I’m going to attempt to be brief, as difficult as that might be while describing a five hour concert that took nearly a year to put together (I’m editing myself so the “brief” part is total bullshit).
It started at the tail end of the Southern Soul and Rock ‘n Roll Revue at Club Soda in April of 2018. Tim Snow, one of the two talented photographers we lean on to chronicle Billy Bob Productions events (Eva Blue is the other) approached me near the stage (or maybe it was post-show and he was waiting to get paid) and asked what our next event was going to be.
All I could think about was taking a long break until late summer/fall. The large scale multi-artist themed celebrations are a blast to produce – but really only on the night it goes down. There is an enormous amount of work involved in putting these shows together. And then comes stage 2 – trying to sell enough tickets (500-800) to make it worthwhile. Don’t get me wrong. I love doing them. The payoff is when it all comes to life. But eventually I burn myself out and promise to take a longer break after each one of these shows.
So when I said to Tim I hadn’t really thought of it, I was still in Southern Soul mode. That was such a unique concept. Mix the Southern rock of the Allman Brothers (the death of Gregg Allman was the major influence of the event) together with the classic soul stirrings of Muscle Shoals and Stax and go back to how it all started at Sun Records and, well, some people thought I was nuts. And initially they were right, because the original concept also included heavy doses of country (Willie Nelson, etc) and Texas Troubadours (Robert Earl Keen, Billie Joe Shaver, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Townes Van Zandt, etc) before I came to my senses and scaled it back to a mere four hours.
Perhaps sensing my lack of interest in anything, Tim said, “December 2019 is the 40th Anniversary of London Calling.” That was a full 20 months away. It was also perfect. I filed it. Told very few people about it until we hit December. Then I needed to get moving.
Thank you to Noel Butler who took the event more than a little personally. From the moment he helped set up important early meetings with Nick Farkas (Evenko/Osheaga/’77Montreal) and Paget Williams (’77 Montreal/Greenland), Noel became our marketing director. Even though he has no access to Facebook or Instagram. That’s kind of how we roll at Billy Bob. Besides, Len Yelle is always around to litter storefronts, cafes, sex shops, and back alleys where deals go down, with posters and postcards of the event which he prints out for us in great numbers because he owns one of the biggest printing plants in Canada (this is bullshit).
Then I had to explain to Shane Murphy that not only was he going to be in musical charge of another one of these long, potentially chaotic nights (but it never really is because Shane makes sure of it) but it would be to honour a record he doesn’t like to listen to (this is not bullshit).
I won’t speak for him because he does a good enough job for himself other than to say that Shane, by his own standards, doesn’t like the way the album was produced. I think we spent 20 minutes discussing it on one of our podcasts. (If you happen to be reading this (thank you) (Ive always wanted to get a double bracket into a sentence.) and you’re not aware of the Melnick ‘n Murphy music podcast available right here on this site, I think you’ll enjoy listening to more than a few of them over the holidays. I’m a big music fan (duh) so when i listen to it i become a critic. Its really good. And very funny.
Anyway, Shane was at his most impressive in this one. We didn’t get full set lists from Alejandro Escovedo and Jesse Malin until about two weeks prior to the concert. He was also backing up Paul Cargnello, Tommy Youngsteen and Andrea Ramolo. And picking a couple of songs for himself, which he had never played. In between frequent live gigs and his own studio work with some travelling involved, Shane and his band – Anthony Lombardi on bass and Marc Beland (Marky Beats) on drums (they are the best) – had to learn over 20 songs, and for most of them, with less than two weeks to get it done. And then do them all live in one take before about 800 people. That’s all.
Shane and the boys did a lot of homework. And it showed.
As great as the entire concert was what happened the night before will stay with me just as long. Len and I walked into an east end rehearsal complex where Shane had just met Alejandro. In a back studio the Asexuals were working out their set along with Tommy Stinson. I could only hear it. It was fucking loud. I really wanted to see it but I wanted to see Alejandro first. So we walked down the hall to a different sound – just as loud but different. Not better, Just different.
I started to peel away the soundproof doors (it was like opening up a giant accordion) and there was a sight for sore and tired eyes. And the sound! Holy shit was it good. Alejandro Escovedo was tearing through one of his punk classics (listen to the album “Real Animal”. It’s not old. It came out 2008. It chronicles Alejandro’s early punk days and his move from San Fransisco to the Chelsea Hotel in New York just as the Sid & Nancy debacle was being played out) and seeing Shane ripping it up next to him with the rhythm section in perfect sync was a very special moment for me.
In the very early days of Billy Bob Productions, when Lloyd Fischler was running everything except media coverage, we booked Alejandro several times, including two appearances at Petit Campus on Prince Arthur Street in the late 90s and again in early part of the 21st century, I missed the first one when my ex-wife went while I stayed home with the kids. She couldn’t stop raving about the soulfulness of Alejandro and she has excellent taste in music so I should thank her too. The next day I started buying Escovedo’s music. I took a quick crash course in it. I soon had everything and needed to see him live. A couple of years later he rolled back into town and I got to know him a bit. Enjoyed his company a lot. Very cool. Very smart. Slick dresser. Big baseball fan, especially of the SF Giants of the 1960s. And just tremendous on stage. Among those in attendance was Habs’ GM at the time Bob Gainey, along with a few of his assistants including, of all people, Pierre Gauthier (this is not bullshit). On his way out, Gainey made specific reference to the song “I Was Drunk”.
It’s powerful. Harrowing and soothing at the same time. I understood Gainey’s connection immediately.
Escovedo’s opener that second night at Petit Campus was Shane Murphy and his band. Not sure who Shane’s bass player was but I remember his drummer stayed for the first couple of songs of Escovedo’s set and then left, letting anybody close to him know that he wasn’t impressed. I’ve never seen that drummer again.
So yeah, to see Shane and Tony and Marc jam out with Escovedo for over an hour was a real treat, especially after Alejandro turned to me after the third or fourth song and said “You’ve got a real good band here!” I only wish we had filmed the rehearsal. Because we also got to see and hear two classic Iggy Pop covers that never made it into the show the next night – “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and “Loose”.
I want to thank John Kastner for agreeing to be part of this. I wanted the original members of the Asexuals to be front and centre. The very first meeting I had about content was with Asexuals’ bassist T.J. Plenty. He was gung ho about it and ready to contribute in any way, whether on his own, as part of a duo or with his bandmates of 40 years. I just needed to know that everybody was cool with each other. I know they had played a reunion show at Osheaga six or seven years ago but I hadn’t heard anything since. After TJ told me they actually started as a Clash tribute band, I knew we were in good shape.
Once I connected with John he couldn’t have been more helpful. It was through his help that we also landed Tommy Stinson. And some really cool t-shirts that Noel was hawking at the merch table and even outside the Corona. I think we have 10 t-shirts left (all L) if you’d like one. And a bunch of great looking posters too. Just get in touch with Noel or myself. We were hoping the shirts would help pay for travel costs, as we flew in John and Sean from LA and Alejandro and his wife from Texas.
The Asexuals were so good at the end of the night, I’d be shocked if they didn’t pick up again where they left off at 12:20 AM at the Corona.
So thanks again to all of the musicians listed below, but especially to Jason Rockman and Slaves on Dope who fully rep’d the early punk era with hair raising versions of three seminal non-Clash anthems; Howard Bilerman for again assembling a unique group of Montreal indie greats (and a late special guest from New Jersey) to perfectly match the night as a tribute to the 40th Anniversary of London Calling (and the spirit of punk). London Calling is 65 minutes. Even by adding more Clash songs we still needed to build on the night. At first, we thought of including songs by some of the great New Wave artists of the late 70s and 80s but as I worked on possible set lists it became apparent that we just couldn’t. It would take the night in another direction.
And what a night it was.
Almost done here.
I know there was some squawking about the ticket prices. Our base ticket price was $56. With the amount of talent on hand and transportation and hotels we simply couldn’t go lower. The Corona automatically adds an 8 dollar service charge on every ticket over $50. So then it becomes a $64 ticket, which is just about where the Southern Soul and Rock ‘n Roll Revue came down at. But the “service charge” costs don’t end there. If you ordered tickets online you got hit with another 8 dollar grab. And that’s how a 56 dollar ticket becomes $72. We can’t control that. Other than to direct people to the box office instead. But, on the other hand, we put some amazing musicians on stage who created some magic memories. And it was a five hour show (billed as a one night music festival)! Anybody who thinks we’re gouging music fans has no clue about putting a show of this magnitude together. Nobody is getting rich doing this. It’s a labour of love. And frankly, to build on the theme of the night, if you do think that way – go fuck yourself.
And then remember not to miss the next one.
So again, much gratitude to the many hundreds who purchased tickets. It’s very rewarding to know that Montreal music fans continue to support these kind of shows that are largely driven by Montrealers. But we couldn’t do it without the the help of so many others including and especially my friends at CHOM, led by general manager Martin Spalding and PD Mathew Wood, who helped us out big time in the month of November. Thanks to Jason (the concert was first announced on his evening show) plus Terry DiMonte, Esteban Vargas, Randy Renaud, Bilal Butt, Sharon Hyland, Pete Marier, Hal Jaques, Jessica Dionne and Mel Mastrogiuseppe for the airtime, contests and plugs. CJAD was very helpful as well, led by PD Chris Bury, Natasha Hall, Kelly Albert, Andrew Carter, Sarah Deshaies, Dave Kaufman and Ken Connors. And, in no particular order as these names come to me – James Correa, Kesh Dheer, Alex Petraki, Paul Spence, Walter Lyng, Brendan Kelly, Jordan Zivitz, Tim Salhany at Cult MTL, Jason Devine, Dave Surette, Steve Traynor, Andre Marcolla, Ken Doran and the crew at Mirela’s, Rod Applebee and Hurley’s Irish Pub, Stewart Rubin at Embassy Suites Old Montreal, Paul Graif, Java Jacobs and everybody at K103, Peter Wark, Stewart Wiseman, Bruce Hills, Mark Lepage, Lloyd Fischler, Gary Silverman, Jesse Malin & Michael Iurato in NYC, Niagara bar (especially Charley at the bar or is her name spelled Charlie?), and from Alejandro’s group, Randy Dease and Brett Vidmar. Plus Nick Farkas, Paget Williams, Dan Webster, Peter Dehais, Hind Azennar, the entire crew at the Corona and everybody who shared a Facebook post or by word of mouth helped get the word out. And, finally, all those places that allowed Len inside including Environnement Electronique, Westmount Flourist, Burger Bar Crescent, Andie’s Barber Shop, Avenue G and who knows how many others (Len won’t tell me). Thank you all. My daughter Phoenix convinced the good people at Soundscapes on College Street in the heart of Toronto’s Little Italy (my favourite music store) to put up a poster. And at Ferraro restaurant (terrific pizza!) at 502 Eglinton West.
Very special thanks as well to Stephen Bronfman and Lorne Rubin.
And then there was Mutsumi xxx
#MontrealCalling tribute show to to @TheClash & the 40th anniversary of London Calling: https://t.co/Iej0nmRmzc #Punk #History #MTLMusic
— David DesBaillets (@DDesBaillets) December 5, 2019
And just before we get to the set list and photos – apologies to fans of Ripcordz and Three O’Clock Train. Paul Gott apologetically informed me weeks ahead of the gig that he couldn’t make it. The original posters and social media alerts had already been published with Ripcordz on it. Mack MacKenzie (Three O’Clock Train) pulled out with a week to go.
Here’s what you might have missed (the James Correa video might be longer than The Irishman).
MONTREAL CALLING!
A Salute to the 40th Anniversary of London Calling (and the Spirit of Punk).
Friday, December 6, 2019 at Corona Theatre.
- “Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)” – (Video Montage) – Neil Young & Crazy Horse (Live Rust released November 1979)
- “London Calling” (intro) > “Rumble” (Instrumental) – Shane Murphy – Guitar, Tony Lombardi – bass, Marc Beland – drums (Rumble by Link Wray & His Ray Men released March 1958)
- “Revolution Rock‘- Paul Cargnello – lead vocals & guitar w/ Shane Murphy Band (Revolution Rock from London calling released December 14, 1979)
- “One More Time” – Paul Cargnello & Shane Murphy Band (One More Time from Sandanista! Released December 12, 1980
- “Guns of Brixton” – Paul Cargnello & Shane Murphy Band (London Calling)
- “Janie Jones” – DM Kelly & The Sunset Drip – DM Kelly – Vocals & Guitar, Mosquito Mike – Vocals & Guitar, Jamie Decay – Bass, Brandon Gear – drums (Janie Jones from The Clash (Debut album) released April 8, 1977)
- “The Magnificent Seven” – Annakin Slayd (vocals) & The Stalwarts – Jon Rosner – guitar, Dennis Peikos – Bass, Teddy Georgaris – drums (The Magnificent Seven from Sandanista!)
- “Bankrobber” – K-MAN & THE 45s – Kristin McNulty – Vocals & Guitar, F.C. Poirier – bass, Joshua Michaud – Trombone, Mathieu Forget – Saxophone, Paulo Max Riccardo – Drums (Bankrobber from Black Market Clash (compilation) teleased August 8, 1980)
- “What’s Inside A Girl?” – K-MAN & The 45s – (What’s Inside A Girl? by The Cramps from A Date With Elvis, released April 1986)
- “The Sound of Sinners” – Mountain Dust – Brendan Mainville – Lead Vocals & Guitar, Patrick Bennett – Organ, Lapsteel, backing vocals, Hal Jaques – Bass, backing vocals, Blair Youngblut – Drums (The Sound of Sinners from Sandanista!)
- “I Need Somebody” – Mountain Dust ( I Need Somebody by The Stooges from Raw Power, released February 1973)
- “Teenage Kicks” – The Mahones – Finny McConnell – Lead vocals & Guitar, Sean Ryan – Bass & Vocals, Angus Fay – Drums, Jonathan Moorman – Violin & Vocals, ? – Accordion (Teenage Kicks by The Undertones was their debut single released October 1978. From the album The Undertones)
- “Dirty Old Town” – The Mahones (Dirty Old Town originally written by Ewan MacColl in 1949 and originally released by MacColl in 1952. The Pogues version was on Rum, Sodomy & The Lash released August 1985)
- “Spanish Bombs” – The Mahones (London Calling)
- “I Wanna Be Sedated” – Slaves on Dope – Jason Rockman – Vocals, Kevin Jardine – Guitar, Rob Laurion – Bass, Peter Tzaferis – Drums (I Wanna Be Sedated by The Ramones on Road to Ruin released September 1978)
- “Anarchy in the U.K.” – Slaves on Dope (Anarchy in the U.K. by the Sex Pistols was their debut single released November 1976. From the album Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols released October 1977)
- “Kick Out The Jams” – Slaves on Dope (Kick Out The Jams by MC5 released as live debut album February 1969)
- “Brand New Cadillac” – The Nils – Carlos Soria – Lead Vocals & Bass, Mark Donato – Guitar & Vocals, Phil Psarakos – Guitar, Emelien Catalano – Drums (London Calling)
- “Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t”ve)” – The Nils (Ever Fallen In Love by the Buzzcocks on the album Love Bites released 1978)
- “Silly Thing‘ – The Nils (Silly Thing by the Sex Pistols from the film The Great Rock ‘n Roll Swindle released March 1979)
- “Whole Wide World” – Alternative All Stars – Howard Bilerman – Drums, Tim Kingsbury – Vocals, Guitar & Bass, Dan Boeckner – Vocals, Bass & Guitar, Patrick Stickles – Vocals & Guitar (Whole Wide World by Wreckless Eric from the album Wreckless Eric released August 1977)
- “Alternative Ulster” – Alternative All Stars (Alternative Ulster by Stiff Little Fingers on the album Inflammable Material released February 1979)
- “Mystery” – Alternative All Stars (Mystery by the Wipers from their debut album Is This Real? released January 1980)
- “Lost in the Supermarket” – Alternative All Stars (London Calling)
- “Police on my Back” – Alternative All Stars (Sandanista!)
- “Train in Vain” – Alternative All Stars w/ Steve Herskovitz on Harmonica (London Calling)
END ACT ONE
You guys were awesome pic.twitter.com/wnmSy1jVGP
— David Griffith (@DJRGriffith) December 7, 2019
ACT TWO
- “People Who Died” (Video Montage) – The Jim Carroll Band (Catholic Boy released January 1980)
- “What’s My Name” – The Clampdown – Carrie Haber – Guitar & Vocals, Rebecca Sevrin – Guitar & Vocals, Isabelle Banos – Bass, Jackie Gallant – Drums (The Clash 1977)
- “Career Opportunities” – The Clampdown (The Clash)
- “Complete Control” – The Clampdwon (The Clash – U.S. version only)
- “Refugee” – Tommy Youngsteen w/ Shane Murphy Band & Jeff Louch on Organ (Refugee by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers from Damn The Torpedoes released October 1979)
- “I Fought The Law” – Tommy Youngsteen w/ Shane Murphy Band & Jeff Louch (I Fought The Law original version written by Sonny Curtis of The Crickets and released in 1960. Bobby Fuller Four version released in 1966. The Clash version first appeared on The Cost of Living EP released May 1979. Later included on U.S. version of their debut album)
- “Because The Night” – Andrea Ramolo – Lead Vocal w/ Shane Murphy Band & Jeff Louch (Because The Night written by Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith. From the album Easter by Patti Smith Group released March 1978)
- “I Hate Myself For Loving You” – Andrea Ramolo w/ Shane Murphy Band & Jeff Louch (I Hate Myself For Loving You by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts from Up Your Alley released May 1988)
- “Straight To Hell” – Shane Murphy Band – Shane Murphy – Vocals & Guitar, Anthony Lombardi – Bass, Marc Beland – Drums (Straight To Hell from Combat Rock released May 14, 1982)
- “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” – Shane Murphy Band (Combat Rock)
- “Stay Free” – Jesse Malin – Solo Acoustic (Stay Free by The Clash from Give ‘Em Enough Rope released November 10, 1978)
- “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory” – Jesse Malin (Lead Vocal & Acoustic Guitar) w/ Shane Murphy Band (You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory by Johnny Thunders from his solo album So Alone released October 1978)
- “Rudie Can’t Fail” – Jesse Malin w/ Shane Murphy Band (London Calling)
- “Sonic Reducer” – Jesse Malin w/ Shane Murphy Band (Sonic Reducer by Dead Boys from Young, Loud and Snotty released 1977)
- “Fire and Fury” – Alejandro Escovedo – Lead Vocals & Guitar w/ Shane Murphy Band (Fire and Fury from Escovedo album The Crossing released September 14, 2018)
- “Sonic USA” – Alejandro Escovedo w/ Shane Murphy Band (The Crossing)
- “Teenage Luggage” – Alejandro Escovedo w/ Shane Murphy Band (The Crossing)
- “Chelsea Hotel ’78” – Alejandro Escovedo w/ Shane Murphy Band (Chelsea Hotel ’78 from Escovedo album Real Animal released June 2008)
- “Nun’s Song” – Alejandro Escovedo w/ Shane Murphy Band (Real Animal)
- “Sacramento and Polk” – Alejandro Escovedo w/ Shane Murphy Band (Sacramento and Polk from Escovedo album The Boxing Mirror released 2006)
- “Johnny Volume” – Alejandro Escovedo w/ Shane Murphy Band (Johnny Volume from Escovedo album Burn Something Beautiful released October 2016)
- “The Kids Are Alright” – Tommy Stinson solo acoustic (The Kids Are Alright soundtrack by The Who released June 1979)
- “Friday Night (Is Killing Me) – Tommy Stinson solo acoustic (Friday Night is title track from Bash & Pop debut album released 1993)
- “Safe European Home” – Asexuals – John Kastner – Lead Vocals & Guitar, Sean Friesen – Lead Guitar & Vocals, TJ Plenty – Bass & Vocals, Paul Remington – Drums w/ Jeff Louch – Organ (Give ‘Em Enough Rope)
- “Pressure Drop” – Asexuals (Pressure Drop originally written by Toots (Hibbert) and released by the Maytals in 1970. The Clash version is on the compilation Black Market Clash released in 1980)
- “Clampdown” – Asexuals (London Calling)
- “Hateful” – Asexuals w/ Tommy Stinson – Lead Vocal (London Calling)
- “Death or Glory” – Asexuals w/ Jesse Malin – Lead Vocal (London Calling)
- “London Calling” – Asexuals w/ John Kastner/Jesse Malin/Tommy Stinson on Lead Vocals
- (Encore) “(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais” – Paul Cargnello – Solo electric (White Man in Hammersmith Palais was originally released as a single June 16, 1978. It was played at Joe Strummer’s funeral)
The #Asexuals cover of London Calling, about 5 hours into #MontrealCalling. For you @burnwater https://t.co/K3XguvoArJ
— Leisa Lee (@leisamontreal) December 8, 2019
Tim Snow photos
