When They Kick At Your Front Door, How You Gonna Come?

Arcade Fire got the full-blown hero treatment last Friday night on BBC2's Culture Show, of which I managed to snag a DVD copy over the weekend. The broadcast included two exclusive acoustic performances filmed on March 16 in the lobby of the Brixton Academy, where the band played that evening. In honor of that venue, one of them was a cover of The Clash's "The Guns of Brixton," with little brother Will Butler providing the lead vocal through a megaphone. It's a neat moment, as perhaps the best live band working today pays humble tribute to its counterpart of going on 30 years ago. So I thought I'd share it, along with the original, which also features a lead vocal by a bandmember (Clash bassist Paul Simonon) who rarely got to sing front and center.

Arcade Fire - "The Guns of Brixton" (live in the Brixton Academy lobby, March 16, 2007)

The Clash - "The Guns of Brixton," from London Calling

Classic Bootleg Series Vol. 2: The Clash - Chaos In New York

Given the name of our little blog, it seems only fitting to go from Dylan at the peak of his powers to The Clash at the peak of theirs. And there are so many tremendous Clash boots, it's tough to turn the spotlight on just one. But when it comes to finding a recording that captures everything that was special about the band, from the performance to the context in which they delivered it, it's tough to beat this one from their legendary 17-gig residency at Bond's Casino in New York, during the tour to promote Sandinista! in the summer of 1981. An article on Wikipedia sets the scene pretty well:

This bootleg was recorded live at Bond's Casino on June 4, 1981 in New York City.

The club was formerly Bonds department store, which had been converted into a large second-floor hall. Promoters kept the name because there was a large Bonds sign on the outside of the building. As The Clash had not yet broken out into mass popularity, eight shows were originally scheduled: May 28, 29, 30, 31 and June 1,2, 3, and 5, 1981. However, given the venue's legal capacity of 3500, the series was blatantly oversold right from the first night, leading fire marshals for the New York Fire Department to cancel the Saturday, May 30 performance. In response, the band condemned the brazen greed of the promoters while demonstrating unprecedented integrity to each and every ticketholder by doubling the original booking with a total of 17 dates extending through June. Strict interpretation of the fire laws meant that audiences were relatively small and the concerts had a feeling of intimacy that future Clash shows in arenas could never recapture. Audience members clambered onto the stage to join in singalongs. New York musicians, including Pearl Harbor, assisted and overseen by Andy Dunkley, provided disc jockey services as the audience entered and gathered.

The concert captures The Clash on the cusp between being a cult band and their short-lived major market penetration. As always with The Clash, even in their arena days, ticket prices were set relatively low.

I had the privilege of seeing The Clash twice, although slightly later and in bigger venues. If musical time travel were possible, these shows at Bond's would be way up there on my list of destinations.

THE CLASH - CHAOS IN NEW YORK

Artwork:
Front cover
Back insert
Booklet outside
Booklet inside

Disc 1:
01 London Calling
02 Safe European Home
03 The Leader
04 Train In Vain (Stand By Me)
05 White Man In Hammersmith Palais
06 This Is Radio Clash
07 Corner Soul
08 The Guns of Brixton
09 The Call Up
10 Bankrobber
11 Complete Control
12 Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice)
13 Ivan Meets G.I. Joe

Disc 2:
01 Charlie Don't Surf
02 The Magnificant Seven
03 Broadway
04 Somebody Got Murdered
05 Police and Thieves
06 (Working For The) Clampdown
07 One More Time
08 Brand New Cadillac
09 The Street Parade
10 Janie Jones
11 Washington Bullets

I Slept And I Dreamed Of A Time Long Ago

Exciting news on the movie front: Currently garnering major raves at the Sundance Film Festival is Julian Temple's (director of the Sex Pistols biopic The Filth and the Fury) new documentary on the life of Joe Strummer, the coolest Mother Effer ever to walk this planet. The movie is entitled The Future Is Unwritten.

Temple, who was a close friend of Strummer's, reportedly chronicles the life of the man before, during, and after his time in The Clash (the greatest rock band of all time), including his time in the band that he fronted right up until his untimely death in 2002 -- the ridiculously overlooked Mescaleros. According to the Sundance website:

"Filmmaker Julien Temple chronicles the transformation of a self described 'mouthy little git,' born John Mellor, into an antiestablishment icon known to the world as Joe Strummer. In his latest documentary, Temple uncovers the myth behind the front man of the seminal punk band the Clash.

"Through previously unearthed interviews with Strummer himself and recollections of those who knew him best, Temple reveals a complex man who used his music as a bullhorn for his conscience--as well as a means to educate others about the injustices of the world. The film includes live concert footage spanning Strummer's career and tapes of his BBC radio program, all of which provide a fitting soundtrack to his distinctive and storied existence.

"The performance footage would be fascinating on its own, but Temple probes beyond Strummer's mystique to reveal a person with his own flaws who could sometimes be idealistic to a fault. Temple has created a thoughtful and poignant portrait of a man many think they knew. Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten provides a rare glimpse into the man behind the legend of 'punk rock warlord.'"

Could anything be more exciting than that? Hell no! FoxNews is reporting (I know Frank, bear with me) that IFC films is interested in the movie, so keep your fingers crossed that it makes it to the big screen.

For old time's sake, check out the following:

The Clash: "Capitol Radio Two" from the 1979 Cost of Living EP
The Clash: "Straight to Hell" (Live) from From Here To Eternity
Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros: "Shaktar Donesk" Live at St. Ann's Warehouse, Brooklyn, April 2002
Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros: "White Riot" Live at St. Ann's Warehouse, Brooklyn, April 2002 (Thanks to Berkeley Place)

In unrelated news, the rumors appear to be true: According to Billboard, the Police are preparing to reunite and tour this summer, their first outing since the 1983 Synchronicity tour. I saw that show in Biloxi, and it remains on my all time list. Here's hoping Sting still has it in him after all his tantric activities and lute diversions. Whatever -- I'll be in line for those tickets.

YouTube Classic Clips

There's been a lot of hype recently (including an end-of-year Time cover story) about the extent to which YouTube has revolutionized the sharing of video clips, and that's true enough. Still, it seems like most folks use the site to post home videos, see a Saturday Night Live skit or Colbert Report segment they missed, or just watch a couple of guys dropping Mentos into bottles of Diet Coke. The thing that excites me the most, though, is that YouTube has become a vast and immediately accessible repository of some of the most fantastic musical performances ever caught on film. No, it's not DVD-quality footage -- okay, sometimes the quality is downright lousy -- but the breadth and diversity of clips that have been posted there is something else. A lot of people, with a lot of old VHS tapes lying around, have turned YouTube into a music lover's treasure trove. [Note to self: Make trolling YouTube for classic performances a semi-regular feature here?] Here's the tip of the proverbial iceberg:

Ever seen The Beatles deliver probably the best version of "Revolution" ever, on the David Frost Show on September 4, 1968?



(And some people say they couldn't hack it live towards the end. Yeah, right.)

Or the blistering "Down By The River" that CSNY performed on David Steinberg's The Music Scene show on September 22, 1969?



And of course, how can I not post a clip of The Clash, performing the song that gives this blog it's name, at Le Palace in Paris on February 27, 1980:



It just doesn't get much better than that.