with the frequency that I once did. One film I really must revisit was perhaps Joe Strummer’s best performance in Jim Jarmusch’s 1989 classic “Mystery Train”. My attention to detail for films is appalling (I can’t remember the names of actors not regurgitate scenes ad nauseum) so I leave it to those who are better equipped. One such review of that caliber would be linked above as  the ‘Careful Eugene’ have done a bang up job reviewing the film whereas I’d just say ‘see it’…which of course, you should.

The Clash are beneficiaries of ‘The Lennon Pass’ (whatever that means): I had to read this blog entry over at ‘The Rock Town Hall’ (yeah I know, other blog names were available) a few times and I still don’t see where hes coming from nor do I think hes really done his homework in terms of The Clash. Admittedly I make mistakes too on this blog and it does all come down to opinions but the meat of what he wrote over on his post is that The Clash get some extra credit for some really trite reasons. I won’t paraphrase it, here is what he said:

the Lennon Pass describes the point when an artist is granted a critical “lifetime pass” for accumulated subpar works based on the emotional/spiritual/humanitarian connection rock fans have with said artist’s landmark works and cultural influence.

Maybe I’m coming at this from the wrong angle but I feel The Clash have actually struggled to get the recognition they deserved across the board, especially in terms of how much time had to pass before saying they were crucial was an acceptable statement to make. The article is worth a look at as are the comments, but I wondered whether you agreed with the concept?

Clash Albums always opened with great tracks: Yeah, its true isn’t it? This was one of those topics so obvious that I’ve never really delved into it very deeply but the running order for Clash albums was always taken very seriously by Mick and the results were more than brilliant. On each album the first song brings you into a world that grabbed you by the throat and insisted you listen on. Dan Alten at the Indiana Daily Student (?) takes on the task of Clash opening tracks with more diligence than I’m going to string together tonight so go and have a look and then play Safe European Home nice and loudly.

OK good people, we’re over 1,100 words and I’m sure you’ve got tasks waiting for you. I’ve got bed and Arsenal/Chelsea when I wake so with that I’ll wish you a good evening. Tim

Good afternoon to you, thought I’d add a wrinkle by loading a new post at a strange time of day. Its October and I feel reckless so things like this just might happen from time to time. I also have great confidence that Arsenal will win tomorrow at the bus stop in Fulham and thus not ruin my weekend, i.e. I may as well write in happy and optimistic mode. I watched that video from yesterday 3 times in the last 36 hours also and if that doesn’t make you feel a bit peppier about life then there’s something wrong with you. It also reminded me that the issues of 1980 are not significantly worse than they are today, if at all (disastrous economies dominating the world, Russians occupying Afghanistan, racism, unemployment and jingoistic fear of terrorism although the proponents then were from across the Irish Sea and not the back alleys of Luton or Riyadh). Which was sort of what I wanted to write about briefly today but first…that landmark I mentioned yesterday.

I was aware a few weeks ago that soon I’d be posting my 500th story on the blog and thought to myself “must make an event of that one” – which categorically failed as this Wednesday just gone did mark the 500th update. (*I’m sure none of you had noticed either, but there we have it) 500 posts strong or in the vicinity of  37,000 words written in anger or peace, laughter or fury about the only band that matters. If you’ve been with us since the earliest days thanks for the loyalty and if you are newer to the blog please keep coming back and better still get involved if you like. Always happy to hear from you via the comments section or email. The blog is a bit like brushing my teeth or brewing coffee now, part of my routine and a good outlet to write, research and communicate with some great people about some cool stuff. If I get around to it I’ll do some sort of summary of the most popular posts in that time…or I might not. What I will say is thanks for continuing to share it with others, in September we again had the most visits in a single month that the blog has ever seen, not unreasonably beating the marks respectively set in August and July. So thanks…I appreciate it!!

The original 'Woody'

So back to my original intention of this post….I hope that most of you have had some exposure to Manic Street Preachers. Somehow the Welsh band have now been going for over 20 years (yes it is that long) and quickly found a niche market for their strident, political, energetic but also brilliantly creative music. For many in the press (and for fans alike) they filled in some ways the exact same void that The Clash had left wide open and nobody had properly filled during the 1980′s. Don’t tell me U2…just don’t get me started. What the Manics have done is not only create some of the best albums of the last two decades but also worn that heart on the sleeve with the concerns of our society and the refusal to just sit down and shut up…in the best spirits of The Clash. They also overcame something that would probably see most bands implode and admittedly it caused them time to take stock about continuing when founder member Richey Edwards went missing on Feb 1, 1995. He was never found and has been presumed dead for most of that time since, its one of modern musics biggest mysteries and I think just as significant a loss as Kurt Cobain of Nirvana less than a year earlier. I realise that’s a very debatable opinion but Manic Street Preachers are by far the better band (for me) and the apparent death of Edwards (although never confirmed) was one of those strange pieces of news that became so protracted you just reluctantly accept he must have died. Unlike the band I mentioned previously the Manics regrouped and have continued in releasing one great album after another for all these years since, although not as frequently as I would have liked. If you are new to the band I would suggest you start with 1994′s ‘The Holy Bible’ and then work backwards or forwards, I’ve just read reviews of the newest release ‘Postcards From a Young Man’ which was released 10 days ago and they are universally stellar. You can find out more about them via their official site if you need to but I’m really writing about what Nicky Wire of the band said a few days ago in an interview when discussing current events:

“The middle of the greatest economic recession ever witnessed and no guitar bands whatsoever who seem able to engage with that”     Nicky Wire

That sentence echoes exactly what I’ve heard Don Letts saying in recent months too, Damon Albarn has said similar things and I’m sure if you believe that music has more value than being the backing track to American Idol or X Factor then surely you can relate. In fact you probably wouldn’t be reading this blog if your place for music was just something that was on in the background during your latest Julia Roberts romantic comedy. Think about what Nicky Wire is saying though…and I’m sure there are lots of smaller bands, unsigned bands, garage bands that would disagree with him entirely. However we’re not seeing them or hearing them. I know music with some bite still exists and that music and politics don’t have to be the angular bedfellows that the popular press would have us believe. 30 years ago we had The Clash, but not just The Clash looking at the state of the world and the state of our culture. But we also had The Specials, The Beat, R.E.M., The Jam, Talking Heads and so many others who not only were able to ‘engage with that’ but staked much of their careers on it. Have the bands changed or has the audience changed? Does a 16 year old not want to hear songs that look at the disasters in Iraq and Afghanistan or the corruption of Wall Street, MPs or BP? Does massive immigration and poverty just breed anger and racism in 2010 rather than activism and ideas? Are we really that disengaged now – does music still have a part to play?

Woody Guthrie to Bob Dylan and on to Joe Strummer and Billy Bragg all wanted a reaction but most importantly sought desperately to spread some form of awareness. Joe Strummer wasn’t always right, God knows nobody can be but he was trying…genuinely trying. When I was 16 I thought Joe Strummer would lead us to the doors of Downing Street and get the change we sought. Five years later I thought Billy Bragg was going to do the same, five years on Bragg reminded his audiences he wasn’t going to change the world – we were. Indifference and apathy are as dangerous as corporations and politicians he pointed out, it took me until my late 20′s to work that one out. But now…in 2010, does anyone of a certain age think things have ever been as overtly shit, immoral and corrupt as they are today? Do we really think that sending young men and women off to a desert to die is securing anyone against anything? Do we even vote to say we disagree anymore? I hope we are at the nadir of apathy, I really do, surely we must be? Or is the biggest con of all convincing us en masse that Simon Cowell and ‘House’, American Idol and Grey’s Anatomy are the most important things going on around us? That these sings say more to us about our lives. Every once in a while like a tortoise having a rock thrown at us we come out of our shell and say how tragic the Tsunami/9-11/Haiti is and then we go back to our downloaded movies,  I-pods and our ridiculous phones to watch a video of a dog that can talk.

Where are all the protest singers and will anyone still listen to their songs?