Turn it up, close your eyes and you're right back there. Struggling to stay on your feet in the melee at Portsmouth Locarno, craning your neck to see at Victoria Park's Anti-Nazi gig, dripping with sweat at the Electric Ballroom...magic, hazy nights when the Clash were the only punk band still cutting the mustard, if not the crap.
This live set, culled from a series of the band's always '100% commitment' live shows in Boston, London and New York, will thrill fans and probably bemuse their children. But the Clash had the tunes to back up their political punk maelstrom and if you think 90s dance music finally united black and white audiences, check out 'White Man In Hammersmith Palais' or 'Armigideon Time'.
'London Calling' brought tears to some eyes at Glastonbury when Strummer included it in his solo set this year - something James Dean Bradfield probably won't manage if he trots out 'Motorcycle Emptiness' in 2016. The Clash TV documentary is also about to reach a set near you so if you want to keep ahead of the game and you like noisy, anthemic, tuneful punk rock with the emphasis on the 'rock', then this is the album for you. How could anybody not get excited by their take on 'I Fought The Law'? One gripe - why no 'Rock The Casbah' or 'Bank Robber'?
AS
