Formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk, The Clash are about as important and iconic as a band gets. You can’t buy their merchandise at Kmart next to The Ramones shirts yet (thankfully) but they (in my opinion) are far more important and influential. What started out as raw, energetic, political punk evolved into so much more incorporating elements of reggae, dub, funk, ska and rockabilly. The four piece was lead by Joe Strummer who had the more raw vocals that to a new listener may take a bit of getting used to, while Mick Jones who started singing lead later in the bands career sung a lot more of the pop sounding songs as their sound started to evolve. 

To celebrate these legends of punk rock the Triffid put on a tribute show called London Calling: A tribute to The Clash featuring four local Aussie bands: Plastic Fangs, The Strums, Die Rude, Flangipanis, and headlined by Front End Loader.

Each band would perform quite short sets around the thirty-minute mark and would perform around two to three original songs with the rest of the set list made up of Clash covers. Plastic Fangs were the first band on at around 8:30 to a reasonably small crowd however their energy filled the void of an absentee audience. It was interesting to see how each band sort of adopted certain eras of The Clash. Fangs would fit into the transitional period where they were shifting from punk to a more straight edged rock. Some of the notable hits were “Clampdown” and finished their set with “Complete Control”.

Die Rude were clearly picked as The Clash goes ska/funk era of the Sandinista! album. They had a great energy and were dressed the part with the lead singer sporting a sleeveless studded denim jacket and mohawk while the trombonist was sporting the backwards beret and black sunglasses. Their original songs actually sounded in the same vein as the cover songs they were performing such as “Guns of Brixton” and “Police and Thieves”. 

The Strums were the high-energy punk that The Clash are well known for and ended up being the highlight for me. Being just a three piece their sound was full and packed plenty of punch, especially from the impressive drummer who appeared to just love being there. They blitzed through tracks such as “London Burning” and had the entire crowd singing along to “I Fought the Law”. 

It would be easy for me to tear the Flangipanis apart but in an attempt to be professional the less I say the better. Opening with a song title more bogan than a warm VB stubbie, the Flangipanis pumped through an original called “I’m drunk, so what? Fuck you!” ugh. They decided to turn the insanely poppy “Train In Vain” into speed punk. I had to Google them when I got home and the first song that popped up was called “My period is late"…

The headliners were veteran rock band Front End Loader who always put on a tight performance that has decent energy, matched with a full crowd having a great time they played some of my favourites like “Know your rights” and “Jimmy Jazz”. Unfortunately for the world, Joe Strummer departed this earth far too early and a Clash reunion never came about. So, for myself and the rest of the fans who never got a chance to see this amazing band, tributes like this will have to suffice, and although it may not be quite the same, it’s still a lot of fun.

-Tom Harrison