Asian Tour

updated 28 Dec 2008 - full update of all details

Audio 1 - Clash Over CD -
Sound 3.5 – 1 hr 28mins - cd/m - tracks 24 - the better

Koka Kola

Audio 2 –
Sound 3.5 – 1 hr 28mins - gen? - tracks 24

Koka Kola

All are from same source. The “master” cdr is a misnomer as its first gen.

Three versions circulate from this show but they are from the same audience recording source.

The one called the “Master” is actually first generation as it has a tape drop out on the first track which is not present on the “Clash Over” CD’s.

The “Clash Over” double CD set was first sold in 1996 (Reference number: SONIC ZOOM SZ 2015/2016). This is from the master audience recording which has some stereo separation and good clarity. Mick’s guitar is high in the mix and so captures the live Clash sound quite well.

The taper though was some distance from the stage and so the sound is distant affecting Joe’s vocals in particular which are hard to decipher (difficult at the best of times!) There is a lack of range; the instrumentation massed in the mid range with bass present but indistinct. Biggest downer with this recording is the almost constant clapping throughout near the taper, which soon gets wearing. Probably the poorest sound of the Japanese recordings and is best enjoyed on headphones.

“Samurai Warriors” another imaginatively (!) named commercial boot CD does not circulate widely and was released in 2006/7. Referenced as Back To Zero BTZCD-026-1/2 it retails on line for $70! It is at least as good as Clash Over and is probably a slight upgrade. Certainly it has been “remastered” (not known if this was from the Clash Over CD’s or access to the original master tape) with a higher volume, more bass and different track times and splits the main set and encores over 2 CD’s - the latter with bonus tracks from Clash On Broadway outtakes etc.

The Clash returned to the Festival Hall in Osaka for an extra, unscheduled date in response to demand but in particular because of how knocked out the band were by the audience’s reaction to the first show.

The Clash played 10 shows (including a matinee) in Japan and quality recordings circulate from 5 of them (if only all the Clash’s tours were documented so well!).

These recordings are evidence that as well as the Japanese tour being successful commercially it was also successful artistically. The kick The Clash got out of the culture shock of being in Japan and the joy and genuine affectation shown to them by the fans there, resulted in memorable inspired performances. The absence of drugs there was a shock to them all but no doubt contributed to the musicality of their performances especially Topper’s.

Whilst the Japanese audiences were hugely enthusiastic, missing from these gigs, as Joe remarked at the Sydney press conference and at the Auckland gig, was the edge, the threat of (or actual!) chaos from audiences that they were used to and would experience again in Sydney. Thus after the initial shock of witnessing their first Japanese audience as captured by the Shibuya Kokaido recording, the band were able to concentrate on their playing and not distracted by mayhem and chaos in the audience!

As Joe says at the start of White Riot the band wanted to reward their fans for waiting 5 years for them and promising to return. The performances on this last Japanese show are typically strong of this tour; Mick’s guitar playing is frequently inspired, Joe appears largely unaffected by the flu that affected the televised show the night before and Topper’s playing is again a delight.

The only recording circulating from the show has probably the poorest sound of the five and a “greatest hits” with no surprises. It was commercially booted as “Clash Over Osaka” but because of the almost constant hand clapping near the taper it would have been better titled “Clap over Osaka!”

The recording begins as it will continue throughout with enthusiastic clapping from the audience. Chants of “Clash, Clash, Clash” are heard over the Morricone intro music. Joe’s greetings to the audience are largely unclear as are sadly many of his mid song adlibs due to the limitations of the recording.

The sound fluctuates through London Calling as the taper adjusted levels and position; there is some distortion at the end of the song which sounds like a train passing! Ignore though the sound deficiencies as the performances are strong, inventive and enjoyable. Safe European Home is pumped up, Joe and Mick screaming out the lyrics but its not extended like the night before. “Now Mr Michael Jones please” introduces a fine Train In Vain which features even louder clapping!

“Like to play this song we didn’t play here last time called Washington Bullet” Mick’s guitar is dominant but effective, there’s a fine instrumental section and Joe continues his onslaught from the night before on what Joe saw as the corroding influence of American corporations on Japanese culture; “One day I’m gonna kill Mickey Mouse, gonna cut Mickey Mouse right up! Like that while we play like this!” Mick solos inventively whilst Mickey dies.

Another minor variation on the intro to The Leader is followed by a fine Spanish Bombs introduced by Joe with “Like to sing a slow song now. In fact this is called a ballad OK. So Tops only use one arm and one leg!” Most interesting performances are the songs which allow the band to stretch out and improvise like Magnificent Seven, “Thank you and now’s the time that we all have to get up in the morning!”

“Mr Paul Simonon now”; a fine Guns of Brixton has an extended instrumental ending “Now from Osaka to the Hammersmith Palais” another strong performance with great vocal interplay between Mick and Joe. Joe’s lengthy adlibs over the ending are sadly mostly unclear. Charlie Don’t Surf features inventive atmospheric guitar effects and adlibs from Joe mostly unclear but includes “Charlie don’t surf for a bowl of hot dog sauce!”

There is a fade out then fade in for Ivan Meets GI Joe, the same process repeating for Brand New Cadillac; a fine performance but the clapping onslaught is relentless! Tonight is very much the greatest hits set with an emphasis on the early punk songs with few surprises and no new songs.

The band charge through Janie Jones and Koka Kola running into I Fought The Law.

Mick again plays around with the intro to a very fine Somebody Got Murdered and again Joe intones before Clampdown as per the album version; although here some of the words are different - it sounds like “the chariot descends” It’s the usual high octane main set closer which showcases the bands strengths. Joe adlibs “We’ll keep going around the world …and they say ticket prices are too expensive and guards too fuckin’ heavy and a lot of people they smash in the face”

First encore begins with Armagideon Time (adlibs unclear) and then Mick intros Stay Free with “This song is for all those stuck in awful Japanese prison” Unusually there’s a drum and bass only section and Mick plays some great guitar over the final coda. More audience pleasers Clash City Rockers and Garageland end the first encore

Recording fades out and back in for Tommy Gun and the start of the second encore. The band are working hard in response and reward to their mega-enthusiastic fans with a high octane Complete Control before they leave the stage only to return for the inevitable White Riot finale which Joe dedicates “for all our Japanese fans who’ve waited so long for us – 5 years”. With the audience still clappng for more (!) the band exit their brief but highly memorable Japanese tour and Mick says “Goodnight Osaka, Sayonara”.

The Festival Hall in Kita-ku, Osaka was opened in 1958 especially for the first Osaka International Festival. The Hall seats 2,709 and is a prestigious venue; the home of the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra. There are plans to redevelop the site in 2009. The Clash concerts were quite an event in the Hall’s history being the first times an audience had been allowed to stand. Fans though were still prevented from getting close to the stage by barriers.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24	London Calling Safe European Home Train In Vain Washington Bullets The Leader Spanish Bombs The Magnificent Seven The Guns Of Brixton White Man in Ham Palais Charlie Dont Surf Ivan Meets GI Joe Brand New Cadillac Janie Jones Koka Kola I Fought the Law Somebody Got Murdered Clampdown Armagideon Time Stay Free Clash City Rockers Garageland Tommy Gun Complete Control White Riot

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