Good morning everyone, just a short morning after the night before sort of post as I then have to go to my least favourite building (alright apart from White Hart Lane and a Stranglers convention) with the Clash blogette  as she has to pop into hospital. I’m meant to bring oranges or something right? I don’t do well at hospitals…just saying.

Sounds like the first B.A.D. concert in Liverpool was warmly received and most of the adjectives used were of the very positive variety. Thanks so much to those who wrote in and with your privacy at stake I’m going to include some of your summaries beneath for those of us stuck many miles away from Liverpool last night. *some are already on the comments from the last post but I know not everyone goes back to a post that they have already read.

“Just got back from Liverpool gig. They were awesome. Set list – from memory:
Medicine show, Beyond the pale, A party, BAD, V13, Just play music, Sightsee MC, Cmon Every Beatbox, Battle of All Saints Rd, Rewind
Encore: The Bottom Line, E=mc2
2nd Encore: Rush
Crowd were great. Band really enjoyed it. BAD caps (yup the corduroy ones) and sweatshirts selling like hotcakes. Mick didn’t stop talking. Great to be back (several times). Was keen to point out that they’ve all remained friends over the years.  Commented how many of the songs still seemed to be politically relevant today. Said they’d been practising for 6 weeks – working hard and really enjoying it. Said he had fallen over and that’s why he had a big bruise over his left eye! I was really into Big Audio Dynamite in the 80′s so I’m making sure I get my fix – Shepherds Bush at the weekend and then Manchester!
Get three coffins ready….”

Big Audio Dynamite kicking off in Liverpool (image courtesy Steve A)

“Went to see the opening gig of the BAD reunion tour last night in Liverpool. Absolutely f*cking incredible. I’d never seen them live before and only had previous Clash gigs as a marker but this was just great. Didn’t realise how good they could be live because I don’t hionestly think the 80s production on the albums is all it could be. Superb rhythm section, Don in a great mood and Mick playing so well and being so humble. It really reignited my enthusiasm for things. Nice of Mick to come down from the stage at the end and sign autographs and shake (my) hands. Also a big hand to the crowd who sang along to every single song and paid due respect to the band. Brilliant Mick -thank you for coming to Liverpool first”

“I needn’t have worried , there was a great crowd in , probably about 800-900 people, although there were tickets available outside before the gig for less than face value. You could sense the anticipation in the air as the stage was prepared and the warmup music peaked with The Specials Gangsters before BAD took to the stage to a huge roar. Mick was beaming and seemed genuinely taken aback at the reception. Thankfully the matching baseball caps have been discarded and Mick was looking dapper in black suit and huge shades. The first 2 songs – Medicine Show and Beyond The Pale were fantastic , with the crowd all singing along.There didn’t seem to be anybody there who wasn’t a longtime fan of the band.
They played all the greatest songs from the first 2 albums – A Party , BAD (with Don Letts taking centre stage), Beatbox, V Thirteen, Sightsee MC , but not so much from the next 2 albums – just All Saints Road , Just Play Music and Rewind. There were a few sound problems on Just Play Music but i’m sure they’ll be ironed out as the tour progresses.

Two encores – Bottom Line,E=MC2 , and then finally back again for Rush ,which had a false start as Mick had forgotten how to play it !
That was it , about 90 minutes in all , and the band looked exhausted but ecstatic at how well it had been received. I think Mick must’ve loved being the main man in front of a big crowd again after so long ,as opposed to being a sideman (Gorillaz) or playing to a few punters (C/S). Going again next week to Manchester and cant wait ! I’ve a few blurry photos from the gig which i’ll try to get to you once i can get them off my phone !
take care..”

“Yes Tim, Mick had plenty to say, during and after the show. Right after they finished the first track (Medicine Show) you could hear the emotion in Mick’s voice from the response they received from the opener, this was gonna be a special night. I mean, Mick already has a big bond with Liverpool, just ask Peter Hooton from The Farm. Mick even dropped ‘Dynamite’ from the name for a short spell when they became ‘Big Audio’ as a tribute to the people of Liverpool who had started it.

The aftershow party was great too, I don’t think there was anyone who stayed for it that missed out on the opportunity to get a snapshot of themselves with either Mick Jones, Don Letts or Leo Williams. They were perfectly happy to talk to anyone who had something to say, can’t wait to get the photos a friend took as I was talking to Mick & Don, what a night to remember…”

Thanks to everyone who got in CONTACT about the first gig in Liverpool, I wish I were there. More of the same tonight would be excellent! Hopefully I’ll have some time this afternoon to see what else has been added online and I’ve also got some other news which I’ll include later today. Cheers – Tim

Hello once again, hope you’ve all had a decent weekend and cheers for stopping in for a Sunday night evening edition of The Clash Blog. Been a good weekend here, the weather was perfect and we’ll hold on to nice weather for another 2 months before the heat kicks in. Played football yesterday and I’m beginning to feel my age a bit there, I’ve gotta to find better capacity for running around, I can’t find away to enjoy running so I need to get back to regular bike riding. Today was sorting through several thousand cds in the garage that I’ve picked up over the years from various sales which I need to sort out and find new homes for some of them, thus covered in dust and a stack of CDs I need to listen to one last time.

So, this is the week it begins then, the original lineup of Big Audio Dynamite are back on the stage of Britain starting Tuesday night in Liverpool. I think its a great city to start a tour, I was lucky enough to see a couple of concerts on Merseyside years ago and what a brilliant audience. I’m sure it will get right behind B.A.D. and give them confidence to make the tour not just an eighties flashback but a celebration of the continued innovations of Mick Jones and in this case Don Letts et al. The following two nights encompass Glasgow and Newcastle which again you couldn’t ask for a better tour schedule before coming down to London for the two nights at the weekend. I’m excited to see the press reaction and see the inevitable photos and video clips but I hope that some of you will be able to get in touch over the next few days and send in your reports from those first three gigs. I’m pretty sure we have support for Newcastle and Glasgow but if you’re going on Tuesday to the Academy in Liverpool and would like to submit a short report please get in touch the usual way.

Since the reunion and tour was announced there’s been a lot of speculation about what to expect, what songs, what changes would need to be made based on technologies and sampling. Its really worth remembering just how different the technology being used back in the mid 80′s was compared with now and then there is something I wondered about – the ‘legality’ of using some of the handpicked audio clips from films selected by Don Letts. Happily that question and a few others were addressed in a few new features published this weekend about Big Audio Dynamite to coincide with the tour beginning. Looks like Mick has dragged himself away from rehearsals long enough to conduct a few phone interviews which help reveal what can be expected during the upcoming shows. I’ll cover each of those the next few days.

I love how The Daily Record interview with Mick speaks of course about the band going to Glasgow back in 1978 and what evolved into a riot and one of the most famous nights in Clash history. The interview is really good fun as Mick looks back but also talks in more depth about the variables around The Clash reforming which of course never worked out, plus he alludes to the fact that the band never slowed down helped lead to their self-destruction in the first place. Most interesting is he felt the band could well have reformed if Joe Strummer hadn’t passed in 2002. Here is a link to the full interview which I can’t recommend highly enough.

“The Clash never had a holiday. We went the whole of our career without a day off and we got fed up with each other. I got to the point where I wasn’t in a very good mood because I wasn’t getting my own way. I became intolerable. I hold my hands up. If we had had time off we might have felt differently about it”

“It’s possible The Clash would have reformed if Joe was still around. We were one of the groups who would have been able to do that. If we had, we would have made a new record. It wouldn’t have been a trip down memory lane like those bands who reform but don’t make a new record. But I wanted to reform The Clash and the others did at times, too. But whenever I wanted to do it, they didn’t want to, or vice versa”     Mick Jones (and above)

Very interesting stuff I thought and also really sincere. The week ahead will probably see the largest gathering of Clash fans in about a decade and I for one wish I was in the throng. Have fun if you’re going and have a dance and a sing for those of us who are scattered around the world and not able to see them. I’ll be back tomorrow – Tim (small favour if you use Twitter…please retweet this story, I need to check something is working properly…thanks)

Hello once again, I’m in a particularly good mood as today I’ve found a new car mechanic as opposed to a mechanic for new cars and a splendidly honest chap he seems too. Will wonders never cease? I hope your day has been equally fortuitous as good luck like this is a real buzz.

Some things worth mentioning….did you know that Hugh Cornwell (The Stranglers) and Clem Burke (Blondie) are touring together? Nor did I, but they really are and from the limited time I’ve spent researching it seems that the set is primarily focused on material by The Stranglers. A strange proposition was my initial impression but then again why not I thought after more internal debate. Anyway they originally did about 15 gigs in the US/Canada last October & November and it seems that the gigs were well received and are adding more shows one of which is here in Phoenix at the George and Dragon (or as I tend to call it dirty pub dot com) this Saturday March 26th. Regular readers will know that this blog has a long standing (and very gentle) feud with The Stranglers due to recurring claims that they were responsible for Joe Strummer being turned on to punk rock in the first place, which I’ve always had trouble swallowing as The Stranglers were anything but punk during their earliest years. That said most of the questionable quotes were attributed to Jean-Jacques Burnel and not Hugh Cornwell. So the curious piece of me wants to saunter along and its only $5, plus when else am I going to see a Strangler and a Blondie member again? Wonder if Hugh would have a brief natter about The Clash. This looks to be the end of the 2nd leg of the tour with Austin, Houston, Dallas and Los Angeles (along with here) closing out the dates - full details here. After that in April comes an extensive UK tour which is detailed on the same site. Perhaps someone reading this saw the earlier legs and can convince me one way or the other.

Image courtesy http://andwhatsnext.com (lots of old B.A.D. snaps)

Back on track I’ve got some advance notice about a radio broadcast that you’ll want to mark down on your calendars as a reminder. On Saturday April 2nd at midnight GMT (London Time) you’ll want to tune into BBC 6 Music or listen to the live stream online as Don Letts hosts a one hour special looking at the history of Big Audio Dynamite. The timing obviously is to coincide with the UK tour (naturally it will prerecorded) as Don should in theory be on stage with Mick, Dan et al that very same evening at the Shepherds Bush Empire. They really should have rushed the broadcast out this weekend instead don’t you think? If normal traditions dictate you should be able to get access online to the archived version for up to a week after the original airing. Should be a good listen so I hope you can get round to it…this link should be all you need to listen or find the archived show.

Finally tonight, if I wore a cap I would routinely tip it in the direction of The Quietus website that has consistently excellent revolving content about music including interviews and record reviews in addition to lost of special features. They’ve just posted another excellent and very detailed interview with Poly Styrene who was of course with X Ray Spex and now is promoting her new solo album ‘Generation Indigo’. The interview is full of great thoughts in addition to some tough news on the health front concerning the singer but I’ll let you consume that on your own time – highly recommended.

Also, the photo on the blog tonight is from http://andwhatsnext.com/ which features lots of posts about 80′s artists but seems to have a wonderful selection of old B.A.D. photos both onstage and off, go and check it out.

That’s all I’ve time for right now but I’ll be back shortly, be good. Tim