The Clash in 1979
Watching the Clash at the Golden Hall in downtown San Diego, November 1979.
Joe Strummer completely immersed in “Police & Thieves,” black Tele’ slung across his back, at the edge of the stage.
Willy, Rick and I are at center stage, right of Strummer.
Joe loses his footing, pitching forward, dragging his guitar, mic and stand into the crowd.
A weightless moment: no security to return him to the stage, Joe rides the upraised hands for a few seconds and is then upright on the lip of the stage. The mic, stand & guitar materialize in his hands, the groove is back, in time, at the right time.
Fucked Up playing the Viaduct Theater – February 2010
Fucked Up are setting up to play the 6-inch stage at the Viaduct Theater.
A few minutes before they take the stage a crew of cropped punks trundle in. One of the punks stripping off his winter coat is in a wheelchair, displaying his tattoos through a tank.
The band roar into their set and the chair-bound punk is in the middle of the pit, shouting, spinning and tumbling with complete abandon. His crew right his chair every time he goes down, the true essence of inclusion.
Second to last song, the chair is butted up against the stage, just below Pink Eye, vocalist for Fucked Up. The song starts and Pink Eye reaches down and scoops the punk into his arms, cradling him six feet up and letting the punk sing the lyrics.
First verse over, the duo wade into the crowd, spinning around and placing him back in the arms of the moshing crowd. The beatific smile on the punk in the chair raise a cheer from the crowd and the moment is forever.