Pearl Harbour Tour supportedby Bo Diddley

updated 5 Sept 2008 - added photo

Audio 1

from 2nd gen - Sound 3 - 73min - 2gen - 19 tracks

White Man

Toronto Interview Paul Topper

part 1 - (5mins)

part 2 - (5mins)

Canadian Radio Interview (26mins)

A very enjoyable recording.

A good audience recording exists of the concert; good width and clarity of sound, though not pro levels, making this one of the better tapes of the tour.

The great atmosphere of this charged gig is captured well. It's a 2nd generation with a good deal of clarity and range. The vocals, percussion, guitars, including an excellent bass, all play off each other, though there is some slight echo/distance. Vocals are a touch distant but the guitars come through powerfully. A very enjoyable recording.

Last night of the Pearl Harbour

Last night of the Pearl Harbour tour; a highly successful tour both artistically and in terms of establishing a growing reputation and following in the USA.

Pearl Harbour produced some of the best Clash concerts ever, and this was another triumph.

... and onto the Take the 5th tour

On The Take the 5th tour in September/October The Clash would be playing large auditoriums, but this was a converted cinema with the toilet doubling as a dressing room! Strummer recalls, " The PA sounded like it was filled with hamsters on coke! Even though it sounded rough we really enjoyed it and the crowd stormed the stage at the end. There were just 2 bouncers trying to hold the crowd back"

Tickets

Rex Danforth Theatre

The Rex Danforth Music Hall (originally Allen's Danforth Theatre) is a music venue and event theatre on Danforth Avenue in the neighbourhood of Riverdale in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[1] It is served by Broadview station on the TTC's Bloor–Danforth line. The building was designated as a property of historic interest under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1985.

Cinema Treasures
Link - Archive PDF

Toronto Journey 416
Link - Archive PDF

Odeon Danforth Theatre, later the Rex Danforth

Odeon Danforth Theatre, later the Rex Danforth
https://www.torontojourney

1948 – Odeon Danforth Theatre, later Rex Danforth, was once located at 635 Danforth Ave, west of Pape Ave on the south side (Archives of Ontario I0012598)

Odeon Danforth Theatre, later Rex Danforth, was once located at 635 Danforth Ave (west of Pape Ave on the south side) in The Danforth/Greektown neighbourhood of Toronto.

Built in 1946/47 and designed by architect Jay Isadore English, the movie house opened on April 16, 1948. Along with the ticket booth, the exterior featured a tall illuminated sign and an unconventional marquee gently curved towards the entrance.

The auditorium was a shade of blue/green and had scarlet seats. Large decorative scrolls flared towards the ceiling, and gold drapes extended around the side walls. The main floor seating had extra leg room, while the balcony had a push-back style of seats. Roly Young, a movie critic for The Globe and Mail, mentioned: “…the theatre one of the most beautiful I’ve seen.”

The Danforth was one of five theatres that were part of the Odeon chain, owned by J Arthur Rank. The other four included the Humber, Carlton, Fairlawn and the Hyland.

In the late-1970s, the theatre was renamed the Rex Danforth and showed Greek films. On February 20, 1979, The Clash took the stage at the otherwise peaceful theatre for an exciting concert.

The building was sold in 1994 for $1.5 million and later became home to Extreme Fitness. Today, GoodLife Fitness occupies the former theatre.

Danforth Music Hall - YouTube

listen you big guys, you're never gonna stop them dancing

Joe is very talkative throughout, apologising for the poor sound early on and at the start of the encore says "We wanna kinda apologise, we arrived in Canada about 2 weeks ago feeling full of beans, now we've had it if you know what I'm trying to say". But if The Clash were worn out at the end of the tour there is no sign of it here: its highly charged and intense throughout.

Joe wins the audience over after Bored with The USA, the storming set opener, "Turn on the house lights, listen who's the promoter? Calling Mike Cole, listen you big guys, you're never gonna stop them dancing, they just wanna stand there and dance". He then tells the bouncers "you've gotta watch for anyone going down" How many Toronto audiences had heard a band say that to the security before?

The PA sound problems improve during Tommy Gun, which Joe introduces with " This is Topper, Britain's answer to Bruce Lee!" To requests for White Riot Joe jokes, "that's an old song, so Bing Crosby still has fans even in Toronto! There's a tape change before Stay Free, which loses some of Mick's introduction.

Capital Radio is preceded by "This is what (Toronto Radio) Q107 sounds like, just a farting noise all day, so this song is now entitled thank you Radio Q107, we are your mindless robots".

The encore cranks up the intensity even higher and White Riot breaks down halfway through after a stage invasion. Fans shout out the chorus, and then someone grabs the microphone and screams "God Save The Queen!" The taper or someone nearby says "unbelievable" as the crowd shout for me.

The house lights come on and the recording ends with the first bars of a song that would inspire The Clash to record one of the best cuts on London Calling; Vince Taylor's Brand New Cadillac.

Barry Myers

We were going to drive to Toronto from New York, but we were snowed in and except for the back-line vehicle, the rest of us flew direct to Cananda. Scratchy

"Maybe that is on the tape too."

Just a minor correction to Neil Vanhinsberg's comment on the September 1979 Clash show in Toronto. Neil writes:

"I also seem to recall at one point Joe mentioned a radio station, could have been the OK station that sponsored the show CFNY or the awful classic rock station Q-107. He said he listened to it and it sounded like farting noises. Maybe that is on the tape too."

That actually happened at the Clash's previous Toronto appearance, in February 1979, at the Rex Theatre. That show was promoted by Q-107, and they were the target of Joe's ire. (I actually even mentioned the comment in a review of the February show I wrote for issue no. 2 of the Surfin' Bird fanzine. Good luck ever finding a copy of that!)

The reason I'm sure about this is that I was at the February show in Toronto, but not the September show. I was living in the US by then, and saw them on the September tour at the Palladium in NYC, with the Undertones and Sam and Dave on the bill.

Cheers. Tycho MansonToronto, Canada

This is the best show we never played.

This is the best show we never played. We got the call from The Garys to go down to The Rex theatre on the Danforth to open for the Clash but at the last minute we got pulled in favour of the Curse! Yes - we got to stay for the show and to hang out. Link

I went to see this show, probably one of the best that I have seen in my lifetime

Neil Stark - I was there!

Dave Dysart - I was there. Saw every show The Clash did in Toronto.

@douglasboyd2952 - Before the concert, I remember Q107 (on the air) promoting The Clash as early Who and Rolling Stones; although I had never heard of the band, I went to see this show, probably one of the best that I have seen in my lifetime. YouTube

It made a huge impact on the Toronto music scene

Nick White - a great gig and made a huge impact on the Toronto music scene. The energy from the band was incredible. a bit out of tune to start with but with Strummer as a front man, you didn't notice! here's a pic my brother Simon took. Joe always wanted to be close to the audience, notice no monitors at the front of the stage. The audience was hesitant at first but half through the first number, 'USA' that front bit was a mass of pogoing fools! Joe had to fish the crushed bouncers out of the pit! I think my life changed that night. Cheers for sharing this great memory from the night with us at CCC Nick. Clash City Collectors

The energy from the band was incredible. a bit out of tune to start with but with Strummer as a front man, you didn't notice! here's a pic my brother Simon took. Joe always wanted to be close to the audience, notice no monitors at the front of the stage. The audience was hesitant at first but half through the first number, 'USA' that front bit was a mass of pogoing fools! Joe had to fish the crushed bouncers out of the pit! I think my life changed that night. Clash City Collectors

Nick Smash - The Clash did 2 gigs in Toronto in 1979 - 40 years ago now. If you are around Saturday 21 December (1-4 PM), come down to The Rivoli as there will be some good dub on the decks, some chit chat, large photos to ogle and books to buy and fondle. All for a good cause! Nick Smash | Facebook

AWESOME show!!! Changed my Life!!!

Tom Dertinger - Was there..amazing

Karen Williamson - me too !

Kc Carlisle - AWESOME show!!! Changed my Life!!! Facebook

Maureen Roach - agree with Kc Carlisle - th!at was an amazing show

Such a great performance

Kristen Raymer - I wanted to go to this show so badly...but I was only 13 and wasn't allowed...

Merrill Moran - I saw this, still have the ticket stub, Joe Strummer was really sweating, put on such a great performance, compared to later years.

Tycho Manson - …and the opener at that show was True Confessions.

Dave Dysart - I loved that show !

Jeff Augustine - i won tickets to this show-undertones and the bgirls opened. Toronto Calling

Blackmarketclash | Leave a comment

Sounds review

March 10th

Are "Clash" the new messiahs of Punk Rock?

Music Express (Canadian) - April 1979

Dispatches from the punk front -

The Globe and Mail - BRAD WHEELER
PUBLISHED MARCH 11, 2010

Archive PDF

Joe Strummer snarls through the Clash's first Toronto gig.

Toronto Calling is an exhibit of photos by Torontonians Simon and Nick White, non-professional photographers who shot as fans from the front rows of the punk revolution. One of the featured shots of the exhibit, showing at the Steam Whistle Brewery, is the snarling image of the Clash's Joe Strummer, taken on Feb. 20, 1979, at the Rex Danforth Theatre. Simon White speaks about the era and the photograph:

"Strummer wanted people dancing up in front of the stage, and that's where this photograph was taken. Now we call it the mosh pit, but back then there was no cute name for it. The show was tacked onto a six-city North American tour - the record company wanted to gauge North America's audience to this thing called punk music.

"One thing that really struck me about the Clash that night was that they were slightly surly up on stage - they were fed up with the record labels and promoters who were trying to hijack their agenda. They were angry, and the crowd fed off of that. We all gave it right back to them, in terms of the attitude and the noise. At the end of the set, people came up on stage and started dancing with the band. They were fine with that - in fact they encouraged it. I think, to them, it was a perfectly flamboyant way of ending the show, having the crowd break down the barrier between the band and the kids. They really wanted to reduce that difference.

"I remember seeing the Clash at the CNE Grandstand later, where it was like they couldn't deal with the size of the audience. They broke up soon thereafter. It was such a shame, because their music and their message and their agenda had such a humanist point to it. It seemed only to translate to them when they could meet and talk to and touch their audience. And they did touch so many of us, in the front row."

(Simon White, as told to Brad Wheeler)

Rex Danforth Theatre in Toronto, 1979

j.martin -sevres-babylone

The Clash | Facebook

Flyer and Pig Paper Fanzine

Pig Paper #’s 10-A and 10-B (February and March 1979)
Pig Paper - ZineWiki - the history and culture of zines, independent media and the small press.

Clash City Collectors | Facebook

Steve Pecar - When the Clash played Toronto for the first time, Feb. 20, 1979, there wasn't a lot of promotion for the show. Apparently all that was circulated was this flyer that went mostly to record shops. The rest posted below is a review from the Pig Paper, one of, if not the first Canadian fanzines. I've posted in sections to make it easy to read...and it is quite interesting. Also posted some info about the Pig Paper

Mark Corner - 'Records on Wheels' onetime great Record Shop Chain that was in many Canadian cities.

Enlarge image - or PDF

Enlarge image - or PDF

BOOK: CULTURE, MUSIC THE FIRST TIME THE CLASH PLAYED TORONTO

Core Magazine - 01/02/2019

Archived PDF

It's been four decades since The Clash, known for their unique fusion of punk and reggae, played Toronto for the first time. The event was caught on 35 mm black and white film by two brothers.

Ex-Torontonian, photographer Nick Smash, also known as Nick White, along with his brother Simon White, were part of the Toronto post-punk scene at the time and were there to capture history.

Nick will give a talk on opening night and he and Simon will be exhibiting photos. It's part of an event called The Clash on the Danforth in celebration of the 40th anniversary of two memorable concerts played by Mick Jones, Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon, The Clash, at the Rex Danforth Theatre in 1979.

Punk's thrashing guitars, off-tone harmonics bred in underground bars and backrooms was beginning to take hold. The Clash had sold over 100,000 imported copies of their first album and set off on the Pearl Harbour tour to the US and Canada in 1979.

They started off at the Lyceum Theatre in London, UK with the Slits on Jan. 3 before crossing the ocean. Their second stop and first North American show was at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver on Jan. 31. Their first US show was not until Feb. 8 at the Temple, San Francisco Bay Area. Following that show, they enlisted legendary musician and rhythm & blues pioneer Bo Diddley for the larger venues.

Punk bands were able to fill the larger-size music halls by the end of the 70s. On Feb. 20 when The Clash opened up with I'm So Bored With The USA at The Rex, Nick and Simon were ready. The Clash would return to Toronto to play the O'Keefe Centre for the Performing Arts only months later on September 26.

"My brother Simon and I took photos of all the bands that played in Toronto from 1979 - 1983," Nick tells me by text.

"Many of the photos we took are in a book I wrote called, Alone And Gone." They published it themselves in 2015.

"We were VERY independent. All the photos are ours and we own the copyright," says Nick - "independent and self published - NO BARCODES!" he added.

BOOK: The First Time The Clash Played Toronto - Music - Core Magazines

Core Magazines - FEBRUARY 1, 2019  - CHERRYL BIRD - Archive PDF

It’s been four decades since The Clash, known for their unique fusion of punk and reggae, played Toronto for the first time. The event was caught on 35 mm black and white film by two brothers.

Ex-Torontonian, photographer Nick Smash, also known as Nick White, along with his brother Simon White, were part of the Toronto post-punk scene at the time and were there to capture history. 

Nick will give a talk on opening night and he and Simon will be exhibiting photos. It’s part of an event called The Clash on the Danforth in celebration of the 40th anniversary of two memorable concerts played by Mick Jones, Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon, The Clash, at the Rex Danforth Theatre in 1979.

Punk’s thrashing guitars, off-tone harmonics bred in underground bars and backrooms was beginning to take hold. The Clash had sold over 100,000 imported copies of their first album and set off on the Pearl Harbour tour to the US and Canada in 1979.

They started off at the Lyceum Theatre in London, UK with the Slits on Jan. 3 before crossing the ocean. Their second stop and first North American show was at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver on Jan. 31. Their first US show was not until Feb. 8 at the Temple, San Francisco Bay Area. Following that show, they enlisted legendary musician and rhythm & blues pioneer Bo Diddley for the larger venues. 

Punk bands were able to fill the larger-size music halls by the end of the 70s. On Feb. 20 when The Clash opened up with I’m So Bored With The USA at The Rex, Nick and Simon were ready. The Clash would return to Toronto to play the O’Keefe Centre for the Performing Arts only months later on September 26.

“My brother Simon and I took photos of all the bands that played in Toronto from 1979 – 1983,” Nick tells me by text.

“Many of the photos we took are in a book I wrote called, Alone And Gone.” They published it themselves in 2015. 

@nickwhite2172 - 'Alone And Gone' by Nick Smash. Thank you.
Alone and Gone – The Story of Toronto's Post Punk Underground 1979-1984 │ Exclaim!

Book: 'Alone And Gone'

Alone and Gone – The Story of Toronto's Post Punk Underground 1979-1984 │ Exclaim!
Clash City Collectors | facebook.com

Nick White has produced this limited edition (100 copies) book of mostly unpublished photographs of Clash concerts in Toronto between 1979 and 1984. The First Time The Clash Played Toronto was in 1979. The show was captured on film (photos) and is on exhibit all through Feb. 

Core Magazines | Facebook
Core Magazines

Story: www.coremagazines.com/music/The-Clash 

Alone and Gone book cover

“We were VERY independent. All the photos are ours and we own the copyright,” says Nick – “independent and self published – NO BARCODES!” he added.

His aversion to barcodes is fairly ironic, since the exhibition is in a library full of them. But, it does show that the indelible spirit and aesthetics of the time that inspired the music, still lingers.

Nick moved to London, UK with his band Rent Boys Inc, where he’s been living since 1983.

The Clash on the Danforth opens with a talk on Feb. 1 from 7-8 pm at the Toronto Public Library, Pape/Danforth Branch, 701 Pape Ave. It is a free event. The exhibition runs throughout February.

From Alone and Gone launch - author Nick Smash...

The Perlich Post: The Clash On The Danforth: 40 Years Later

It seems hard to believe but The Clash played their first concert in Toronto at The Rex Danforth Theatre 40 years ago next month.

During the month of February, The Toronto Public Library at Pape and Danforth will be hosting a photographic exhibition celebrating this hugely important event in Toronto's music history. The exhibition will be featuring some of the large format posters as displayed in 'Toronto Calling', the 2010 exhibition curated by Nick and Simon White at Steamwhistle Brewery. 1979 was a good year for fans of The Clash living in Toronto as they played 2 gigs while at the peak of their career. The first was at The Rex on February 20th and the second at The O'Keefe Centre  on September 26th.

CLASH ON THE DANFORTH AT THE LIBRARY will be a multi media format exhibition using large format photos, collage type posters, original artifacts, video screen photos and old school cassette tapes. I'll be getting back behind the lectern and pontificating about how great these gigs were and what they meant to their fans as the punk scene was changing. The opening night will be Friday (February 1) at The Public Library (701 Pape Avenue – just south of Danforth) from 7pm to 8pm.  Copies of "Alone And Gone" and "What You Don't Want Is What You Get" will be available.

Andrew Strayler - There was a nice gathering  yesterday  in celebration of the Clash visiting Toronto 4 times between  1979 and 1984. Nick Smash put together  a great booklet of pictures and text, #/100, some guest radio station personalities from back in the day were in stage and a long unheard Joe Strummer radio interview from 1987 was played. There was a good turnout and I got to meet Steve Pecar in the flesh. My book is 23/100.

Clash City Collectors | Facebook

Review - Clash in Toronto: A selection of photographs 1979 - 1984.

Open photos in full in new window

CLASH TO ME | Facebook

Paul Simonon, Rex Danfoth Theatre, Toronto 1979

CLASH TO ME | Facebook

Paul Simonon Rex Danfoth Theatre Toronto "Pearl Harbour" tour February 1979

Simon White?

Toronto Calling - https://backstagecurtain.tumblr.com/
għaxart elef żiemel kant

marian-1122 - The Clash performing live on stage at the Rex Danforth Theatre , Toronto, Canada, February 20th, 1979. ©️ Peter Noble/Redefines

Joe Strummer snarls through the Clash's first Toronto gig.

Peter Noble

Photos Unknown

Book: 'Alone And Gone'

Alone and Gone – The Story of Toronto's Post Punk Underground 1979-1984 │ Exclaim!
Clash City Collectors | facebook.com

Nick White has produced this limited edition (100 copies) book of mostly unpublished photographs of Clash concerts in Toronto between 1979 and 1984. The First Time The Clash Played Toronto was in 1979. The show was captured on film (photos) and is on exhibit all through Feb. 

Core Magazines | Facebook
Core Magazines

Story: www.coremagazines.com/music/The-Clash 

Setlist

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19	I'm so bored with the USA Guns on the Roof Jail Guitar Doors Drug Stabbing Time Tommy Gun City of the Dead Career Opportunities Clash City Rockers White Man English Civil War Stay Free Police and Thieves Capital Radio Janie Jones Garageland Julies been Working for /DS Complete Control Londons Burning White Riot bold indicates on video