the Clash concert that night in Wellington, was still the best show I know I’ve ever seen

The Clash, Wellington Town Hall 7/02/1982.

The first memory I have of the Clash gig at the Wellington town hall on February 7th 1982 was of joining a hyped up mass of people shoving each other out the way to sprint to the front of the stage.

The event was being held in the lovely old Wellington town hall, bedecked with a huge pipe organ behind, and towering over Toppers drum kit.

As a mere slip of a lad, just 15, this was my first ever concert in this beautiful old hall.

Thankfully, or perhaps mercifully for my competitors in this mad dash, I ended up right in front of centre stage, elbows perched on the floorboards of ye olde town hall.

With me were a couple of mates, Rex and Adam, who later proved to be the right people to ask me out with them on this fantastic night.

After half an hour or so of jostling, the PA broke into music from 2001 a space odyssey, and then Joe strummer armed with his “Ignore Alien Orders” Strat, strolled on stage with the rest of the band announcing into the mike to “cut all this crap”. No sooner had they marched on stage than the first chords of ‘London calling’ were thrashed out.

The crowd went wild as they then nailed the crowded hall with ‘Safe European home’.

If my memory serves me correctly, the band then played ‘brand New Cadillac.’

The show was totally amazing, I was right under the Doc Martened feet of Joe strummer, where no bouncers were separating the stage from the punters, and so I had the best place in the crowd that night.
The band had obviously just been touring Japan, as Joe had a red Samurai/ Kamikaze style headband on, as well as Topper who had a rising sun styled headband.

Paul Simonon looked like he’d come straight out of the London calling inner sleeve photos, and Mick Jones was dressed all in white with matching Les Paul, and red braces.

About half way through the show, Paul swapped bass for Joe’s faithful old Strat to play Guns of Brixton. It was quite strange to see Joe Strummer playing Bass, and Paul center stage on vocals!

Around this part of the show, I seem to recall Joe mentioning a new upcoming single they would play, which turned out to be ‘radio clash’; with accompanying in-tempo slideshow.

All in all a show which switched between older and newer songs interspersed throughout- ‘Mag 7’ mixed up with ‘Janie Jones’, ‘white Man in Hammersmith Palais’ with ‘Police on my back’ and ‘Clampdown’.

At one part of the show, Joe berated a group of skinheads from Wellington, who were gobbing up at him from close range, seeing as there were no barrier between band and punters. Thankfully, Joe ended up ignoring this small group of the crowd and continued on with an amazing show.

And boy was it amazing. I’m talking seven encores later amazing!

I cannot recall exactly all the songs played in these seven encores, but I do vividly remember that the very last song played, with unforgettable sweat on the floor, was Career Opportunities.

So after this, the final encore, and over a 2 and a half hour show, the crowd slowly started leaving the town hall.

I myself was about to turn and head for the door, when Adam saw me and headed me towards the side of stage, where Rex was already milling about amidst the wreckage of cans on the floor.

It was Adam who suggested to Rex and myself that we should perhaps join the queue of people lined up by the side of stage where a huge bouncer was. I don’t quite know why we were permitted backstage; I just recall Rex and Adam with huge grins as we ambled backstage with the others in the line.

Once inside the Green room of the backstage area we helped ourselves to cans of New Zealand leopard lager, then approached three of the four band members relaxing after having just whipped their crowd into a frenzy.

Joe Strummer was nowhere to be seen, so the first band member I approached was Mick Jones, who was chilling out in the far corner of the room- giving the odd order to the road crew and so on. He was very approachable as I handed him my “Red Army Clash” bootleg tape to cover to sign. I recall that his autograph took up nearly the entire length of the inside tape cover. Thankfully there was room left as I then approached Paul Simonon with my newly scribed bootleg tape cover.

But before Paul put pen to ... cardboard, he asked me where I got the tape from. I answered that I had actually just got it from an advert in “rip It up” – a local New Zealand music paper. I then asked him whose idea it was to print “dedicated to Marc Bolan” on the insert? He answered that it was probably Joe’s idea, and that the songs on the tape were from an early demo recording.

I then caught Toppers eye, who was sitting across the room drinking the bands Lager rider with a couple of women, one who was presumably his girlfriend. Topper looked the most buoyant and lively out of the group, which was surprising considering that he had just played a couple of hours of relentless powerful drumming. I remember he was wearing a bright yellow shirt and inscribed the words Topper Headon -“megastar” on my tape cover. When I inquired what the “megastar” bit was all about he answered quizzically that: ‘a Megastar is smaller than a massive star”.

I didn’t really have much time to ponder this last statement, as then a door opened up from the corridor next to me, and Joe strummer walked into the room. He looked like he’d just had come from having a shower as he had a towel still around his neck and fresh black t-shirt. As I was the first punter he walked into upon entering the room, he clinked my beer can and went “cheers mate”. I then produced the bootleg tape and cover, which he didn’t hesitate in signing, and he filled in the remaining space of the cover with his carefully executed autograph. Upon receiving the cover back from him, I noticed that he had signed the “O” in Joe with target cross hairs.

Over the years I have seen many Clash autographs on albums etc. but I don’t think I’ve ever seen another Joe Strummer signature with these crosshairs- so I consider myself to be very lucky indeed to have such a personalised autograph from a true rock n’ roll hero.

Shortly after this, the bands road manager asked all those assembled backstage to leave as the band had to get back to their hotel.

I was still buzzing from the excitement of having seen the Clash, and actually meeting them the next day at school.

I recounted the whole scenario to my fellow punk rock mates at school the next morning. Pete Dowling, one of my school mates told me how he and a few mates, Ben and Pat were hanging out down by the well known Oriental Bay area of Wellington, when Joe strummer went cruising by.

Pete Pat and Ben were by no means huge Clash fans; almost the complete opposite, as they were more your punk rock followers of bands like Crass and Discharge. Despite this, Joe was kind enough to buy them all fish and chips, and hang out and talk to the lads about life in Wellington, by the seaside.

Years later, as part of local crew for many bands that came and played on tour in Wellington, I would go backstage in the very same building where I saw and met the Clash; and go through the same rooms backstage that I went into on the night of the Clash gig. I would recall how I had seen Mick Jones in this corner, or Paul Simonon over there by that wall and so on.

Great memories of meeting one of the worlds best drummer’s, Topper; of Joe strummer being the first ‘adult’ to clink my drink and go “cheers”, and of a truly awesome concert.

And still after all these years, after all of the many bands I have worked for in the past and had seen since, I can still say, without a doubt, that the Clash concert that night in Wellington, was still the best show I know I’ve ever seen.

I must remember to look up Rex (who now fronts a Clash covers band) and Adam when I go back home to New Zealand, and thank them for asking me to tag along with them that night.