Short Summer Rock Art US Tour

Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros
Joe Strummer: Vocals and Rhythm Guitar
Martyn Slattery: Lead Guitar, Keyboards et al
Anthony Genn: Guitar
Scott Shields: Bass Guitar
Pablo Cook: Percussion
Smiley: Drums

Audio 1 - average/some distortion - lots of crowd
Sound 2.5
66min
Unknown gen?
14 songs / 15 tracks

London Calling

Audio 2 - average/a but clearer
Sound 3.5
62min
Unknown gen?
13 songs / 15 tracks

London Calling

An above average audience recording, with some distortion and lots of crowd enthusiasm. This source, the best has I Fought the Law edited out.

Another source runs a full 4 minutes more with I fought the Law included. Both are distorted and slightly above average, though quierter moments have clarity. Tommy Gun for instance has a lot of distortion.

JUNE 29 AT NIGHTCLUB 9.30, WASHINGTON DC, USA.
David Shorr.

Won’t attempt a full review, just a few random observations. I thought the band sounded great and the new stuff sounded great. Still mining the reggae guitar vein--fine with me--reflected not only in the new songs but in the generous sampling of "Harder They Come" and Marley songs on the tape played during the break. The show was dedicated to Bo Didley, a Washingtonian.

I asked Joe the planned release date for the new disc, and he said that while officially it’s mid/late-October, it will probably slip.

Maybe I simply never noticed before, but he looks to have been playing the same guitar all these years.

Perhaps the most significant contribution I can offer is the following list of Clash songs in the set. I think I’ve got them all here. Roughly in order: London Calling, I Fought the Law, White Man..., Brand New Cadillac, Straight to Hell, Rock the Casbah, Junco Partner, Tommy Gun, Bankrobber>

I had asked Joe about Revolution Rock (a personal fave), but he said there’s only so much he can remember, never mind teach the band.

Jason Harshman.

I was at the show at the 9:30 club in washington dc on june 29th and what an amazing show it was. I got there at about 8:30 pm and bought my shirt (the most expensive shirt i have at $25-a little too much). The opening band was the dleta 72 from philly. I kinda liked the 1st songs but after that ever song sounded the same as the 1st. The singer hardly sang and when he did sing a lot it was on their instrumental song. They were very talented but not a band I really liked. Their set ended at about 9:30. After that I walked around and noticed at almost 21 i was one of the youngest people there. I also saw Ian McKaye (Minor Threat/Fugazi) and the rest of Fugazi there and some of the Pietasters. Joe hit the stage around 10:30 (an hour after the 1st band) and played for about an hour (I always seem to be beside the guy who is the most wasted at every show i’m at - this one was funny cause he said weird stuff like this show is better than cucumbers??). The show kicked off a mid tempo song off his upcoming album and went right into London Calling. Here is the complete set list: new song/london calling/x-ray style/whit man in hammersmith palais/tony adams/straight to hell/rock the casbah/yalla yalla(a very good song)/brand new cadillac/i fought the law/encore 1/junco partner/techno d-day/tommy gun/encore 2/bankrobber.

Joe played with alot of emotion(like he always has)it was one of the loudest shows i’ve seen(tony adams and tommy gun were the loudest)it was amazing hearing old tunes and the new stuff mixed really well. A very energetic show and one of the best i’ve seen in a long time. Joe said that he’d be back in the winter time so be on the look out for him.i saw a few people crying and i saw a few people will cell phones calling friends and holding them up so the other person could here this amazing man dazzle us all.joe and the mescaleros sure as hell have the same energy the clash had.welcome back joe!!!!

J. Tayloe Emery of SONICNET.

London came calling again Tuesday night as ex-Clash singer/guitarist Joe Strummer kicked off his first U.S. tour in 10 years with an impassioned performance of Clash classics and tunes from his upcoming second solo album.

A sold-out crowd of colorful young punks and graying elder punks was equally enthusiastic about new material from Strummer’s X-Ray Style and Clash tunes such as "London Calling", as revived by Strummer and his band, the Mescaleros.

"This is as close to the Clash as I’m ever going to get," 18-year-old Kandi Walker of Bethesda, Md., said. "I was too young to see them back in the early ’80s, so this is my chance to see Joe in action."

The Clash, one of the original wave of British punk bands and one of the most influential, broke up in 1986, after releasing the poorly received Cut the Crap a year earlier. Strummer (born John Graham Mellor) has since done some movie scoring, played briefly with the folk-punk band the Pogues and released a solo album, Earthquake Weather, in 1989. He has been quiet for much of the ’90s, partly because of a contract dispute with Sony Music.

The dispute has been settled, and the 46-year-old rocker is slated to release X-Ray Style on Hellcat/Epitaph Records in the fall.

"Heyyy ... Washington, D.C.," Strummer said as he strolled up to the mic shortly after 10 p.m., in black jeans and a black T-shirt, his cowboy swagger and jet-black hair and sideburns unchanged from his Clash days. "This is the home of Bo Diddley. We’re gonna go check out his home where he grew up, if we can find it."

Actually, Diddley, the rock pioneer who opened several U.S. shows for the Clash in 1979, was born in Mississippi and grew up in Chicago. But if Strummer didn’t quite have his geography straight, he seemed to still have his punk-rock mojo in order.

Stomping his black work boots and counting off the beat, he strapped on his guitar and jumped straight into a new song, "Diggin’ the New," which showcased the Mescaleros’ pronounced enthusiasm. Strummer’s voice, though a little rougher for the wear, still pierced the air with its trademark shrieks and howls. His hands moved often to his face, fingers outstretched and grabbing his skull as if he had been hit in the forehead with a mallet.

In all, he played nine songs from the Clash catalog including such classics as "White Man in Hammersmith Palais" and songs the Clash covered, including Vince Taylor’s "Brand New Cadillac" and the Bobby Fuller Four’s "I Fought the Law" as well as five new tunes.

Fans rushed the stage as the first few power chords to "London Calling" blared from the amplifiers. "I’ve waited 15 years to hear this live," one older fan shouted to the amused teenager at his side.

The Mescaleros guitarist Martin Slattery (ex-Black Grape), bassist Scott Shields, keyboardist Anthony Genn, drummer Smiley and percussionist Pablo Cook took to such old Clash favorites as "Straight to Hell" and "Bankrobber" as if they were their own. "Tommy Gun" was a barrage of noise and feedback harking back to punk days of yore.

Cook even stood up on his bongos at one point and dove onto the stage, crashing into the rest of the band, adding a sense of the chaos the Clash brought to British nightclubs in the 1970s. The only disappointment for fans was that the Mescaleros’ rendition of the Clash’s biggest pop hit, 1982’s "Rock the Casbah", didn’t quite capture the original’s fusion of punk and disco.

The Mescaleros, all young British lads who were probably in grade school when the Clash broke up in 1986, seemed to shine brightest on songs from Strummer’s forthcoming album. "Tony Adams," which is "about an obscure soccer player from England," Strummer explained, the upcoming single "Yalla-Yalla" and the title cut, with its slow, passionate rhythms and bombastic bongo playing, all were warmly received.

After ending the hour-and-a-half set with "I Fought the Law" and "Brand New Cadillac," Strummer returned by himself for the first of two encores, playing an acoustic rendition of "Junco Partner" a traditional song the Clash recorded for Sandinista (1980) before being rejoined by the band for the new "Techno D-Day" and finishing off the night with "Bankrobber."

"The Clash influenced everyone," Mark Moore, 32, said after the show. "They weren’t just punk. They were blues and jazz and reggae and country, all types of sounds rolled into one ... I just can’t believe we were able to hear some of the old songs tonight."

"I sell lots of old Clash albums to kids wanting to start up a band," Moore said. "They ask me, ’Where should I start?’ and I hand them a copy of London Calling. ’It’s all right there, kid.’ "

While Strummer’s former bandmates Mick Jones and Paul Simonon are gathering tapes for an upcoming Clash live album, there is no talk of a Clash reunion. Strummer is scheduled to play in New York on Wednesday night (June 30) and wrap up the tour next week in Los Angeles.

Did you go? What do you remember?
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