The Clash - On Broadway (2022)

THE CLASSIC 1981 SHOW AT BOND INTERNATIONAL CASINO NYC • In support of their 1981 album Sandinista!, The Clash played a series of 17 concerts at Bonds International Casino in New York City in May and June 1981. Due to their wide publicity, the concerts became an important moment in the history of the band. Some of the nights were recorded for FM broadcast. • The site of the concerts was formerly Bonds department store which had been converted into a large second-floor hall. Promoters kept the name because there was a large Bonds sign on the outside of the building. As The Clash had not yet broken out into mass popularity in the US, eight shows were originally scheduled: 28, 29, 30, 31 May and 1, 2, 3 and 5 June 1981. However, given the venue's legal capacity limit of 1750, the series was blatantly oversold (3500) right from the first night, leading the New York City Fire Department to cancel the Saturday, 30 May performance.

In response, the band condemned the brazen greed of the promoters while demonstrating unprecedented integrity to each and every ticketholder by doubling the original booking with a total of 17 dates extending through June. • Strict interpretation of the fire laws meant that audiences were relatively small, resulting in a sense of intimacy between the band and the audience. Audience members clambered onto the stage to join in singalongs. New York musicians, including Pearl Harbor, assisted, and Andy Dunkley provided disc jockey services as the audience entered and gathered. • The concerts captured The Clash on the cusp between being a cult band and their short-lived major market penetration in the USA. As always with The Clash, ticket and merchandise prices were set relatively low. Prices were $10 per ticket and $5 for matinee shows. • The band had a new opening act every night, including The Fall, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, KRAUT, Lee "Scratch" Perry and many more. Some of the hip-hop groups that opened were either picketed or booed off the stage, which prompted Strummer to chide the audience as soon as The Clash came on afterwards. • This new CD features the band’s 9th June show at the Casino, recorded, as mentioned, for live FM Broadcast, and featured here in its entirety for the first time.

Tracklist
1 London Calling
2 Safe European Home
3 The Leader
4 Train in Vain
5 White Man in Hammersmith Palais
6 This Is Radio Clash
7 Corner Soul
8 The Guns of Brixton
9 The Call Up
10 Bankrobber
11 Complete Control
12 The Magnificent Seven
13 Broadway
14 Somebody Got Murdered
15 Police & Thieves
16 Clampdown
17 One More Time/Brand New Cadillac
18 The Street Parade/Janie Jones
19 Washington Bullets