The Clash

A Tale Of Two Cities - Lust For Life/London Calling - Review

Images Copyright Tony Woolway

Lust For Life - Bristol Exchange, London Calling - The Globe, Cardiff

A Tale Of Two Cities. Two gigs, one week, the first over the bridge at Bristol’s Exchange for Lust For Life, a group put together by Iggy Pop and Bowie guitarist Kevin Armstrong to celebrate Iggy Pop’s iconic Lust For Life album released in 1977 and produced by David Bowie.

What was intriguing about the gig, the first night of their short U.K. was the line-up that featured such rock luminaries as former Sex Pistol and Iggy sideman Glen Matlock on bass and Blondie’s powerhouse of a drummer Clem Burke alongside the aforementioned Armstrong. On keyboards was Florence Sabeva, who tours with Heaven 17 and Luis Correia on guitar with vocals by broadcaster and occasional Pet Shop Boys collaborator Katie Puckrik.

Opening with the title track Lust For Life the band punched their way through the entire album at blistering pace halted only for Clem Burke to holler for the stage lights to be turned up as “I haven’t travelled 7,000 miles to play in the fucking dark,”.

The evening provided some real ‘pinch me’ moments with “The Passenger” in particular causing goosebumps whilst the choice of songs that followed the full album featured songs that some of the band had played on like Blondie’s “Rip Her To Shreds” plus other classics from the Iggy Pop collection with “Night Clubbing” and Stooges “ I Wanna Be Your Dog”.

Focal point of the evening, was Puckrik who was quite superb in the Iggy role bounding around and bursting with enthusiasm that proved contagious.

As if all the above wasn’t enough the encore provided a true moment of pleasure as Matlock took over the vocals as the band powered through their version of the Sex Pistols “Pretty Vacant” followed by The Stooges “Search And Destroy,” a quite stunning finish for a exceptional evening at a great venue.



Next up…. London Calling at. The Globe, Cardiff

Another great venue and another nostalgic evening with Bristol band, London Calling, the premier Clash tribute band playing the group’s debut album, also released in 1977, and rightly considered a classic, in its entirety.

The opening drum intro to “Janie Jones” set the tone for a quite brilliant set as the band, resplendently dressed in their punk era attire recreated the early days of Punk with lead singer and Strummer doppelgänger Reg Shaw spitting out vocals to a very enthusiastic crowd who were soon bouncing in unison.

There was certainly no let up in the pace with the only breath being taken was during the bands version of the reggae classic “Police and Thieves.” whilst Dave Devonaid aka Mick Jones stepped up to provide able vocal support and a real Mick Jones sound alike.

Other Clash classics “Tommy Gun” “Safe European Home and “White Man In Hammersmith Palais” sent fans home happy but exhausted such was the pace and the power.

Tony Woolway




The Clash

Simonon’s Fender Precision Bass Shattered on Stage, Famously Photographed by Pennie Smith and used as The London Calling album cover Photo Copyright KCL©

Simonon’s Fender Precision Bass Shattered on Stage, Famously Photographed by Pennie Smith and used as The London Calling album cover Photo Copyright KCL©

The 15th of December was Paul Simonon’s 65th Birthday….41 years ago the album London Calling was released this week….40 years ago the album Sandanista! was released this week.

KCL get two view points on “The only Band that matters” The Clash.

The Old

March 18th 1977 The Clash released their first single White Riot, I for one and I suspect many others never looked at music the same again. as a 16 year old living in a time of great change and disillusionment,The Clash spoke to me as a Teenager venting anger,dissafection and oppression amongst other themes.

I was fortunate to see The Clash on The London Calling Tour at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.

The Clash inspired me to pick up a Guitar and play, voice oppinion and be heard.

London Calling I still Believe to be a classic, the combination of styles were educating and a progression from the Punk Roots, not for some the change, but for me inovative and captavating.

Sandinista! a Triple album of Indulgence, Experimentation and Crossover… Massively Underated and heavily Critisised, has I believe stood the test of time and shown how some of their ideas were so ahead of the game.

They had their faults, but no one band spoke to me the way The Clash did…. The only Band that Mattered still do.

Photo Copyright KCL©

Photo Copyright KCL©

And the New

Here is a very interesting Piece written by Joe Strong, a student at USW Cardiff Atrium Journalism Course reflecting on The Clash.

He discovered The Clash like me as a Teenager

The Clash 40 years on 

By Joe Strong 

This week marks the 41st anniversary of one of the most important punk rock albums of all time, London calling, the third studio album by the Clash.

Joe Strummer (lead vocals and guitar), Mick Jones (lead guitar) , Paul Simonon (bass guitar) and Topper Headon (drums), released London calling on the 14th December 1979. 

London calling, the record’s lead single, was a massive hit and other iconic songs on the record like Death or glory, the guns of Brixton, and brand-new Cadillac, helped the album sell five million copies worldwide. 

The iconic cover of the album is also what made London calling so special. The picture of Paul Simonon smashing his bass guitar against the stage floor, is an image that became synonymous with the punk rock movement of the 70s and 80s. 

Around the same time a year after London calling, the group released Sandinista! The clash’s fourth album which turned 40 last Saturday.

Unlike London calling, this record received mixed reviews but was praised for its unique style. Sandinista! does not sound like your typical punk rock album, which in my opinion makes it a special record. 

Sandinista’s lead single, the magnificent Seven, is a funky hit, that is certainly underrated. Other hidden gems on the album include, the leader, something about England and Let’s go crazy. 

Persoanlly, for me, this year marks three years since I first discovered the Clash. 

I first listened to them when I was around seventeen. The song on the extended version of the album, Train in vain (stand by me), quickly became one of my favourite songs at the time, and it still is to this day. 

The London band’s cover of, I fought the law and Rock the Casbah, also quickly became favourites of mine. 

I was amazed to discover that, lead singer, Joe Strummer lived in Newport, which is only 10 minutes down the road from my hometown of Cwmbran. This just fascinated me and my love for the band is something that has stuck with me over the last three years. 


London Calling an Exhibition of all things Clash was held in London 2019 at The London Museum.

Here are some Photographs taken on My visit

TC

All Photos Copyright KCL©.