Five Alive

All tracks recorded live on the 17th February, 1984, in Stockholm, Sweden. The venue was the Isstadion.

Track listing

CD1:

London Calling
Safe European Home
Know Your Rights
Are You Ready For War
Rock The Casbah
Sex Mad War
Clampdown
The Guns Of Brixton
Dictator
Complete Control
(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais
This Is England

CD2:

Police & Thieves
Three Card Trick
Garageland
Radio Clash
Janie Jones
I Fought The Law
Glue Zombie
Tommy Gun
We Are The Clash
Brand New Cadillac
Armagideon Time
I'm So Bored With The U.S.A.
English Civil War
White Riot

Review

Like Patriots Of The Wasteland this is an excellent post Mick Jones Clash show. The band are on form, with a very professional performance, full of energy. The drumming, guitar playing and Paul's bass are all those of a cohesive musical unit. Each song is excellent in its own right, and the different arrangements we see in the post Mick lineup work very well. As for sound quality on this CD, it is very good. Not quite as good as Patriots', but still good. Just a touch of distotrion in the low end, with the bass at times, though the bass is more than present which is welcome. These two CDs are sourced from the double vinyl 'Five Alive' and a bit of crackle is audible. Overall it's a bit muffled, but only very slightly, and it doesn't stop this being a very enjoyable double CD set.

Kosmo starts the show with a variant of his famous introduction ..."Hip-hoppers, punk-rockers, young ladies, show-stoppers, pill-poppers...", and then it's into London Calling, which is a great performance. Before the end of the song Joe gets frantic... "back! back! back!" telling the guys in red to make it clear if they are getting crushed. It wouldn't be a Clash gig without such troubles in the audience, whether it be from bouncers or not. Anyway, Safe European Home then starts, and it's another superb performance. After Know Your Rights Joe introduces the new members of the group, then asks the question "Are you ready for war!?" before a great version of this classic song. Then comes my favourite track on this album, Rock The Casbah. Just before it starts, Joe says "I feel like rockin' the Casbah!" and it's performed brilliantly, with the extra guitar working very well and excellent drumming. He alters the words, mentioning Stockholm Stadium to applause from the audience. Following that, another excellent rendition of the new song Sex Mad War. It is performed superbly here, and the different lyrics to Sex Mad Roar are especially noticeable.

"In England we have the most fascist police force, even more fascist than yours. Hard to believe innit? This is entitled, they can kill us, they can shoot us..."

And with that, the new opener to Guns Of Brixton starts: the harmonica then some very effective guitar wizadry. Then of course, another superb rendition of this Clash classic.

"Clash believe in freedom! Freedom! Even in Central America!"

And then it's a blasting performance of Dictator, simply amazing, and also very funky. After Complete Control, Joe asks "Anybody heard of (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais?..." to which there is a cheer and the song begins. Again, a good performance of this classic by the new lineup. They seem to have no trouble in mastering the older material as well as dishing out some excellent new tunes. Speaking of which, This Is England comes next, and is announced by Joe "This Is England" very matter-of-factly, and you almost think he is going to say Radio Clash instead of England. A very moving song, and this version has a good rythm to it, though Joe's vocals seem a bit strange, sort of over-emphasized. Also, some proper guitar playing really adds to the effect of this song, unlike on the album version which does not feature Vince or Nick's guitar skills. It's funky sounding and the mini guitar solos between verses are great. The song live is excellent, and as with all Cut The Crap tracks, far superior in all aspects to their studio counterparts.

CD 1 of this show fades off quite nicely (no instant cut off) as Police & Thieves is starting, and CD 2 starts with the announcement of the song again. It is performed well, particularly the guitars again being excellent. Three Card Trick - "You won't fall for that!" - is great, certainly lots of energy present. Radio Clash is announced about three times by Joe, and once again the extra guitar works well. There's good effects on this song, and the lyrics are also a bit different.

"Those of you who've been with us a long time will know it's time to dance when I say 'I'm in love with the Janie Jones!'"

A fast and frantic performance of this popular early Clash number. Glue Zombie is also a good version, though I prefer the version on 'Patriots which is a bit faster. Joe once again shows his admirable anti-drugs slant by saying "Drugs are crap!" just before the song, and I have to say, I do agree with him. Tommy Gun is a good version, and there is an interesting warbling vocal from Joe during it.

"There might be two or three or four Clashes... I don't care, let there be 500. As long as there's one real one!"

Joe's announcer to We Are The Clash is probably having a go at the rumours that Mick Jones was going to call his group with Topper Headon Clash as well. This is a very rocking rendition, as expected. Lyrics and musically it is so much better than the studio version, same goes for all the other Cut The Crap tracks really, though I am fond of the studio Three Card Trick over the live versions.

Armagideon Time sees Joe raising more cheers from the crowd with him singing "Alotta people down Stockholm tonight..." and it's a good performance of this song, which has more or less become associated with the Clash, even though they didn't write it. There's a good opening to I'm So Bored With The U.S.A., and to end, what else but a blistering White Riot.

"I'll see you again some time Jimmy!"

A great double CD set, and well recommended especially for great live versions of the Cut The Crap tracks.

Rated: 9 / 10

Extra

Also known as the 'Out Of Control' bootleg.

Thanks to Peter Johansson for the copy of this.