May/June 1981
It’s hard to know where to start about the legendary gigs at Bonds Casino in Times Square!! Their fascination with NYC and New Yorkers fascination with the band was unintentionally about to hit meteoric heights. When Joe, Mick, Paul and Topper landed at JFK late May they could not possibly have foreseen what was about to happen over the next 3 weeks.
Earlier in the year, Bernie Rhodes, the bands manager and Kosmo Vinyl, The Clash’s over enthusiastic but great PR man flew out to New York to look for a suitable ‘Clash venue’, somewhere that was intimate and crucially an all standing venue, the band always preferred non seated gigs because the audience get very involved and this always spurred the band on to give it their all.
On Broadway (Sixth Avenue) between 45th and 46th street was a huge nightclub called Bond, it was very ‘art deco’ and all standing and It’s capacity was about 3,500, absolutely perfect for The Clash and to top it all off, It was right at the heartbeat of their favourite city. The band were booked to play 8 shows between 28 May and 3 June. (For those of you that have been to NY, It’s location is where the Virgin Megastore now Is)
After checking in at The Grammercy Hotel, the band attended the press conference at Bonds which was not overly attended by members of the paparazzi despite the fact that Bonds laid a bus on for them, but all 8 shows had sold out more or less as soon as the tickets became available in early May so those that did turn up knew this was a residency worth reporting on.
28 May 1981
The morning of 28th May saw the newspapers carry articles on the forthcoming 1st show which was that evening, The Clash had decided they wanted different opening acts on each night to open up new music to the fans, the 1st shows opening act was Grandmaster Flash and the furious 5, by late afternoon large crowds of Clash fans were swarming around Times Square in excited anticipation for Bonds opening night of The Clash residency.
By the time Grandmaster Flash hit the stage, Bonds was as packed as matches in a box and being the middle of summer it was seriously hot and GM’S pounding drum bass machine seemed to add to the temperature even more and was putting everybody into a state of frenzy and annoyance, after all, the audience were here to see The Clash, cans, bottles and any object people could get hold of were being hurled at the stage so after a short while, GM decided the best thing to do was call it quits and cut his set short to diffuse the situation.
Backstage The Clash weren’t too happy about this because they wanted their fans to appreciate different musical cultures, but
being the outfit they were, the show goes on whatever, and when they stormed onto the stage, the jeers turned into frenzied cheers.
From the opening chords of London Calling Bond’s was jumping in a sweat filled powerful Clash gig, which was a 26 track not far short of a 2 hour set, as well as showcasing their latest triple album Sandinista! With songs like The Magnificent 7, The Leader, Charlie don’t surf, Washington Bullets etc. They were still faithful to punk classics such as Janie Jones, career opportunities, I’m so bored with the USA and Complete Control and tracks from the London Calling album made this a musical fusion of punk, reggae, rap ska and rockabilly, to this day what band can boast all this musical diversity, The Clash were special and the opening night in Times Square was witness to a very memorable, important part of rock n roll history.....however, this residency was about to explode in controversy as the punters made their way home from the seedy, marijuana dealing, pimp filled crime ridden area that was Broadway in Times Square.
29 May 1981
Before the end of the 1st gig on the 28th May, many fire trucks and police were outside Bond’s due to the fact they were unhappy that were well over 3,000 people crammed into the venue for the gig, due to the number of fire exits they stated that the capacity must not exceed 1,750, only recently the Plasmatics had played there with 4,000 punters, and part of their set included blowing a car up on stage! Not a murmur of complaint was heard about this, so it was obviously a vendetta by other clubs in NYC jealous that Bond’s had the biggest gig in town that week!
After discussions with Bernie Rhodes and Cosmo Vinyl, it was agreed that the show for the 29th would go ahead with a capacity of 1,750, all ticketron holders of gig tickets would get in for the show as ticketron was countrywide outside of NY, these were the fans inconvenienced the most as they had further to travel, tickets purchased from Bond’s would be available for a rescheduled show so that everybody would see them at some point, so for now the show would go on and the band were ready to show why they were England’s finest.
As the sun was sinking in the big apple, Times Square was once again filling with an army of Clash fans ready for the 2nd show of the originally penned in 8 shows, showtime was scheduled for 10pm when the support bands were ready to go, tonight’s support was The Modettes and a local NY rap act, unfortunately, as like the opening night, especially with a bit of tension in the air due to local people not able to get in with the reduced capacity and the heat in NY, these acts were once again bombarded with abuse, the punters came here to see The Clash and that was the be all and end all, period.
The Clash jumped onto the stage to a deafening roar from the art deco all standing venue that was Bond’s, opening with London Calling, Safe European Home and The Leader, these 3 songs would be the opening sequence to all the Bond gigs, a great choice showcasing the band’s versatility and diversity with different musical styles that no band before or since has been able to emulate.
Tonight’s show is an exceptional performance, 25 songs, the excitement of being in NYC, realising they were big news here and the publicity they were unintentionally creating was making them together, tight, and giving the punters a blistering performance that none of today’s so called top groups are nowhere near capable of coming close. The mix of punk, rock, funk, reggae and rockabilly was all here tonight, many highlights are witnessed by the people lucky enough to be here tonight, witnessing a very long loose rendition of Magnificent 7 that just left the audience breathless, the encore sequence of Brand New Cadillac, Janie Jones, Armagideon Time, Washington Bullets and I’m So Bored With The USA just blew everybody away, this was the last time the band would end the set with Bored, It’s ironic they could play this song to frenzied Americans that totally understood what the song was all about and they couldn’t get enough of it, or The Clash for that matter.
The early hours of the noisy Times Square was full of fired up rebellious youth who were streaming out of Bond’s ready for the trip home or perhaps visiting some seedy joint in Manhattan to know doubt talk about how great it was to see The Clash, if ever a band were in the right place at the right time, this was The time for The Clash, after all, they were and still are the only band that matters.
A few hours later as the sun was rising on the morning of Saturday 30th May, Times Square would be witnessing 2 shows by The Clash, an afternoon show for under 18s and the evening show..........If only life was that simple, you see, everything The Clash did never seemed to be straightforward, and this residency was about to be turned upside down.
3oth and 31st May 1981
Saturday 30th May was going to be an exhausting day for The Clash, they were due to do 2 gigs that day, one in the afternoon for the under 18’s and the evening show for the older Clash City Rockers, to do 2 gigs in 1 day with their intense shows was no mean feat, but a challenge that The Clash would no doubt enjoy, giving it their all just like they always did, if there was ever a band that realised the fans were their lifeblood and reason to tour, it was The Clash.
By early afternoon, Times Square was teeming with over excited teenagers, Clash T shirts on show everywhere for everyone to see, these kids eager to see England’s greatest ever band were about to be incredibly disappointed and seriously pissed off, mounted police, loads of NYC squad cars were present not to long before the matinee show was about to take place, even though a compromise had been reached for the previous evenings show, the fire department decided they still weren’t happy with the fire exit situation and the suits from the NY building department were not happy either, so between them they decided the 2 shows would not take place that day and Bond’s would be closed for the foreseeable future.
As word got round that the show was about to be cancelled, angry rebellious youth were not going to take this lying down, tensions were already high with the heat on a sunny Manhattan day and now The Clash show was cancelled it ignited the spark that Times Square had not seen for many years, a fully blown riot began to take shape, more police were called to the scene, people being whacked with batons, police on horses shoving everybody away, or trying to, upset fans rallied together, throwing things, screaming at the police, people were being arrested and this just made things even worse. As the fans swarmed together to protect each other they began to chant “we want Clash, we want Clash” and disorder was clearly not going to just dissipate in a few minutes as there were now older fans who would have been at the evening show who had heard the news and decided to go down to the venue, this was now an ugly fully blown riot that lasted most of the day. Early evening was upon Manhattan and the situation was now under control, sort of.
The morning of 31st May, New Yorkers woke up to the front page headline in the New York Times ‘Clash in Times Square’ and turning on their radios, NY’S main music station, WNEW FM was reporting the riot that went on the previous day non stop, and tv news channels news 4 and Channel 7 were also reporting it constantly, now everybody in the apple was aware of this brash, political force that was The Clash, they had publicity they could only dream about, but there was still the problem of 2 shows not taking place and with the reduced capacity, how the hell were they going to make sure that everybody who had tickets would be able to see them, the easy option would be to do a night or 2 at Madison Square Garden, but hey, there would be more chance of hell freezing over than the Clash to sell their soul to play in some stadium rock type indoor venue, let’s just leave that to Bono....The Clash were for the people, they played in sweaty dive bar style places and that is that.
Bernie Rhodes was in long discussions with the fire department, building department, health and safety department etc. etc. He argued the fact that the band were in no hurry to leave New York, so they would give a full refund to any disgruntled fans, but would play as many shows as it would take so everybody who had a ticket would be able to see them if they wanted, How many bands would go down that path, their loyalty to their fans was exceptional and this proved the point beyond all doubt.
After persuading the relevant people, Bernie got his way, apparently with a bit of persuasion from relatives of the building department who were big fans of the band! The shows were back on! They now had to do a marathon 17 gigs in 17 days, and that was the option they went with, the 31st May was now ready for an evening Clash show at bond’s International Casino.
The morning of the 31st May, the tv and radio stations were still all over the story of this happening in Times Square the previous day, by the time the band were waking up they were story no.1 all over New York City and radio stations wanted a piece of them, the live footage from Bond’s opening night was all over the tv news channels, all this and an evening show to follow, you could bet your bottom dollar that the show that evening they were going to rip the place to pieces, the ticketron ticket holders who were still being given priority for the opening gigs were indeed fortunate because it turned out to be a show that ‘burned’ as Joe would say about the best gigs the band ever played.
As the large crowd eagerly entered the cauldron that was Bonds, they were treated to the Slits, and thankfully they were appreciated tonight, the 1st of the support bands to get a positive response which The Clash were pleased about so they were in the right state of mind for the 2 hour slog ahead of the musical fusion they were going to create and a positive vibe in the audience was all the ingredients needed to make for a great show.
As the band stormed onto the stage entering from the upstairs dressing room, Joe informed everybody, that ‘we’re here now so let’s get on with it’ A blistering opening with London Calling had the crowd jumping and they ripped straight into Safe European Home with great guitar licks from Mick and Toppers powerful drumming shining through, then it was The Leader, a powerful start that just nudged up a gear every song or 2 to make a cohesive, together and firing on all cylinders, halfway through the set, as it was every night at Bonds, they got the Clash funk, punk classic that was Magnificent 7 going, which was now getting priority airplay on WBLS black music station so the word of The Clash was being taken notice buy the rap crews of New York, so this song was always a highlight, Mick screaming his ‘You Lot’ lyrics out for all he was worth, Joe’s adlibs, screams and yells were always off the cuff and Mag 7 gave him plenty of opportunity to let rip whatever his state of thinking might be.
The set went on without a pause, and Brand New Cadillac was the 1st encore song, a fast rockabilly number that the crowd always rocked to, so a 25 song set eventually came to a halt and an exhausted band and crowd filtered away from Bonds, the band would now hit Manhattan with their entourage and no doubt chill down with a drink and a spliff, all was well in The Clash camp, there was still another 14 shows to go, if any band could keep this togetherness and intensity going, The Clash could, well most of the time.


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LikeUnlike18 March 2010
Geoff Hoover
I actually had one of those posters. I tore it down from 90th street andbroadway. I tore it up and used it to write letters to my friends on. those the typewriter smudged a lot onthe glossy stock.
Like1Unlike28 March 2010
Joe Streno
Yes you did Hoov.
Like1Unlike28 March 2010
Geoff Hoover
And I paid to get into 1 of the shiows. But my friend dorothy knew Raymond Jordan, and we got into another show for free when he let us in the side entrance.
LikeUnlike18 March 2010
Geoff Hoover
we had Bonds tickets. not ticket master, so both shows i went to were part of the additional nights.
LikeUnlike18 March 2010
Joe Streno
If you'd like to see my photos of one of the gigs & backstage photos of the boys, plus photos of the Slits ... http://www.go2jo.com/photos/the-clash-bonds-nyc-1981/
LikeUnlike18 March 2010
Mecha Garageland
I saw them, they are beautiful!!! i wanted to take them for me, but i haven't done it...
LikeUnlike18 March 2010
Ian Kershaw
Some great pics there Joe - thanks for sharing mate
LikeUnlike18 March 2010
Loving The Clash
Lots of Bonds pics in the photo section of the page
LikeUnlike18 March 2010
Geoff Hoover
I knew some people who were at the 1st show. It was like watching a show in a rushhour subway train with the AC busted. Brutally hot and crowded.

Funny thing is I also know Joe Hynes, who was the Fire Marshall the closed'em down. He was a friend of my parents. I never got to ask him about closing bonds. He currently is the DA in Brooklyn. Has been for many many years.
LikeUnlike19 March 2010
Geoff Hoover
You think about it, Hynes did the right thing. And by doing so created a legendary NYC rock and roll event. If he hadn't closed them down, they'd have played the 8 shows and it would have been a nice footnote to the Clash history.
LikeUnlike19 March 2010
Clash'o' Phile
Thank you LTC for this brilliant report. Can't wait to read more...
LikeUnlike11 June 2011
Clash'o' Phile
Joe Streno...THANK YOU!!! What fabulous photos...and a wonderful page about that special time you shared with the Clash camp. You have made my day!!!
LikeUnlike11 June 2011
Michael Rios
saw them on the 29th of may!! i'll never forget it!
LikeUnlike129 February 2012
Jack Finch
i wana buy it?! why can't you? it's listen in discography? so wheres the fucking disk!
LikeUnlike12 April 2012