Project Description

LONDON CALLING UK (CLASH TRIBUTE)

@ MOJO’s

(Live Review)

26/07/19

Reviewer: Vicky Hebbs

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It’s after 9pm when I arrive and Mojo’s is fairly packed. Support band Skarper are just finishing up, but as I move through the crowd, everyone is moving to their bouncy ska beat.  The Clash represented the height of Britain’s second wave of punk music in the late 1970s through to the early 1980s. For a band that was only really active for just over six years during this era, they smashed out hits that have essentially become the definitive back catalogue of British punk and they have influenced scores of bands of the post-punk era. London Calling are the UK’s premiere tribute band to The Clash, and have toured all over Europe, the UK, the USA, and now Australia. To celebrate forty years since the release of The Clash’s most prolific album – London Calling, tonight the band are playing every one of the songs from the double album in order, and then a number of their other tracks.

They blast onto the stage in a blur of ferocious punk rock, igniting the front rows with their guitars leading the way. Jimmy Jazz provides almost a break in the heavier punk with its bright and light instrumentals. I Fought the Law is the most frantic song of the night for the crowd; everyone is jumping in the air and thrashing to the addictive chorus. The song is the epitome of punk rebellion, a hearty rejection of the establishment. It so perfectly captures The Clash’s nature that most people may not even realise the song is a cover, one that was originally written by Sonny Curtis of the Crickets. I think this song was my highlight of the evening.

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Hateful is the best of elevating ska, despite the name suggesting otherwise. Fast-paced and intoxicating, it feels like we are back in time, with everyone showing off their best aggressively funky dance moves. Rock the Casbah is long-awaited, and is way more explosive live. The punchy chorus lyrics are sung by the entire crowd, and even the formerly stolid older men at the back get their groove on to the famous tune. The whole concert people are screaming for Lost in the Supermarket, and when they do eventually play it, they do not disappoint. It starts off with that iconic dreamy intro and builds up the intensity and with it the emotion. The lyrics might seem a bit trivial, but they feel monumental as everyone screams them with feeling.

For more than a decade, London Calling have been touring, playing the masterpiece they were named after, and all the other well-loved songs from The Clash. There were a few long-time Clash fans who assured me London Calling are ‘as good as the Brixton concert in ’85.’

I seriously doubt you could find higher praise than that.

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AMNPLIFY – DB