Hello you lot….all excited about the royal wedding on Friday then are we? No…me neither and better still it’s all kicking off at 3am my time so I am fairly certain even I’ll be asleep at such a time. I’ll get the condensed version when I wake up on Friday morning and be looking for some of you London based readers in the massed ranks crowded around Westminster Abbey in the pouring bloody rain. Wear something obvious so I know it’s you. I don’t know if I could see a less practical thing for a country so in debt to be lavishing out on in 2011 besides I don’t know, another war in Libya perhaps? I hope wherever you are on Friday you aren’t forced to watch it for politeness sake. If they want to get married have at it but surely there’s more important things people could be doing with their lives than watching those two. Such as trying to guess where else Big Audio Dynamite are going to play this summer – the official festival band of this year it’s beginning to look. Message to Mick – we’d far prefer that you played proper venues rather than an $85, 5pm support slot for Coldplay (when if anything it should be the other way round).

Speaking of B.A.D. I’m thrilled and honoured to have another guest post tonight and it comes from the east coast of the States – Philadelphia to be exact. An old friend of the blog and a friend of some more illustrious people than I (read on) Brenda has been a great advocate of the blog since the earlier days for which I’m grateful. A seriously nice person in general she was kind enough to chronicle her trip up to New York City to see B.A.D at the Roseland Ballroom last week and to say it was a special night would be as understated as Donald Trump’s boorishness (more on him soon I think). With that said let me hand you over to Brenda for her tale of Manhattan magic, she was so generous with her account I’m splitting it into two parts. Pre-show and the concert itself and then part two will be what happened afterwards. Read on…you’ll like it:

I’ve known Mick since 1979, so I ignored the high ticket prices, hoping to contact Mick before the show. I’d been saving money to go, but between the train tickets and a room for overnight at the Chelsea , there wasn’t much left. I checked my cash. Nothing for a ticket….. I had brought my friend Brian Linson with me. He split the cost of the room so at least I now had my ‘just in case’ ticket money.  I brought matzoh and coffee makings from home, wasted nothing on food….

Setlist from the Roseland B.A.D. gig, complete with footprint

I was unable to contact anyone before the show so, we needed to buy tix….We thought they were going to be $75.  We went to the box office around 5 in a last ditch attempt to leave a message for Mick. I thought the tour manager might pick it up when the guest list got dropped off.  We found out that tickets would be 60 bucks at the door. With what we saved , I bought 2 peace sign scarves from a cart near Times Square . Black with white for Brian and white with black for me. They warded off the strong winds that were kicking up and we looked like we belonged together. When we returned at 8, We were able to get 60$ General Admission tix at the door. It was a bargain.  But ,now we could see the show, but couldn’t even say hello to Mick… I kept checking at the box office to see if anyone sent a pass for me.

No opening act was the first surprise..there was a dj instead. I saw Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth come in the front door ,all smiles about 15 minutes before the set started.   Second surprise, the crowd was polite and a joy to be with. I like Big Audio Dynamite fans, everyone said ‘sorry’, if they accidentally bumped into you. The place got hotter as the crowd filled in, it was packed by showtime.  The band has a sample laden version of the Good, The Bad and The Ugly going as they took the stage. Mick was wearing Leo’s plush derby as they started, but was otherwise was wearing the shades , black suit & white shirt (and big smile) that looks so good on him.  The monitors were feeding back during the first two songs and we were able to hear the feedback up front. Much to the band’s credit, they ignored it , didn’t wince and played on. I was distracted by the feedback ,so we moved back to the side by the soundboard where the sound was perfect.

The Music.

Unbelievable good. Tight, enthusiastic, energizing and well paced. Everyone was dancing around me and lots of people were singing along. Bob Gruen was in the photo pit and at least half the audience were taking stills or video so I was content to watch and listen during the show. I was glad that we would have their photos for later. By All Saints we had to get up closer so we watched to the end from house right, right against the railing. It was perfect. Everyone was moving, singing along and totally focused on the stage. Time stood still. There was only there, and the music washed over everything

It’s me (Clashblogger) again now, thanks so much to Brenda for part one. Part two is definitely worth the wait if you can sit tight until the next post…I know you can. As for me, I need to make some dinner (just had it General Tso’s chicken no less) – more tomorrow of course. I always welcome guest posts and if there’s a topic you’d like to cover please get in touch and we’ll work it out. Please join me in the comments in thanking Brenda for a great guest piece.Cheers – Tim

Good…it’s Friday. I think that’s how today got its moniker in the first place right? (I started this last night but finished it today…sorry) For a country that seems as overtly religious (compared to England) as this one seems I can’t quite understand why everyone is working and shopping today. My best guess is the distinct lack of decent chocolate, hot cross buns and bank holiday football fixtures but answers on a postcard if you can.

Very little writing from me today except to point you in the direction of the two largest newspapers in New York (Times and Post) and their overtly contradictory/negative/divisive/cynical/weak reviews of Big Audio Dynamite’s gig at the Roseland Ballroom earlier in the week. Both journalists find new and interesting ways to be petty while (by all accounts) missing the atmosphere in the arena entirely, failing to find strength in the songs or realising the path carved out by the band in the first place. As I commented on one of the articles (the Post) it seemed that this reviewer had written most of his piece before even setting out that evening and merely needed the setlist to verify his attendance. I’m not sure if in the post Interpol / Strokes New York rock world that it takes something far more hip or young to draw a positive review or if the two critics in question are keen to cite the influence of years gone by in their own armoury of music knowledge and then when actually confronted with it look to make some currency in saying that time has passed it by. Without nitpicking even the research in the article in The Post is shoddy and simply wrong. Ignoring that lyrics that are 25 years old apply just as suitably today as back then is criminal. In fact one of the reviews even said something along the lines of Big Audio Dynamite don’t sound as fresh because so many bands have since aped what they did. What the fuck is that ? It’s like going back to Thomas Edison thirty years later and saying ‘your electricity invention wasn’t all that, everybody’s running a light bulb these days‘. I don’t tend to worry that much about negative reviews except for in this case they both fly in the face of what everyone else has been saying and this represents the two large daily papers in the biggest city in the country. Moreover it’s better you read them for yourself and determine if you find anything well off the mark, plus it’d be fun to see your comments added to those already there. Here’s the link to the New York Post assassination and the slightly less acerbic piece in the New York Times.

I can’t sign off this afternoon on such a negative note so I thank Morris for sending me this link of the entire Big Audio Dynamite performance (as broadcast on YouTube) at Coachella. Rin time is about 55 minutes and the quality of the video and audio are both pretty good. Mick’s on good form throughout if a little less chatty than he has been during the indoor dates. I have to say that things really raise up through the gears when Don Letts wanders away from the labeled keyboards. Enjoy it – I’ll be back a little later. Almost forgot – we just passed our 400,000th visit ever to the blog yesterday – thank you all so much for visiting, commenting, contributing and being part of the Clash community! Tim

Big Audio Dynamite at Coachella Festival 16/4/2011

Well here we are again, another Monday in the great cycle of this year. Please give me a knowing nod if you’d agree that 2011 thus far has been a pretty odd/gloomy/messy year. Better times ahead I hope and its April so we can start with that. I’ve become very aware this last week that the B.A.D. tour has resulted in me not having time to find or review other news nor continue with the usual features on the blog. I hope that works for you because it seems logical that Mick Jones being back on the tour bus seems worthy of front page coverage but I’ll try and mix it up more in the week ahead. One piece of news I want to make sure we get to this week is very much Strummer/Jones related so please come back for that probably on Thursday I’d guess.

The two shows in London are now consigned to history but by all accounts the atmosphere and general good buzz between audience and band from Saturday was repeated on the Sunday night also – and why not. Some of you I know were going both nights so let me know if there was any discernible difference – as far as I’ve been made aware the set lists for both shows was the same. Speaking of set lists I’d like to thank Gavin for sharing his Saturday night bounty (pictured left) with the blog. Typed and printed eh? Very 2011….not sure if that’s what I’d expect. I have an old friend (*if he’s reading he’ll know who he is) who felt the quest to get the set list from the stage for most concerts we attended as a holy grail of sorts. To his eternal credit he was typically very successful at it too, not sure if he kept them. Can I also quickly request once again that if you’d like to send in your own short reviews of the rest of the tour I’d love to publish them here – they capture a bit more of the flavour than many of the reviews below in my opinion.

Tonight I wanted to link out to some of the many ‘proper’ reviews which range from the very good to the rather bland, you can make out which are which as I link them beneath. The bigger question from many of us who remember 1985 like it was yesterday was whether the oversized baseball caps would be making a return. Yes….they are back. I can only speak for myself but I really dislike baseball caps probably because I’m English (?) but I subscribe to the views previously expressed by The Libertines. Englishmen just can’t do baseball caps, sort of the same way Americans can’t make a cup of tea if their life depends on it. It’s alright, we can’t all be good at everything.

The Herald (Scotland) reviews B.A.D. in Glasgow and it’s generally a great review if a bit short. Like others Jonathan Geddes has thoughts about Mick Jones on stage appearance which apart from the shades is very Brighton Rock (the original version) if you ask me. Here’s your link.

“But what an irresistible noise it was, especially on the longer numbers, when the band’s playing slipped into a glorious groove-riding zone”

My favourite online review of the tour thus far comes from the artsdesk.com which contains the immortal line below, but the whole review is a really enjoyable way to spend a few minutes which you can do by following this link.

“To paraphrase Alan Partridge’s remark about Wings and The Beatles, BAD were the band The Clash could have been”

Spinner Magazine sent along Julian M to review the Shepherds Bush gig which is probably one that you’re most likely to have seen especially as

Image copyright Leo Reynolds

the consistently inconsistent ClashOnline ‘official site’ included a link. That site makes no sense at all, they go five months without sharing any news at all about The Clash and then suddenly realise Mick Jones reformed B.A.D. and update every few days. Anyway, the review is alright even if filler text such as ‘punk pioneers’ and ‘epic opener’ are used. Another pet peeve is many saying it is ’25 years since’ when it’s as near to 20 as anything. Unless my memory is fully gone the original lineup were together until the early part of 1990. Here’s the review!

The Guardian have usually been very kind to the legacy of all things Clash related in recent years and so it proved with a nice and fair review of the opening night concert up in Liverpool.

“Age may have rendered their experiments more clunky and withered a few band members, but wrinkly Jones still looks impossibly cool in his undertaker suit and gangster shades. He sings and plays guitar so wonderfully that, Gorillaz moonlighting notwithstanding, you wonder why he isn’t forced – at gunpoint, if necessary – to occupy a stage more often”

I’ll dig out more of these as the week goes on but two other bits of news are worth a mention. One a fact and one a rumour. Tasty rumours are always fun aren’t they? Looks possible that Mick Jones will be appearing at Glastonbury for the second consecutive summer this time with B.A.D. after the Gorillaz headline last year. I’m sure if it happens the call for a Clash song to be performed will again take place and if anything with Don Letts on stage and who knows who (Paul and Topper) nearby it might be a better call than last year. One last thing that I’d like to know more about if you are in Liverpool and ‘connected’ – Don Letts looks scheduled to appear at the ‘Writing on The Wall’ festival in May in the city. The arts and culture festival has a day devoted to looking back at the infamous riots in 1981 and I think Don will speak about that. If you are involved at all please let me know.

Image copyright Peter Stevens Photography

When are BAD going to get an active website? I’ll bloody do it if that’s what it takes (hint hint). Right, I’ve a splitting headache so I think a dark room and the new Elbow CD are calling my name. Tim