The Clash - Shea Stadium - ©1982 Bob Gruen
http://www.starfileonline.com

Sam : The Clash - JFK Show Philly 1982

I was looking at your web site and you have pictures of the Clash by Ebet Roberts. The 3 pictures of the band riding in the car with the boombox are at JFK in Philly - They are not at Shea. I guarantee you that those pictures are from the JFK show. I know that brick background very well. That is 100% JFK Philly.

Ebet Roberts is a well known photograher from the Philly area and she was also a good friend of "The Hooters" and did many photo shoots of the Hooters and probably was there at the JFK show since The Hooters opened that show. The other six Ebet pictures I don't know if they are from the philly show. The Who played when it was light outside so the entire Clash show would have been played in the light so I don't think the last 3 are from Philly....

Also, that picture of The Big " Who " stage shot that you have there for the JFK 82 show is not from JFK. The background of that stage does not look right and I guarantee you that is not from the Philly Show. That White Press box over the top of the stands behind the stage was never at JFK. The press box was off to the right facing out from the stage

I was at that show and remember it very well. I have some old photos that are actually pretty good and I will dig them out and scan them and get them to you. I will try to get that done in the next 30 days if possible. I actually have photos of the stage setup from the day before the show that are really cool. I walked right into JFK the day before the show and took some really cool shots. That was back when you could do stuff like that and no one bothered you...

JFK is all gone now and was also the spot where the orig. Live Aid was at. It is now the spot where the 20,000 seat "Wachovia Center" is built and is where they do all kinds of concerts and sports events like Hockey and Basketball. Just thought you might like to know......

New York Post Remembers Shea Stadium

SHEA STADIUM
Oct. 12-13, 1982: The Who and The Clash concerts

Shea Stadium has been the site of some legendary concerts and this two-night stint by two major bands makes the list. The concerts were part of The Who's first "farewell" tour, and it was the first concert in six years at Shea. The shows sold out in hours and the crowds were estimated around 70,000 because there was festival seating on the infield for the first time at Shea.

For The Clash, this was the peak of its career. The concerts occurred while the band was at the height of its popularity. The album "Combat Rock" was selling rapidly and by some accounts, Shea had as many Clash fans on those nights as Who fans. The band was selected by The Who as an opener because it was viewed as the future, but the band disintegrated in the two years following these concerts.

"It was one of their farewell tours," Clash member Mick Jones said years later. "It was a great honor for us to be asked to do it. It was brilliant, actually. We were very excited about it. It helped us immensely."

The Who went into the shows saying this tour was its last. In a video shot by the BBC (now on YouTube) before one of the Shea concerts, Who guitarist Pete Townshend talks with disdain for playing big baseball stadiums like Shea and seems fed up with playing 20-year-old songs.

Even so, the band did not disappoint the crowd and played most of its hits during the two shows.

In an interview two months after the shows, Townshend sounded like he had mixed emotions about the shows.

"It was the archetypal out-of-hand monstrous show, but it had all the people-energy you could want," he said. "I think it will be a historical one, but I wouldn't want to see (Bruce) Springsteen, or The Clash, or for that matter The Who there myself."

There were reports of violence at the shows with people getting trampled and some suffering injuries from firecrackers that were set off in the crowd.

The Who would reunite just three years later and launch a reunion tour four years after that. There have been several more tours since then.

WNEW which sponsored The Clash opening up for The Who in Shea stadium. David Johanson aka Buster Poindexter went on first then the Clash.