Asian Tour

updated 5 Sept 2008 - full update
added Sydney Morning Herald gig preview

Audio 1 – Burning Tokyo CD - (Evening Show)
Sound 4 - time 1hr 55mins - vlowgen - tracks 30 - v.good

Safe European Home

This commercial bootleg from the Tommy Gunn label released in 2000 is no longer available in Japan. It is a complete audience recording of the 30 song set and presumably is from the master source. There is some limited stereo separation, a very good range of sound (bass is rather good for an audience source) and good clarity. It just suffers from some distance to the stage particularly with vocals and Mick’s guitar and thus a loss of “in your face” impact. 

The release in 2000 of the ‘Burning Tokyo’ commercial bootleg brought into circulation a further quality recording from the Japanese tour. Yuji Konno writing in Sho Kikuchi’s terrific photographic book saw all of the Tokyo gigs except the 24th and 29th and considered this performance the best.

The Clash played two shows on the 30th, the first a matinee for younger fans (although the evening shows started at 6.30pm!) and this, the evening performance. Playing 30 songs to another hugely enthusiastic audience, an emotional Joe finally exits the stage exclaiming, “You lot are a GREAT audience!”

The recording documents another excellent and very enjoyable Japanese performance; 6 shows into the tour any rustiness from their 3 month gap in playing live is gone, the band are tight and together with no evidence of tiredness from the matinee show earlier.

Conversely though there’s less improvisation and extending of songs, which added to the enjoyment of the first 2 tour recordings. Although the band work hard it does not quite catch fire but there are many excellent performances to enjoy.       

The wonderful Chizuko (Tripper) has been very helpful in providing background information on the Japanese tour and in providing access to Tetsuji’s live photos. 

Tetsuji took photos from both shows (matinee & evening) on the 30th (and at the 1st February gig too). Many thanks to Tetsuji and Tripper for the photos 

Tetsuji was 16 when the Clash hit Tokyo and when Joe paused to sit on a monitor at the Shibuya Kohkaido he threw him a headband he had made which Joe then wrapped around his head! (Headbands were often worn by workers on strike and the 2 characters mean Unity) Joe sports Tetsuji’s headband on the televised 1st February show. Checkout Tetsuji’s full account here including how he took the photos despite the security and how he met up with Joe again in 2001! http://homepage3.nifty.com/tripper/page003.html#English

Sho Kikuchi’s book includes a large number of backstage shots from the 30th, and live shots from the matinee performance only.  

The recording starts as the Morricone intro begins. After a roar from the audience as the band come on stage and Topper counts in London Calling the quality of the recording the crispness, clarity and depth of sound is soon apparent. All the instrumentation is clear especially the drums; Topper’s drumming is a delight throughout.

There’s a rapturous response from the audience as the opener ends and before One More Time starts with Paul’s bass lines clear. The band play it hard and drive it along, less improvised than the first shows but concise and effective. 

A long instrumental section then drops down to drum and bass and Joe intones over the top, then Topper’s drum fills builds it back up.

Then its straight into a pumped up Safe European Home, Topper’s drumming is powerful but fluid binding everything together splendidly. Again not extended or improvised but the band deliver a hard 3 song attack as on the 16 Tons tour. With a “Mr Paul Simonon please” the pace changes as Paul scratches out his intro to Guns of Brixton on Joe’s guitar before Joe comes in on his bass! Mick plays some fine lead fills but the emphasis is on the rhythm section.

Straight into Train In Vain next and the audience clap along on a fine tight and true performance; dropping down as usual to drum and bass then building up again very effectively. It’s very much a greatest hits set with Know Your Rights dropped and only Should I Stay or Should I Go in the main set. Joe adds his now usual Strummer Spanish to a pumped and fast performance.

“Ah wait, this one’s quite slow..its time to get out of bed now!” The audience respond loudly to the “You Lot” call from Mick on Magnificent Seven. Joe’s clearly enjoying himself and the band improvise instrumentally early on. Mick is pumped up too but not as much as on the near hysterical first 2 tour recordings! As the band bring it down and improvise Joe adlibs “Now I must take you down to guitar city, there’s no escape I must, I must, I must! We gonna go to guitar city if I can kill the rhythm section! I have my axe, gonna kill this rhythm section!” then Topper brings it in but its not the usual bridge yet as the band improvise around the rhythm before his storming drumming brings it all back up. A very enjoyable performance not extended but different!

As Mick plays the intro to Charlie Don’t Surf Joe adds “It’s a B29…this song is about the Yankee pig” and then adds “yeah that was a piece of music John Cale left lying around here!” in response to Mick’s semi-psychedelic long intro. It’s a loose almost dream-like performance. 

White Man in contrast next is sharp, tight and focused. “Punk rockers, those fuckin’ punk rockers” sings Joe and Mick adds “P-p-p-p punk rockers” over a funky riff before Joe says sternly “I’m not standing here today to masturbate myself – do you understand?! “ to which the audience shout  “Yeah” and Joe adds “Thank you!” Mick takes over lead vocals and then shares them with Joe, the band improvising over the ending.

“This is Topper Headon” introduces Ivan Meets GI Joe and then after an edit at the end Joe introduces Spanish Bombs with “OK we’d like to sing you this next Clash song, Frank Sinatra he phoned me up – he wants permission to sing this next song – I told him fuck off!”  It’s a slow and stately performance, a little under-rehearsed but Mick provides imaginative lead guitar. It’s then straight into a pumped up Janie Jones and a fine Brand New Cadillac - after a hesitant start. 

“Mr Michael Jones now please” says Joe to which Mr Jones continues “This is a favourite oldie from the days we used to sit in Brixton Prison called Stay Free” The audience clap along enthusiastically and Mick plays some great lead guitar over the extended ending but the sound mix means that his guitar lacks impact. 

Joe addresses the balcony presumably “You OK, you don’t feel left out?” before Topper adds an extra extended flourish on his drum intro to The Leader, Joe’s vocals here in particular sound distant. “Elevator going up!” Koka Kola again segueing impressively into I Fought The Law with the audience singing along, ending the first CD.

“The next tune is entitled Somebody Got Murdered”; the audience clapping along to the crescendo intro. It’s another highlight, tight and hard as nails. After a lengthy pause Joe intones for the first time (and almost the last time!) the intro to the studio version of Clampdown (the exact wording still much disputed by Clash fans!); “Excuse me then, well the Kingdoms ransacked, the jewels are put back, the choppers descends…” The rest is unclear but corresponds roughly with the usually assumed; 

“The kingdom is ransacked/The jewels all taken back/And the chopper descends/They're hidden in the back/With a message on a half baked tape/With the spool going round/Saying I'm back here in this place/And I could cry/And there's smoke you could click on”

The audience clap along and then as Joe’s voice trails off Mick screams “1-2-3-4” and the band slam into a fine performance with Topper’s magnificent drumming a standout and Mick adding his synth beats. Joe adlibs midsong but most is unclear. There’s no inspired Joe rant or extended playing to make an enjoyable performance exceptional but unusually as the song ends Topper keeps it going by beating out a bass drum pattern that merges eventually with Joe’s scream into Radio Clash. An extended and inspired performance of their current single to end the main set again featuring Mick’s battery of electronic bleeps and effects. Joe adlibs “don’t get on the wireless much, yeah we working in the music business, mass medium” rest sadly unclear but Joe’s in top vocal form here.

After an edit the first encore begins with a pumped up Clash City Rockers, which is followed by a strong Armagideon Time. Paul’s bass lines are clear and Topper’s drumming is particularly effective varying the rhythm on an extended performance. Then it’s the live return of Garageland not played since they left the stage of the Hammersmith Palais on the 17^th June 1980! “London’s Burning, Tokyo’s Burning” ends the first encore on an adrenalin high note. “Sayonara” says Joe but the audience shout for more.

An edit cuts short the audience’s demands and then after a long intro perhaps the highlight of the show an extended Jimmy Jazz featuring inventive and great contributions from Topper and Mick. Joe inspired goes into a lengthy adlib “I went all around town just happened to be in Tokyo! And I saw him looking around and he said “No, No, No don’t leave him here, his name is verboten. So when the Police came around to see me and said hey you buddy you better tell us all you know, they got me by the throat and banged my head on the door and then they took hold of me and they turned me upside down and banged me on the floor ( drum beats from Topper ) and I said I STILL don’t know anything! So they got hold of my head and sh,sh, shish, swish!” (electronic beats from Mick). Later it drops down to just bass and hi hat before the band build it back up

After shouts for “1977 “from the audience, the band launch into the 2 sevens Career Opportunities with a new staged intro slower tempo arrangement. Then Topper instantly hits the intro to another older song, Tommy Gun – not played live also since June 1980. Back to 77 for the last song of the encore an excellent Complete Control, which begins with Topper beating out a great drum roll crescendo intro and then Mick’s lead guitar slams in. 

The audience roar for more and are rewarded with a third encore after an edit which cuts off the start of Topper introducing the band “..and now the rest of the group, come on…Mick Jones, Joe Strummer in the middle and Paul Simonon in the leathers!” Another first next with the first live recording of Police On My Back played fast and with conviction by Mick, the live arrangement drops down to just drum and bass then builds back up effectively. Finally the 30 song concert ends appropriately with an intense White Riot and as Joe leaves the stage praise for the remarkable audience, “You lot are a GREAT audience!” 

Did you go? What do you remember?
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