Hello again welcome back to the blog, feeling a bit more ship-shape today although I still don’t have my voice back properly although no one’s complaining about that funnily enough. I should have another post this evening but I wanted to quickly share some exciting news from Strummerville. It always warms my heart when I see the continued activity from the foundation with Joe’s name on it, this year like last has seen continued strides to sponsor new bands and facilities while simultaneously spreading the word and the work of Joe in so many different places. It’s a pleasure to bring news about Strummerville to you and they also been ever so supportive of the blog itself which is nice.

Right on the back of Joe’s birthday celebrations that were held in support of Strummerville and the Carnival events this past weekend (news to follow I hope) Strummerville have announced a tour featuring three Strummerville bands around the UK for a crazy week in October. The tour is being dubbed “Strummerville Westway round the UK” and will feature Rum Shebeen, The Supernovas and Beans on Toast. Better still unlike so many concerts this won’t cost you too much either with tickets fixed at around five quid it will make for a night out that is affordable and right at the core of what Strummerville are doing. Full details via the Strummerville site in the weeks ahead I’m sure and also on the groovy artwork I’ve enclosed – so if you are in Sheffield, Bristol, Leeds, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle and for those living the high life in London entry is free at The Flowerpot in Kentish Town for the final night. Three bands all touring together makes it sound a bit like one of the old Motown revues or perhaps something the Sex Pistols, Richard Hell and The Clash attempted many moons ago, hopefully not as many concerts will be canceled this time round!

I will be back a bit later with new words from Don Letts and some other stuff. Thanks for dropping in – Tim.

The Supernovas – City of Smoke

Hello once more and thanks for visiting the blog again or welcome aboard for the first time. A slightly better day today for your blogger as the Clash Blog cat is back at home and for once it’s less than 100° F. outside which makes a pleasant change. Before last weekend is too far gone I wanted to quickly cover the best option that was to be found in London on Joe Strummer’s birthday. As previewed here the gig up in Islington at The Garage featuring The Chords looked to be the ideal choice for a Clash fan on a late summer evening in the capital, and so it turned out. Now is also a good time to remind you of the Strummerville events taking place on Sunday in conjunction with the Notting Hill Carnival, I’ll get to that at the end of the post but first of all The Chords.

I’m really excited to welcome back to the blog Pete in London who as you may know has been kind enough to provide some of his fantastic photography from various concerts and events in London since the early days of the blog. Strangely enough Pete lives but a few hundred yards away from where I once lived in West London and we met via the blog. He was lucky enough to get up to Islington for The Chords show, plus in addition to his wonderful photography he has even contributed a review of the evening. So let me hand it over to him:

“I’ve waited thirty years to see The Chords, arriving as I did in London just a few short months after the original band split up. The original members were Billy Hassett – Vocals/Guitar, Chris Pope – Guitar/Vocals Martin Mason – Bass/Vocals and Brett ‘Buddy’ Ascott – Drums.

Now occasionally reunions prove to be a little disappointing, an anti-climax or just plain sad for everyone involved. Saturday night in London proved to be anything but that. In short, The Chords were absolutely magnificent. Billy introduced the band, first acknowledging that the 21st August was a special day and making a dedication to the late, great Joe Strummer. On a personal note I went with Chris and Buddy to see The Clash in the mid-eighties play at Brixton Fairdeal and I know they are both huge fans of The Clash.

History may write off The Chords as ‘just’ a mod revival band. I think they may just have broken during that period in British music culture where the press were very keen on labelling everything. The only label I would attach is ‘a great pop/rock band’. Like many of the greatest bands, they – and I can say now with experience – are better live than on record, although their records were also damn good too.

The Chords, Islington, London 21/8/10 (image courtesy Pete Stevens)

The years rolled away and the packed house at The Garage in Islington witnessed one great song after another, guitarist Chris Pope looking like a man possessed, sweat-drenched and bleeding; Buddy manic on the drums and Martin holding it all steady on bass. Billy, suited and booted, with a beautiful electric blue Rickenbacker happily chatted to the crowd between songs as if to a room full of friends, which a lot of them probably were !

Maybe vague memories of sweat-drenched nights at the old Marquee in Wardour Street were re-kindled in older members of the audience. There were certainly many younger members in the audience who couldn’t have been more than a twinkle in their parent’s eyes when The Chords last played. The temperature in The Garage rose steadily until the explosive climax of ‘Maybe Tomorrow’, probably one of the finest 45’s of all time….

The final night of this tour will be in Brighton at the weekend and if you live any where in South East England I’d urge you buy a ticket.

Worth the thirty year wait for me ? You bet !!”

Pete,

Billy Hassett of The Chords, Islington, London 21/8/10 (image courtesy Pete Stevens)

Thanks again for that excellent summary Pete, I also know you wrote that in atypical location (a ferry in the middle of the Irish Sea) so even greater appreciation for your diligence. The photographs once again are excellent and I’m glad to share them on the blog. You may also recall if you’ve been reading the blog since the early days that Buddy from the chords played a special show with Mick Jones last summer at the 100 Club. It’s back in the archives but here’s a link for a great account Buddy wrote for us at the time. Still waiting on one other Joe Strummer birthday event summary which I hope to cover in the days ahead. Finally as mentioned, if you’re in London this weekend please don’t forget to head into the real center of London (West London) and enjoy the Notting Hill Carnival and of course the Strummerville carnival night on Sunday at ‘The Inn on the Green’. Six(!) Strummerville bands and a low admission cost really means you have no excuses to drop in if you are nearby. Here’s the link for further information, that’s about it for now I’ll be back over the weekend with more so please drop in.

Lastly, if you get the chance to vote at the bottom of the post by clicking on the Wikio button (if you don’t see it click on the title of the post and it will appear at the foot of the story) each time you visit. Wikio is a hugely popular blog and news portal service in the UK and we entered the rankings at number 108 for music blogs and also in the top 300 for popular culture blogs, any help you can give will be greatly appreciated and helps to spread awareness of The Clash Blog. Cheers for now – Tim.

Hello again everybody I wanted to make sure this post out in time especially for those who are many hours ahead of me sitting here in the desert of Arizona. It’s already tomorrow breakfast time in Sydney Australia and Sydney is where you want to be this Saturday night if you are a Clash fan. My sincere appreciation to Evan who has kept me informed about the event taking place on Saturday evening at 8 PM at the Annandale Hotel in Sydney. Not sure if tickets are still available but last year’s event did sell out so make sure to get there early or better still book those tickets online.

“Revolution Rock – a Joe Strummer Tribute” is being sponsored by Bombshellzine.com, Drum Media and Renegades Empire. The event in supported and in tandem with Strummerville. Bands paying homage for 2010 are: The Domnicks (WA) featuring Nick Sheppard from The Clash, The Rumjacks, The City Lights, Madonna (VIC) and The Tearaways (VIC)

This marks the fourth annual occurrence of the Joe Strummer tribute night which has grown in popularity year-over-year and has become Australia’s premier opportunity to recognize the work of Joe Strummer. Better still the expansion of the project now includes a second city in Australia with a special night being held in Melbourne which will cover on the blog also. I believe Evan will be forwarding photographs and video from the night in Sydney to expect those early next week, by which time I hope I’ll have finished covering each of the Joe Strummer events that took place last weekend. Naturally enough there will be some interest with Nick Sheppard appearing on Saturday as a result of his time spent with The Clash during their last years.

Evan and Baz were interviewed about the event by Renegades Empire which is an independent Australian punk music magazine. Evan has kindly allowed me to reproduce the interview below but do check out the Renegades Empire website (as a thank you for sharing this).

1. What brought about the decision to put on Revolution Rock originally?

Basil: As a massive fan of both The Clash and Joe Strummer it made perfect sense to do such an event…I guess the catalyst was a few years after his death I was seeing lots of tribute nights and simply couldn’t believe no-one in Sydney had done one for Joe.

Evan: Baz had mentioned the idea of doing something in Sydney. A lot of people world wide were affected by Joe and his music. So when he passed away people felt compelled to do something. At a rather enthusiastic Bronx concert we started getting serious about the idea. The next day we started putting it together and the rest is history.

2. Are you both fans of Strummer? How has his life and legacy impacted your life?

Evan: Joe Strummer was always making new music as he went on. He never lost his passion or faded away and if anything got better with age. Also, there was also a very human side to Joe in which you saw the highs and low and you could see a real person behind the performer. I always liked his honesty and rather a musician who can be honest and somewhat real than one merely writing a polished bio about how honest and real they are.

Basil: Sure are! The way the guy lived his life everybody should aspire too, he would talk to anybody about anything anytime. He stuck up for the little guy, he had a heart of gold and made amazing music to boot! It is truly amazing to see his legacy live on all over the world and it truly is a testament to what he did when he was alive to impact people’s lives.

Evan: Also in terms his influence in doing these events, I think his DIY approach helped push a couple of guys who were a bit new to putting on shows to pull their resources together and give it a go.

Also his world music sensibilities helped make us look at different styles of bands for these shows. It was important to make it inclusive to all people and musics and not just be about mohawks and three chords.

3. How has previous Revolution Rock’s gone, and what have been some of the highlights for you over the years?

Basil: Every year we are amazed and every year is a highlight…in 2009 we took a gamble and put a completely unknown band on to headline the event (King Cannons) and the gig sold out within half an hour of doors opening! Which goes to show, it is not just the substance of the bands but the idea of the night that brings the punters in.

Evan: Whilst the bands and the music are always amazing, it’s a highlight to meet people from different places, ages and walks of life and see how passionate they are for Joe Strummer. Meeting a guy who’s twice your age who can tell you about seeing the Clash and how it affected him, hits home. I think over time these events have become about the people at the shows and the thing that binds them and that has formed a community in itself.

4. What is the selection process for the bands you choose to play Revolution Rock? Who is playing this year and any insights into what Strummer tributes they will be playing?

Basil: We just want bands that “get” Joe Strummer and The Clash. Not bands that want to be there for fame or money (after all it is a charity event), but bands that genuinely love to play music and genuinely want to pay their own tribute to the great Joe Strummer.

Evan: It’s usually the bands who have that genuine love and excitement for Joe always make the best bands. The bands who are watching the first band till last or who will talk about how stoked they are to play the show are the ones who always give the music the proper respect and connect with the crowd.

Basil: This year we have playing The Domnicks from WA which features Nick Sheppard who at one point in his life was actually a member of The Clash! We also have The Rumjacks, The City Lights, Madonna and The Tearaways, couldn’t hope for a better line-up! I hear one band is doing White Riot this year, which is a first for Revolution Rock, believe it or not!

5. Tell us about Strummerville and why should people support the charity? How can people support it if they can’t get to the gig?

Basil: Strummerville is an amazing charity which was set up by Joe’s family and friends following his passing in 2002. It provides facilities and resources to young bands that perhaps otherwise wouldn’t have access to these facilities. It also provides mentoring for the bands, and who knows maybe one day the next big thing could come straight out of Strummerville!

Evan: I think people who are into Joe’s music are also into new music’s and diverse forms of creativity. So getting behind Strummerville is essentially helping support the very music and ideas we all care about. Back in the 70’s Joe Strummer had Tymon Dogg to help him learn his chops and get his start and now in 2010 kids now haves Strummerville to help them out.

Also Strummerville have always backed this event 100% and have given it great support.

Basil + Evan: If people cant get to the show on Saturday at the Annandale or the Birmy on the 4th of September in Melbourne they can donate online or buy some merch at www.strummerville.com You can also do things like organize a benefit and spread the word and let people know of their work.

6. The night has only been held in Sydney the last couple of year, what influenced your choice to take it to Melbourne as well this year?

Basil: Every year we get bigger and bigger and we always wanted to expand to other states as there is a lot of interest from bands and fans in those states. One guy and his wife flew over last year to Sydney from Adelaide just for our Sydney show! So we really want to take this to the other states and spread the love so-to-speak. Next year – Perth!

7. What can we expect for this weekend’s Revolution Rock in Sydney?

Basil: You can expect 5 of the best bands in this country all playing dedications to Joe Strummer and The Clash in their own way and style…it really is something for all ages (over 18 of course!) as we have young punks every year and then old rockers, and people that attend the events love getting together with like-minded fans and dancing their arses off!

Evan: Five great bands, a lot of good vibes and Baz’s long awaited return to the stage (the sleeping giant has awoken)

8. What’s next for you guys?

Basil + Evan: After the post show nap, we’re launching a small music label called Paperbag Music which will be a host to bands, shows and a distro for a variety of great bands and hope to continue helping up and coming bands get out there for all the world to see. Also bunch of new shows on the boil and the sad realization that we’ve gotta wait till 2011 to do another Strummer show.

9. Last words?

We just wanted to give a quick thanks to everyone who has made the pilgrimage from near and far every year to this event. Also to all the bands who give their time and do great performances each year. Finally everyone who’s supported us over the years by posting something online, telling a friend about the show or just letting us know how much they enjoyed the gig.

The show just isn’t about bands or hearing Clash songs but a community of people coming together and sharing their enthusiasm and love for music and for Joe. They’re the heart of this event.

I do have something else about the event planned for you tomorrow evening so check back then, and if you happen to be in or around Sydney really hope you make it along on the night. I’ll be back more with some more new stuff – Tim.