Gig Reviews - April 4, 2002 St. Ann's Warehouse - Brooklyn, NY

Thursday Night at St. Ann's

posted to Strummer News Message Board by The Web Princess

Last night's show was a rocking jam session that started off a little more mellow but was so energetic by the end that the crowd refused to leave.

They started off with London's Burning. There was a bit of a delay in getting started which Joe attributed to the boys having gotten lost on their way to Brooklyn in the cab, so it took a few numbers for the crowd to warm up.

The next song was Bhindi Bhagee which rocked as usual followed by an extremely soulful version of Shaktar Donestk. This included a lot of the traditional Joe rambling in the midst of the song. Very cool! Tymon's violin playing didn't disappoint on this number.

Before Tony Adams Joe was talking about the upcoming World Cup and how we probably hadn't heard of it here in the US. This was met with cheers from the die-hard footballers in the crowd. Martin Slattery was absolutely amazing with his Tony Adams sax solo, and Luke plays an excellent little drum bit mid-song.

Rudie Can't Fail and a rocking Cool 'N' Out followed. One of the best live versions of Police and Thieves I've ever heard was next. As Joe belted out "All the peacemakers, turn war officers" he pointed and smiled to the man crowd surfing in the front. Again, Scott's guitar solo mid-song is phenomenal.

Then as the beginning bass lines of Armagiddeon Time filled St. Ann's, the plumes of marijuana smoke began popping up all over the crowd. The version of this song was much tighter than Tuesday's show. Tymon blew us away by playing some amazing fiddle dub.

"You're going to have to fill in the words I forget on this one" Joe said before breaking into White Man in Hammersmith Palais. The crowd obliged and the hall filled with the sounds of one of the best songs ever written.

A heartfelt Bummed Out City was next, followed by a lively version of The Harder They Come, after which Joe mentioned that Jimmy Cliff is coming out with some new songs in the next 6 months so keep your eyes out for it.

Mega Bottle Ride was followed by Johhny Appleseed and Pressure Drop which included an excellent jam session.

Another Clash cover was next, Police on My Back, after which they left the stage. When they came back on, I guess some guy in the front was yelling out for "Rudie Can't Fail" - even though it had already been played. Joe said "Where were you about half an hour ago? What do you want us to do - play it twice?" continuing "You know it's the song that talks about brew for breakfast an' all that". It was great.

For their first encore song they picked Walk on the Wildside where Slattery's sax again amazed the crowd. Blitzkrieg Bop came on next with most of the crowd pogoing and pumping their fists to "Hey! Ho! Let's Go!"

They ended the encore set with I Fought the Law which included Joe going crazy with his trademark guitar pumping near the end. When the song was over, Joe stood there acknowledging the crowd and shouted "Brooklyn!" into the mike, drawing more cheers.

The crowd had gone from a jamming mood to a rocking mood by this point and they weren't about to leave. Many more folks stuck around even though the lights came on and the show appeared to be over once again. They began chanting "Joe! Joe! Joe!" and kept getting increasingly noisy. Finally, again to my surprise (as the house lights were on again), they came on stage and played an excellent rendition on Bankrobber which included Joe's well known ad-libing.

An excellent night in Brooklyn once again. The waterfront was rocking last night, and those that went witnessed one of the best shows of the week!

Under the Brooklyn Bridge

posted to Strummer News Message Board by BTT

Where do I start ? The setlist ? Yeah, let's do it:

St.Ann's Warehouse 4\4\2002:

London's Burning

Bindhi Baghee

Shaktar Donesk

Tony Adams

Rudi Can't Fail

Cool'n'Out

Police & Thieves

Armaggedeon Time

White Man In Hammersmith Palais (first time I've hard it live in 20 years, and man, it's still as powerful and relevant as ever!)

Bummed Out City

The Harder They Come

Mega Bottle Ride (with a spanish finale!)

Johnny Appleseed (a song about an american folk hero that only a bunch of mad Englishmen could have written)

Pressure Drop

Police On My Back

Take a Walk On the Wild Side (fuckin' appropriate !)

Blitzrieg Bop (more messed up lyrics !)

I Fought The Law

ENCORE

Bankrobber (with the crowd singing along world perfec)

CROWD : cross generational, as sophisticated (Tymon's word, not mine), but more subdude than the Montreal one ;-) Sorry, I couldn't help noticing the difference...

VENUE : good accoustic. From what I gathered, it's sorte of a community hall, managed like a coop, or something. More on the rest when I'll investigate the loos tonight ;-) We got stuck on the sidewalk past midnight, by sub-zero temperature, with no yellow cab service and an outrageously priced "Car Service" $40 (US !!!) for a 10 minutes ride in downtown Manhattan ??? Another nail in the coffin of the Fuck Market Economy !

LUMINARIES : Jim Jarmush (as handsome as ever, Jesus I nearly faited when he passed me by !), Barry "Scratch" Myers (Clash DJ), ArtDog (Joe's & the Clash art director)

INTERNET PALS: Big Ups to Tami and BF, Anthony Davie, Rob Morgan, Man Kev and his minder, Beat Surrender and her numerous friends, Jan, JP and all the others I forgot the name off, as I was collapsing from sleep deprivation.

Looking foreward for tonight's gig :) OK, let's find that Mr. Cohen's Time Square bar The Pogues celebrated in Thousands Are Sailing. TAXI !!!

Thursday 4/4 Show

posted to Strummer News Message Board by Jimmy Jazz

Joe Srummer was great as always, despite being a little late "apparently there are two water streets in this city and some of us being british got lost". He made up for that by opening up with a kick ass version of "London's Burning".

"Police On My Back", "Police And Thieves", "Pressure Drop", "White Man In Hammersmith Palais" and "Rudie Can't Fail" were all fantastic. Joe's own songs were great as well. He did "Bhindi Bhagee", "Shaktar Donetsk", "Tony Adams", "Mega Bottle Ride", "Cool 'N' Out", "Bummed Out City" and "Johnny Appleseed".

For the first encore he did a great version of Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side", "Blitzkrieg Bop" and "I Fought The Law". For his second encore he did a very long version of "Bankrobber" in which he improvised about getting lost ("I said how many mother f**king water streets do you need").

Some songs he did NOT do that he did at the other shows were "Yalla Yalla", "Global A Go-Go", "Lose This Skin", "White Riot" and the new song which was a little disapointing because I would have liked to hear it but it was still a great show.

The Mescaleros are one of the most talented group of musicians around today and Joe of course is the greatest person who ever lived. It's also good to see how much people like Tymon Dogg, because he seems like a great guy. Also the opening band Radio 4 were very good.