Bonds Residency
Three weeks & 17 gigs that shook New York and America.
last updated 30 August 2005
cdr -distant clear - aud. master - Sound 4 - time 108.36min - d-mast - tracks 26
The night after this sixth Bonds gig Joe said “It was like a morgue in here last night” but from the evidence of the audience recording of the concert the audience were far from passive and The Clash delivered another strong and committed performance.
Joe’s comment does though further demonstrate the qualities that stand The Clash apart from almost all other bands. For The Clash it was rarely acceptable to deliver just good professional concerts. In order to conjure up the illusive alchemy required to produce those nights when as Joe put it the music “burned” The Clash would berate, cajole and harangue both themselves and the their audiences. Perhaps being aware that after 6 nights at the same venue there was a danger of their performances turning stale, the band particularly Joe tries repeatedly tonight to whip up an already enthusiastic audience in order to inspire and push themselves further.
That largely they fail to reach their ultra-high standards is clearly from the recording not for want of effort and at times particularly on the first encore they do deliver close to their very best. If you are reading this you know that The Clash even when not at their very best were a hugely enjoyable and stunning live band and this recording certainly bears this out.
Venue
See May 28th review for details
The complete audience DAT master recording in circulation is very similar to all the previous ones at Bonds, same taper, same sound. Thus there is good clarity, and detail but distance from the taper to the stage results in a lack of “in your face” immediacy (particularly with the vocals) which reduces the enjoyability of the sound.
Still it is fantastic that good recordings exist of all the Bonds shows and if you can ignore their limitations these are very valuable and enjoyable records of The Clash during one of the most significant times in their history.
The recording starts as London Calling is counted in and the set is very similar to the night before except for the return of Spanish Bombs. Joe is in great form again tonight shouting encouragement during Safe European Home to the band, “swing it brothers” and to the audience too, and adds an adlibbed joke about “we went on standby!” A powerful performance which ends appropriately with one member of the audience next to the taper shouting in wonder ”Ooh, ooh The Clash!”
“Who you gonna vote for?” asks Joe before The Leader, and Joe always trying tonight to whip up the audience and the band shouts “actung, actung” at the end before Mick obliges with the intro to a fine Somebody Got Murdered.
Next its audience participation time with what sounds a very lively and enthusiastic audience, Joe says; “Now we’ve just got time for a bit of a quiz, shout yeah if you want an album by Aerosmith? [boos largely] Come on come on, out of the cupboard! Just checking numbers” Mick plays some appropriate metal guitar lick then Joe adds “So we’re gonna do Toys in the Attic, but can’t play that one”. Mick then screams “1-2, 1-2-3-4” and then the band tear into White Man In Hammersmith Palais. Joe adlibs over the ending, including a cryptic “What’s the matter baby, please don’t cry”
Paul’s Guns Of Brixton follows next and then there is an edit during This Is Radio Clash that loses a few seconds only. Joe is the human beat box at the start of The Call Up adlibbing mid-song but despite the obvious efforts of the band it again at Bonds does not fully succeed.
By contrast Complete Control at Bonds is reinvigorated into an epic with the slow teased out intro building and building, the band clearly are really into playing the song again and are accentuating all the drama in the song. It’s a song that that has evolved (like the band) since its punk days and although it’s not necessarily better in 81 it’s certainly different. An edit at the end of the song restarts with Joe saying to the audience almost as a challenge after such a performance “If you’ve anything to say, say it now”
A fine if unexceptional Junco Partner is followed by an extended improvised Lightning Strikes, with Joe again in fine form adlibbing lyrics. An interesting performance if a little ramshackle, and there are some tape dropouts.
Ivan Meets GI Joe begins the second CDR. Charlie Don't Surf is again very strong and is followed by Bankrobber with adlibs near the end. Each song follows quickly after the other the band working to maintain and build momentum.
Magnificent Seven is the longest performance yet; a full 8 and a half minutes, largely as a result of a mid song lengthy amusing stream of consciousness go at the audience (which certainly does not sound justified). Joe say “1725 in the house shush shush, as I was saying 17,200 (?!) people in the house, not a whisper was heard except for snoring and their dreaming, somebody whistle, what Yes! A few people wake up! 20 people, 22 people 25, 27!” and then Topper brings it back up to the bridge. Joe continues adlibbing trying to whip up the crowd or more realistically the band but although the effort is there true magnificence is allusive tonight.
A fine Wrong 'Em Boyo is followed by Train In Vain but Mick’s playing at times tonight is ineffective and his playing at the end of the song is weak. It’s the charge through to the end of the set next with a fine Career Opportunities followed by an intense, if unexceptional Clampdown with Joe adlibbing about Geiger Counters but the rest is unclear.
The first encore begins after an edit with a powerful One More Time; Topper’s solo intro starts it off, then Paul’s bass line comes in followed Mick’s crashing guitar and then Joe comes in with that great line “Must I get a witness for all this misery…”
The excellent first encore continues with a segue into a literally screaming version of Brand New Cadillac, the band in overdrive. The audience love it shouting their appreciation. Washington Bullets next and Joe seems to forget the imminent entrance of the representative from the Democratic Revolutionary Front of El Salvador, just having time to shout a quick El Salvador before the guy starts his speech “…fighting to stay alive, Reagan sending guns to kill my people…”. The guy is still going as the band tear into Janie Jones shouting over the top “the people united will never be defeated!”
The second encore after an edit is not so strong, on Armagideon Time the band sound uninspired by a song they have been playing almost every night for 2 years and Mick’s guitar work sounds lazy. Joe maybe knows this and at the end shouts “Spanish..wait” bringing Spanish Bombs, one of his favourites back into the set. Mick responds playing some fine lead guitar and adding backing vocals. London’s Burning or rather New York’s Burning brings a fine and enjoyable, if not exceptional concert to an end.
|
1 |
London Calling |
|
Any further info / reviews
appreciated
2. Newspaper & Magazine Articles
Band Arrives at JFK
3 newspaper photos
Private Super8mm film footage of the rucus outside Bonds
30 April New York Post
On the Town
New York Calling The Clash
..tickets go on sale tomorrow...
2 May - New York Post
10,000 Clash fans queue for tickets for only US appearance
6 mounted police and 12 squad cars to control the crowd
NME - Win a week in New York with The Clash!
Early May - New York Post
Bonds Sold Out - Christgua
Blister Fanzine
A weeks at Bonds (main piece)
Cover Only
BMC desperately wants the inside pages!!
NYC Advert for Magnificent 7 & Bonds dates
24 May - New York News
Passport Impasses Crimps Clash's style
5 British Groups left at Heathrow
Clint Roswell
New York Times 24 May
scan or text
26 May - New York Daily News
Clash Promise 'Something Special'
Clint Roswell
29 May - New York News
For Bonds Disco it was double capacity or nothing. Police and Fire Dept shut down Bonds. Vincent Lee
30 May - New York News?
city and Disco Clash, and Clash cools it
Disco forced to close - extra dates
Larry Sutton
30 May New York Post?
City calls a truce in Clash wars and the band plays on. Building Dept Inspectors have lifted a vacate order...
31 - May New York Times?
scan or text
Stephen Holden
31 May - New York Times Gig review
The Clash rocks with raw energy
Ira Mayer
New York Times June 3, 1981
Clash Melee Points Up Danger of Overselling
by Robert Palmer
Bondage at Bonds (full text version)
Creem - Sept 81
Clash face unrully mobs - Bondage at Bonds
Michael Barnard
First page only
Under Fire in New York - NME
Clash forced to lplay 16 date season after ticket fiasco - When the Clash landed at Kenney Airport last Tuesday, it was nore than clear that America wanted the band... Mick Farren
How The Clash Fed The Wonderbread Generation, Made The Mountain Come to Mohammed - And Other Miracles
Mick Farren, NME, 20 June 1981
The winner of NME's Flatter The Clash competition checks out the ramifications when an English band's world is at Bonds. KOSMO VINYL shoots both fists heavenward, for all the world like a man who had just scored for West Ham at Wembley. "I got the news on every channel! I got the news on every channel!....
Boston Rock Summer 81 No 19
1.. 2.. 3.. 4..
Face NO 16 August 1981
1.. 2..
MOJO Clash Special No79
pages 1.. 2.. 3..
Fanzine piece by: J Blocher
can some1 transcribe this it is very poor
Clash Contre Mafia - French Mag
1.. 2.. 3.. 4..
translation required
Anne Toone from The Bloods remembers opening for the Clash
The Clash on Broadway Part 1
Chris Salewicz, Mojo, August 1994
IF THERE WAS ONE PIVOTAL EVENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE Clash's assault on the USA it was the season of 17 shows they played at Bond's, a tacky former disco on Broadway and Times Square, New York, New York in May and June 1981.
The Clash on Broadway Part 2
Chris Salewicz, Mojo, August 1994
Joe Strummer talks to Chris Salewicz. When was the first time you toured America? I think it was in 1978. We went to finish off Give 'Em Enough Rope in San Francisco. So it would have been to tour that.
Best Magazine [French]
6 page review with photos form Bonds
...page1&2 ...page3&4 ... page5&6
3. Posters, video, photos
The Clash @ Bonds NYC 1981
joe streno's blog
Photos, comments
Posters and Radio / TV Commentary
Radio interview with Mick/Kosmo backstage after the opening night
Bonds Photos 1
1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. 5.. 6..
Bonds Photos 2
1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. 5.. 6.. 7..
Clash & Slits at Bonds 1981 photos
{ joe streno } seattle wa
www.go2jo.com
Radio Commentary on ticket fiasco - 20mins
NBC TV on ticket fiasco 3mins video
CBS Live tapes
Quote, "Eventually, via Jeff Jones at Legacy in New York, I contacted Bruce Dickinson who'd worked at CBS in the 1970s and 80s and was a fan of the band. He knew of a company in the States who specialised in archiving live radio tapes. They had two nights of the Clash at Bonds on Broadway and two nights in Boston."
Bonds Photos
|
...play on music: “6 Seconds To Watch” by Ennio Morricone, from For A Few Dollars More...Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five are among the opening acts...after the first gig of the original seven-show run, the NYC fire marshall orders the club closed for safety reasons; eventually, the shows are rescheduled to accomodate all ticket-holders... A strike in Britain had left 5 British bands in the UK and only 3 managed to make it with the Clash. Only the Slits, Funkapolitan and The Equators, who were slated for the matinee shows, made it. Left behind were the remains of Selector, The B-People , The Bell Stars, Aswad and most of all Theatre of Hate whom Mick had produced their debut album. There were two opening acts each night: one British or Jamaican and one American. Hopefully the correct artists are listed by the correct dates. Support Acts included Grandmaster Flash and the Treacherous Three, The Sirens, The Sugerhill Gang, Funkapolitan, Lee Perry, Texan bard Joe Ely, and a forgotten horn-section-and-skinny-tie band called the Nitecaps. And, plucked fresh off the stage of CBGB's, Miller Miller Miller & Sloane and a KRAUT who had formed 3 weeks earlier with only 3 demo songs and who never played live. Plus bands that showed The Clash’s continuing identification and admiration for punk; The Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, The Fall, The Slits, and The Bloods (not to mention The Brattles!). ESG a womans funk band from New York. The Rockets and the Equators were scheduled for the first matinee show which got cancelled.
|
||
 |
Bonds Times Square, New York |
|
| Support The Sirens and Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
Thanks to Laura for the following info on the Sirens... From: "Laura DJ" <dejesuslauraann-at-gmail.com> i noticed you have the sirens on the tour date list from 81 as playing with treacherous three, that's not true, I was one of the Sirens, the guitarist, and we played after Grand Master Flash, and before the Clash. It was my idea to support the Clash. My manager charlie martin who built the sound system at CB's and Bonds was getting directions from the owners/managers who were in jail (studio 54 fame) and i had read an article in the nme or soho news or one of the music papers of the day and joe strummer said in the article they like all girl bands opening up for their shows. So i ran over to charlie showed him the article and suggested he get on the phone and reach out to his contacts and get the clash. The rest is history. He did it and we opened their first show at bonds. Grand Master Flash opened for us! |
||
|
Bonds Times Square, New York | |
|
May 30 |
Bonds Times Square, New York | |
|
Matinee show cancelled by NYC Building Dept - Riots |
||
|
May 30 |
Bonds Times Square, New York | |
|
Evening show cancelled by NYC Building Dept |
||
|
Bonds Times Square, New York | |
|
Bonds Times Square, New York | |
|
Bonds Times Square, New York | |
| Bad Brains and the Slits opened | ||
|
Bonds Times Square, New York | |
| The Treacherous Three |
||
|
Bonds Times Square, New York | |
| The Bloods opened the show f/b The Bush Tetras. |
||
|
Bonds Times Square, New York | |
| Four female singers singing accapella and Lee Perry opened | ||
|
Bonds Times Square, New York | |
| (afternoon) I was at the June 6th matinee show in 1981 in Bond's. The Dead Kennedys did NOT perform then. It was the Hi-School band The Brattles who opened the matinee show, followed by Funkopolitin. The "We love you clash" that is heard mid-show is caused by a mic that fell into the audience. Joe just watched kind of amused while these guys in the first rows yelled into the mic. After a while, the roadies got it back and set it up again. | ||
|
Bonds Times Square, New York | |
| (evening) The Dead Kennedys? | ||
|
Bonds Times Square, New York | |
|
Bonds Times Square, New York | |
| The Fall were the support act. This is the pro-recorded concert. | ||
|
Bonds Times Square, New York | |
| Allen Ginsberg makes an appearance | ||
|
Bonds Times Square, New York | |
|
Bonds Times Square, New York | |
|
Bonds Times Square, New York | |
| (afternoon) Hi-School band The Brattles opened the matinee show, plus The Rock-cats? who they had a slap bass and played Stray Cats-type music. | ||
|
Bonds Times Square, New York | |
| (evening) The Dead Kennedys | ||
|
|
|
BLISTE.jpg){kind=link}
