Joe Strummer - London HMV Oxford Street, 16/7/2001

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 14 / 1 / 2002

intro

I never got the Clash at all, I'm afraid. But in these days now, when indie has got somewhat boring, it's worth checking out the old chaps to see if they can still cut it in the Y2K. As I said, I never got the Clash but they never pissed me off either. Wa

I never got the Clash at all, I'm afraid. But in these days now, when indie has got somewhat boring, it's worth checking out the old chaps to see if they can still cut it in the Y2K. As I said, I never got the Clash but they never pissed me off either. Watching 'Rude Boy' recently showed me how different the Clash were. They were a product of their environment and not just of their time. Joe is at HMV to promote his second album with the Mescalaros and played a forty minute set to a hardcore crowd. They worshipped him as a god of his time. From their reaction, he is still a shining light here. Playing as always as if his life depended on it, he ploughed through most of the new album as well as a cracking version of his new 7" single 'Johnny Appleseed', managing too to be more politically correct than he ever was. His vocal delivery is polite but still a tad bit bitter. Seeing Joe front the Mescalaros is like seeing Joe front the Levellers, but hey that's a thousand times better than the punk rock that the USA has to offer ie Green Day. Long may he rock !

Picture Gallery:-