The Clash at Bond's Casino

Infobox Album
Name = Live at Bond's Casino
Type = Live album
Longtype = / bootleg
Artist = The Clash


Released =
Recorded = May-June 1981
Genre = Punk rock
Producer =
Reviews = *Allmusic.com rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:9q5g8qzpbtx4 link]
Last album = ""
(1999)
This album = "Live At Bond's"
(2000)
Next album = "The Essential Clash"
(2003)

"The Clash" played a series of 17 concerts at "Bond's Casino" in New York City in May and June of 1981 in support of their album Sandinista!. Due to their wide publicity, the concerts became an important moment in the history of the Clash. Some of the nights were professionally recorded either for CBS records or for FM broadcast. The June 9th performance appears on countless bootleg records and several songs have appeared on From Here to Eternity or other official Clash releases.

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, eight shows were originally scheduled: May 28, 29, 30, 31 and June 1,2, 3, and 5, 1981. However, given the venue's legal capacity limit of 3500, the series was blatantly oversold right from the first night, leading fire marshals for the New York Fire Department to cancel the Saturday, May 30 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 and 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 overseen by Andy Dunkley, provided disc jockey services as the audience entered and gathered.

The concert captures The Clash on the cusp between being a cult band and their short-lived major market penetration. As always with The Clash, ticket prices were set relatively low.

June 9th setlist

#"London Calling"
#"Safe European Home"
#"The Leader"
#"Train in Vain"
#"(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais"
#"This Is Radio Clash"
#"Corner Soul"
#"Guns of Brixton"
#"The Call Up"
#"Bankrobber"
#"Complete Control"
#"Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice)"
#"Ivan Meets GI Joe"
#"Charlie Don't Surf"
#"The Magnificent Seven"
#"Broadway"
#"Somebody Got Murdered"
#"Police & Thieves"
#"Clampdown"
#"One More Time"
#"Brand New Cadillac"
#"The Street Parade"
#"Janie Jones"
#"Washington Bullets"

External links

* [http://homepage.mac.com/blackmarketclash/Bands/Clash/recordings/1981/81-05-28%20Bonds/81-05-28%20Bonds.html Bonds International Casino - 29 May 1981 - Opening night of 17.]
* [http://www.cla5h.com/bond/bond.html The Clash - Bond Residency 1981 - 25th Anniversary Project (May 2006)]