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| Presents Joe Strummer Night
Empire Belfast 26.3.06 This evenings event was a poorly advertised film tribute night to an adopted son of Belfast, the late great Joe Strummer. I knew nothing about it until I was told by a mate at the Buzzcocks gig on thursday night that there was a small poster mentioning it on the wall outside the Empire toilets. I still haven't seen it. There was a brief nod in a local Sunday paper today and on the Empire's website. Suprisingly there's a reasonable turnout regardless of the lack of easily visible publicity. Screenings of Don Letts - 'Punk Attitude' Doc and Dick Rude's - 'Lets Rock Again!' doc are the films in this punk movie double bill. I loved the Clash, the debut album is a bona punk classic and their much maligned 2nd album 'Give Em Enough Rope' is one of my all time favourite LP's. My interest in what Joe was up to sort of faded after 'Combat Rock' and his exploits in projects like the not real Clash LP 'Cut The Crap' the 'Sid and Nancy' soundtrack, 'Straight To Hell' and 'Walker' movies, the Pogues, Black Grape, Fat Les etc., to me were mistakes and unlikly to change my opinion and certainly not to my taste. He seemed in later years to be reinventing himself with 'The Mescaleros' and some of their stuff was good, sadly it was all brought to a shattering end by Joe's sudden death at christmas 2002. Like all his fans I'll remember him as the charismatic youngish punk, spitting fire and brimstone through broken teeth. Always an articulate and smart guy whose heart was in the right place. He made mistakes like everyone else but held his hands up and admitted his shortcomings, he was one of us. Joe Strummer RIP, still remembered by the Belfast punks!!! Punk Attitude - Don Letts I first saw 'Punk Attitude' months ago on a promo DVD loaned to me by Mr DC in its edited form, and to be honest I was really looking forward to watching it, but it was a very disappointing experience. By the end credits I didn't rate it at all. To me it seemed geared towards the USA. The likes of Henry Rollins and Thurston Moore were given far too much screen time at the expense of others. And when Limp Bizkit were mentioned in the same breath as punk I just thought "oh no". But when I mustered up enough courage to watch it again in its full 2 DVD glory with all the extra's, it actually made a lot more sense and I really liked it. Rather than judging the movie via short version festival screenings like this, try and see the complete movie in its entirity, its pretty good. 'Let's Rock Again' - Dick Rude From the early Clash footage to the Mescaleros touring the USA years later, this film charts Joe's rocky road as he tries to estabilish himself once again in a confusing world where he is viewed as a punk relic from an era long gone In one country, to virtual hero worship in another. Never afraid to get his hands dirty, the man had legendary status and he still handed out his own flyers. Joe took everyday in his stride always with a passion, humour and an unwavering self belief in his music and always having time for his people. I look forward to the DVD release of this film where hopefully it will be available in an extended version. I think the organisers would have made a better choice if they had screened the full version of 'Westway To The World' and 'Lets Rock Again' together instead, as it would have given a more rounded overview of Joe Strummers musical life. But I guess the reason these two films on the bill were screened tonight was because they were the most up to date docs available with Strummer connections and they had not been exposed to a wide audience as yet. Both movies are definitely worth catching. Joe Donnelly - Belfast 26.3.06 |
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