Sort it Out Tour

Ireland, France, Holland, Belgium - 13-24 October 1978

Johnny Greens book states this was Le Palace (Le Palace is the promotion company for many French gigs). As the poster says, its the 16th October at Le Stadium.

updated 8 July 2008 - added bw photo from poster & ticket
updated April 2020
updated April 2024 added lots

Audio 1

full gig - Sound 3.5 - 55min - 2gen - 18 tracks

I Fought the Law (full audience tape)

Audio 2 Clash on Tour LP -

Sound 3.5 - 28min - lp/m - 8 tracks

Fought the Law (Clash on Tour LP)

Audio 3

New Speedway LP -
Sound 3 - 8min - lp/m - 3 tracks

Audio 4

Rockers Galore Official Promo CD
Sound 3 - 2min - 1 track

Audio sources:

The Clash on Tour bootleg LP

A seven song edited recording of this gig made up one side of the widely available The Clash On Tour bootleg LP, occasionally refered to as Tommy Guns LP [due to inner labels]. The LP contains edited sets from

Paris - The Bataclan - 29 Sept 1977
Paris - Le Stadium -16 Oct 1978 more info

Both shows are edited down for the LP. Fuller tapes exist.

Full tape

The full tape of the 1977 gig [and the full tape of the 78 gig] have an excellent sound. Both superior to whats on this boot vinyl.

This is an excellent audience recording, only tempered by some master tape ageing and poor Clash equipment, with all instrumentation clear particularly the drums and guitars, however the bass is there but not focused and there is some top end distortion. Overall there is much clarity and reasonably good/widish range of sound.

Comparing the two it would seem as if the LP is a lower generation copy of the master than this and consequently is a notch poorer in quality. It is a bit more flattish. A full gig version later circulated but with lesser sound than the LP. This is an excellent 1st generation serious upgrade cdr from both the old tape and the boot LP, containing the whole gig, so keep an eye open for this one.

The LP sound quality is reasonable. Easily listenable with some minimal distortion on the first side. Side 2 is a bit more muddy in sound.

The Bataclan - Punk festival 29 Sept 77

A decent sound that suffers only minor distortions in the vocals. The sound lacks a decent range and is a touch flat, a little distant too, yet with a fair degree of clarity. The bass is there, but is lost in the sound.The fuller tape is slighlty better.

Notable highlights include a great version of Complete Control, better sounding versions of the infant White Man, and the The Prisoner and City of the Dead which have begun to show up. London's Burning has been contorted to Paris is Singing at the end.

Le Stadium 16 Oct 78

Again a decent sound if a little flat, not to dissimilar to the other show on the LP.

A fair degree of clarity and maybe a touch more range in the sound on this one though. You can just make out the bass chords though the clarity overall is quite reasonable, with only very mild distortion. The fuller tape has marginally a better sound eminating from a 1st generation source .

The tracks from the second album Give Em Enough Rope, are beginning to show up. Guns on the Roof and Drug Stabbing Time.

What is of most interest here though is the detour at the end of Police and Thieves into the Ramones Blitzkreig Bop. Great. This version was copied and hidden on the official bonus CD [USA only] issued with the 2000 remasters titled Rockers Galore.

Compared with other '78 tapes'

Paris has a clearer sound with a better mix than another good tape of the period, Music Machine (24/Jul/78). The sound level does drop at the start of Complete Control, the opening track. Vocals on the first 9 songs are somewhat distant, but much clearer than Music Machine, but before the start of Stay Free there is an edit and the sound improves particularly on the vocals. This second half of the recording certainly warrants a good rating.

New Speedway LP

This source material seems lifted froth Clash on Tour LP and is lesser to the full tape. It contains just 3 tracks from Paris 78.
Police and Thieves
Blitzkreig Bop
Londons Burning

plus 11 tracks from Florence 81

The LP contains nothing new.

Visit the Clash on Stage website for a comprehensive catalogue of unofficially released CD's and Vinyl.

Bootleg Rockers Galore and Police and Thieves

Given away free with the remasters [USA only], this CD had a hidden bonus track Police and Thieves at the very end following a long period silence. The source for this track is the LP and not the superior cdr of the full recording in circulation.

Probably the 16th

There is some confusion over the date of this gig. The date on the recording matches that of the poster. However whilst the poster states Le Stadium on the 16th Octobre, Johnny Greens book ‘A Riot of our Own’ states Le Palace and would date this a couple of days later. For a short Paris/Benelux Tour there seems a gap to the Brussels gig on the 22nd.

Posters

Vintage The Clash "AU Stadium"

Poster | jointcustodydc - Sold Out

For sale is this vintage Clash concert poster from their show October 16, 1978 at Le Stadium in Paris, France from the Sort It Out Tour. The band embarked on a lengthy European tour in support of their album Give 'Em Enough Rope with The Slits and The Innocents. Their stop in Paris was promoted with this great poster, featuring a promo photo of the band. Listen to a recording of the show below. This poster is lightly worn with a few surface creases and tape residue. Dimensions: 24" Wide by 16" Long 

The same artwork was also used to promote the 'Give 'em Enough Rope' Album

Tickets

Gymnase Le Stadium / 66 av Ivry, 75013 Paris

The Gymnase Le Stadium is a sports facility located at 66 avenue d'Ivry in Paris. According to the information provided:

The Gymnase Le Stadium has a long history as an important sports venue in Paris. It was a hub for major sporting events and attracted large crowds of spectators over the years.[4][5] The stadium played a significant role in the growth of mass spectatorship of sports in modern France.[4]

While the exact founding date of the Gymnase Le Stadium is not provided, it is clear that it has been an active sports facility for many decades, hosting various athletic competitions and events.[3][5] In 2010, the Gymnase Le Stadium was reported to be "awakening the Olympiads", suggesting it has a long-standing association with major sporting competitions like the Olympics.[5]

Overall, the Gymnase Le Stadium appears to be an iconic and historic sports venue in Paris that has witnessed and contributed to the evolution of sports spectatorship in France over the course of the 20th century.[4]

France Voyage - Paris Metro Station Tour Maubourg ---- APGRD - Research Collections - Performance Database ---- Paris.fr - Gymnase Le Stadium ---- The Stadium Century - Sport, Spectatorship, and Mass Society in Modern France ---- Le Parisien - Le Gymnase Stadium réveille les Olympiades

a very fine performance

This is a very fine performance, with loads of heavy guitar fills from Mick. There is very little chat from Joe, not even in his pigeon French, and the band seem to be on a proficient run through of regular numbers.

I Fought the Law is performed for the first time and is played early in the set.

The obvious standout is the segue in Police and Thieves into the Ramones, Blitzkreig Bop. Probably one of the clearest versions available alongside Music Machine 24/7/78

Other highlights include fired up versions of Protex Blue, Janie Jones, English Civil War and London’s Burning (with an ad lib from Joe).

Setlist

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18	Complete Control Tommy Gun I Fought The Law Jail Guitar Doors Clash City Rockers White Man in Hammersmith Palais Drug Stabbing Time Protex Blue Guns On The Roof Stay Free Police and Thieves Blitzkreig Bop Capital Radio Janie Jones Garageland English Civil War London’s Burning White Riot