I had a few rogue adventures through England this month.
1-12) Dreamland by the sea. Margate, England.
Sports Team, Soft Play and The Libertines playing to their hometown outside a very active Amusement Park. The show was fantastic beyond words.
13-14) I got to attend an after party that was Dj’d by Gary Powell from The Libertines, where I had the opportunity to chat with him for a bit. One of the sweetest guys I’ve met.
15-16) Gwenifer Raymond at The Clapham Grand. Beautiful guitar work.
17-20) Jim Jarmusch and Jozef Van Wissem at The Clapham Grand. Again, no words to describe what this one meant to me.
*Not Pictured
21-♾️) I had tickets to see Yusuf (Cat Stevens), Van Morrison, and Neil Young at Hyde Park as well as tickets to see Mad Professor, Don Letts and other reggae greats back at Dreamland Margate. Unfortunately, I had my very first run-in with Covid and had to miss these concerts. Bummer for sure, but the fact that it took me 5 years to even catch Covid and that I did well enough to not miss anything else on a 17-day run in England/France means I get to skip the pity party for this one. I am very thankful/grateful for the experience I/we (my family) had.
I had the privilege of seeing David perform a few different times. A couple with the resurrected Dolls and once at a swanky joint on Staten Island right before the news broke that Morrissey would reunite the remaining Dolls for Meltdown Festival in 2004. David hinted to the reunion and played 3 hours worth of music spanning his time with the Dolls, solo records, Buster and The Harry Smiths (his backing band for the night). I have some amazing stories from that night involving a park bench, a cup of tea, some newspapers, and a pack of cigarettes…but those are for another day.
These pictures are from the northwest corner of my creative space. The room is plastered with my biggest creative influences. David is accompanied by Paul Westerberg and various Mats and looks across the room at Joe Strummer and all the individual members of The Clash.
Rest easy, Doll.
“Don’t forget you’re alive. ‘Cause sometimes when you walk around the city and you’re in a bad mood, you can think, hey, wait a minute, we’re alive! We don’t know what the next second will bring and what a fantastic thing this is. This can get easily forgotten in the routine of life, and that’s something I’m trying to bring to my attention at all times. Don’t forget you’re alive. We’re not dead, you know. This is the greatest thing.”
-Joe Strummer
The Catastrophe recorded and released our first EP 20 years ago this month. The first long player was right behind (can’t remember the exact date on that one)! Also, London found double-digits today! These Catastrophe albums are streaming on Spitify, Appalled Muzik, Amazonian, or wherever you get your cheap music! Go find ‘em!
