Clash Take the 5th Tour
Supported by Sam & Dave and Undertones
MARY HARRON
Clash in NYC- waiting: for Ivan
ACCORDING to reports, it / was a hot. dead, airless summer in New York City. With nothing much happening on the local music scene, excitement centred on the English visitors. The Gang of Four were ecstatically received, scoring over the Buzzcocks, while Eddie and the Hot Rods -found a kinder welcome than they do at home. And when: the Clash arrived in town last week they were heralded in the Village Voice as "the most intense rock and roll band in the world".
Supported by the Undertones and Sam and Davie, the Clash sold out. the Palladium, as they had several months before. The Palladium is an old converted theatre; in commercial terms it stands half-way between the Mudd Club and Madison Square Garden. It's as ornate as London's Lyceum, but even slea2.ier Every Saturday night the 14rh Street pushers move from their usual pitch in front of the Disco Donut shop to outside the theatre doors, waiting to sell downers and questionable marijuana to the teenagers who flock in from the suburbs.
New York audiences are notoriously reserved, with the result that the Undertones almost stole the show on Thursday night and didn't realise it. Reported to be depressed by their performance oft Friday they shouted from the stage' :
"What is this, a funeral OK something?" and didn't come back for the encore they certainly deserved. Sam and Dave, who danced, sweated and crooned in a splendidly over-the-top performance, near-missed on the first night but hit on the second, with the audience dancing on the stage.
BUT it was the Clash's event, and even if they suffered from nerves or tiredness OB Thursday, they had the singular achievement of keeping a Palladium audience on -their feet throughout the show. Friday night was stunning for its concentration, energy and high-spirited attack. Whatever they were in the beginning, they, now embody a modern version of -Fifties rock 'n' roll glamour- For many of the audience, they are simply a new kind of rock star.
Backstage the security force were guarding the door as if they were Kiss — no reflection on the group, just" house policy. "Youse can't come in here. understand — SO GET DOWN THOSE FUCKING STAIRS!" one of them shouted at Johnny - Ramone, who curled up shyly in the doorway, like a fern. In the dressing room the Clash signed autographs, submitted patiently to questions from people they didn't know and were filmed for television. Finally Mick Jones refused to do any more interviews:
'I can't talk now, I'm going through a transcendental phase." :
In a corner Joe Strummer was losing his voice. He said he felt happier with this tour than the last. "I think we're playing a lot better — more people are coming, which makes you feel like giving ,more. You feel less irrelevant,'' He admitted to be being depressed by "the behaviour of the bouncers on this tour: in Boston a girl was beaten up and pushed down the stairs. "During the 'Boston show they were punching people all over the hall. We stopped the show and said where's the promoter? And he weren't there, he'd run off like they all do. That's one area we just haven't got .control over yet."
Strummer insists the tour isn't making them money so far. "We— had to borrow $20,000 from Epic records to fund the tour, and it was hard enough getting that out of them.- They come and shake our hands and smile and say 'Great show, boys!' but they should make with the cheques. They should give us a hand — it's a costly business, this. We're staying at the Empire, which is the worst hotel in New York. You go in the shower and the wall falls on your back."
What about American audiences? "I always get tongue-tied when people ask me that. Because once I'm on stage and the lighting guy hits me with a hundred white lights, I don't know what country I'm in. As for seeing the cities — we've been three days now and played two shows and my taste of New York is 25 minutes standing on a corner in the rain eating a pizza. with a take-out coffee. Watching people go by, you know? I was standing by a phone booth and it started to ring. I walk over and pick up the phone and this guy asks to speak to Ivan. So I'm standing on the corner shouting Ivan! Ivan!' at the top of my voice — ruining it for the show — and no Ivan comes. So I say There ain't no Ivan', and he says "Thanks a lot'. And that's my experience of New York."
WITH what could have been wishful thinking, Strummer said he thought the American audiences appreciate the political content of the Clash's songs. "Even though America has cooled down a lot since all that turmoil in the Sixties, I think there are a 'lot of people who are willing to get on the street and fight for what they want. Even more so than in Britain, This is backstage at the Palladium, "but tomorrow we'll be rolling down the turnpike through all the burnt-out areas of Philadelphia. We think of America as this middle class place with everybody stuffing themselves, but a quarter of the population live in places that are Just like the Gorbals."
He fell silent and looked like someone who had had to answer too many questions. "I'm not into lying on a bed with a mirror and a razorblade. I'm not into it. I. just want to have a cup of coffee and a pizza on the corner while I think about things. And that's how I'm looking after that show, you know?" —
MARY HARRON
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Monterey CA, USA...Tribal Stomp festival |
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Civic Centre, Saint Paul MN, USA |
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Aragon Ballroom, Chicago IL, USA |
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Masonic Temple, Detroit MI, USA |
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Cleveland, USA |
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| A Riot of Our Own dates this gig pg194. However local fans believe Cleveland show never happened, the book reference notwithstanding. "I was 18 at the time and very tuned in to the music scene in the area. I missed the Agora show because I wasn't 18 at the time. In September I was and there is no way I would have missed that. I lived in Akron, OH, a one hour drive. I have checked all local newspapers and muic papers and there is no announcement of that show nor any review. Ray Sferra" | ||
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Orpheum Theater, Boston MA, USA |
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Palladium, New York NY, USA |
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Palladium, New York NY, USA |
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| ...famous photo of Paul from the London Calling sleeve taken on this night |
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Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia PA, USA |
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St Denis Theatre, Montreal, Canada |
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| Support acts were The B Girls and The Undertones, with DJ Scratchy playing new UK releases between sets. This was the same day that the Montreal Star newspaper ceased publication. The drum kit stand was adorned with the front page of that day's New York Post, with the large, garish headline "Docs Reattach Woman's Arm". The Clash Opened with Safe European Home, followed by I'm So Bored With the USA. They didn't play Tommy Gun. Audience members were encouraged to come on stage during the last song, White Riot, [I among them], with onstage security at the back, guarding the amps and drum kit. The Theatre St Denis had seating capacity of about 2,200 at the time, though few, especially in the front, spent much time seated. | ||
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O’Keefe Centre, Toronto, Canada |
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Clark University, Worcester MA, USA |
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| I missed them for both the 1st two Boston shows (Harvard Sq. Theatre and the Orpheum) but then I heard thru the grapevine that they were playing at Clark University on 9/28/79. So we drove down and got in line. Original scheduled to be in the field house, the promoters (I think it was a student organization) sold almost no advance tickets, and moved it to a smaller auditorium the day of the show. Then 100s of punks from Boston showed up and bought tickets, and they kept selling tickets. Terribly overcrowded, fire department came and made a few hundred leave the hall, but as soon as they left, Strummer says "There's a buncha fans out there that paid to see us, and they're stuck outside, but if everybody stays cool, and don't push, we can let them inside." The Heart breakers opened. That show changed my life. Cliche but true. Anyway, I still have the ticket stub. Rick | ||
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Ritchie Colisseum, College Park MD, USA |
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The Agora, Atlanta GA, USA |
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Armadillo Club, Austin TX, USA |
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| referenced in Johnny Greens Book, A Riot of Our Own p206 and also by Ray Lowry on page 73 of Mojo (UK Music Mag) No.9 Aug 94 where he says the heat was scorching... see also www.Pontbone.com/journal.htm [Joe Elys acordian player] Joe Ely.com; Back to London in 1979 for another tour. The Clash come to the show (Ely's) at the Venue Theater and invited the (Ely's) band to come to studio where they are recording London Calling. Became friends and (the Clash) showed the Lubbock boys around the London scene. The Clash come to America later in 1979. The two bands play several shows together including Houston, Dallas, Laredo, LA and the Monterey Pop Festival. Joe invites them to come to Lubbock to do a show together. They stay for several days mesmerized by the dusty home of Buddy Holly and the strange cowboy culture. In return the Clash invite Joe the following year to come to London for their London Calling Tour. |
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Cullen Auditorium, Houston TX, USA |
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| dates from www.Pontbone.com/journal.htm [Joe Elys acordian player]. also referenced in Johnny Greens Book, A Riot of Our Own p206 |
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Palladium, Dallas, USA |
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| this is often dated as the 6th and it may have been, but in order to fit the sequence of events in Greens book, A Riot of Our Own it would have to be before that, maybe the 4th. |
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Rocks Club [The Rox], Lubbock TX, USA | |
| referenced in Johnny Greens Book, A Riot of Our Own, p207, where the band went to play a unofficial gig for Joe Ely (support) in his own town of Lubbock. Green says the band took a couple of days off after flying to LA. dates from www.Pontbone.com/journal.htm [Joe Elys acordian player]. |
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| Laredo Texas | ||
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San Diego, California, USA |
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| referenced in Johnny Greens Book, A Riot of Our Own p 208 |
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Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles CA, USA |
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Kezar Pavilion, San Francisco CA, USA |
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Seattle |
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| referenced in Johnny Greens Book, A Riot of Our Own p211 ... ticket ... photo from gig "I just stumbled on this site while doing a google ‘egoist’ search. Great site. I wish I could find my taped interview with Joe. That was a story in itself. I must’ve woke up Cosmo at every stop from Cleveland to Denver where he finally put me through to Joe to do a pre-concert interview. You should try and get that from the Oregon Daily Emerald…or I could look in my files. If I recall Joe was getting ready for the Denver show…he was testy and abrupt…and loosened up later. My interview style was not to go by set questions…but to have question points and just talk. I remember asking about recording at Olympic Studios, which was being talked about…and joked that this was supposed to be The Rolling Stones favorite room. No laughter from Joe on that. And it was pouring down rain, with thunder in Denver and it made Joe in bad mood. I casually told him to put that mood into the show. But this was cool. Wish I was a better writer back then.
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Pacific National Exhibition Vancover, Canada |
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| referenced in Johnny Greens Book, A Riot of Our Own p213 as the last night of the tour. |
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