And the queue stretched around the block... Joe Strummer and his Mescaleros are in town, in this bizarre setting, for a chance to plug the release of their second album, 'Global A Go-Go'.
Crammed in between the hastily covered over racks of CDs, Joe's public cluster as well as they can up the aisles and in front of the improvised stage which strains under the weight of amps, drums and young men in suits.
But Joe's easy star quality still effortlessly eclipses all around him - the jet black, if thinning, quiff, the same bloody Telecaster he's been scraping and stabbing at for 25 years, and the same love of rhythm and musical influences from way beyond his immediate environs. In Clash days it was Americana and reggae, now it's African rhythms, hobo-rock, reggae and tales of North London streets. Not bad for a bloke who lives on a farm in Somerset.
Slightly disappointingly, but understandably, tonight is all about the new rcord. "We're gonna play you some new chunes," Joe tells us as the intro riff to 'Cool 'N' Out' fills the room and Joe takes his usual 'gunslinger with migraine' stance at the mic. 'Johnny Appleseed' - more representative of the new set as a whole, strums it's way over subtle keyboards as Tymon Dogg's violin whips up a storm on the chorus "if you're after getting the honey don't go killing all the bees" - quite.
'Global A Go-Go' brings things down and showcases Joe's continued fascination with the global theme - the Serengeti, Bulaweyo, Armenia, Jakarta, Bondi Beach, Hemel Hempstead... with down in the boots backing vocals straight from the Russian Steppes. 'Bindhi Baghee' - an unlikely tale of a newly arrived, backpacking Kiwi being dragged off to the studio by Joe allows Scott Shield to show off his guitar picking before 'Shaktar Donesk' (a Ukranian football team who played Joe's beloved Arsenal in the Champions League) weaves its refugee's tale into the night.
And then it's off to sign copies of the new record. We have to wait months in the UK to see how the Mescaleros weave the new album into their 'Clash meets 'Art & The X-Ray Style'' set of last year in their natural setting. On this evidence it should be amazing. Strummer's rockin' again.
