One of two secret gigs, hastily arranged for Christmas and Boxing Day 1979 prior to the Concert for Kampuchea.

Jan 1980
Clash make it good

So What else is there to do at Christmas? Two nights before the Clash play the big `Un at Hammersmith Odeon, a cheery gent looks out of the tiny school-gym-like Acklam Hall in Notting Hill and calls out: “Anyone wanna see the Clash? Fifty pence!”

Invitation is strictly word-of-mouth, because this is like a block party, the kind they have in New York, where the whole neighbourhood piles into the street and has f-u-n together. So punks, mods, skins, three-quarter fill the room.

The intimacy of the “show” - just round the corner from the Elgin pub where Joe was playing with the 101’ers four years ago thrust you into a- time-warp of parallel audience/artist closeness e.g at the Roxy. How strange, then, to be shrieked at by differences, like the visual of the Clash as scrawny spotty teenagers, vs. the Clash as suitably skinny rock stars...

It was a very friendly event, with the Clash laying wholeheartedly into some good old-fashioned rock `n’ roll, including a cover of the 101’ers “Keys To Your Heart” and lots of old Clash stuff, even unto “Janie Jones” and “Garageland”, all of which sounded great. Sound?

Well, there were endless friendly shouts back and forth trying to get it right the Clash aren’t currently- geared for playing venues this small with this level of equipment but the- major thing is that this was a party, and everyone who came along had a good time (depending on how bad their `flu was). They played encores, including “Armagideon Time” and “London’s Burning”, followed by “London Calling”. I preferred the former, but then, that’s me.

VIVIEN GOLDMAN.