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Period piece from Jeff and his Afro...
This DVD, Roots Rock Rebel - a tribute to Joe Strummer, survives due to a few great performances but, in general, mainly to the strength of most of the Clash's songs covered here.
It is fortunate that such songs, at base, require someone only to shout the lyrics, with enough aggression and heart, and they sound great. And as most of the performances were in the spirit of Joe it seemed to make for a good night.
Some of the highlights from the often odd mix of bands were the amusingly named Howlin' Pelle covering Rock the Casbah, Ebbe Gron and Mick Jones sharing Career Opportunities, and the dodgy shirted, coiffed and moustachioed Johan Johansson, belying his appearance and doing a rollicking version of Cheat.
There were however some weaker covers; Bankrobber and 48 Hours were notably nowhere near the originals. Also, slightly more disturbing, was that some of the performers didn't seem to be in the spirit of Joe Strummer.
Unless I misunderstood, it was quite disturbing to see someone named Sigge Hill (pronounced in Swedish - Seig Heil!) doing a version of White Riot. I hope I misunderstood.
Other minus points are that there are no English subtitles (the singers often do intros), the sound is often poor, and Mick Jones was wearing a suit!
Such a DVD also begs the question - why have British Bands never done something like this?
***
Review by Steven lenton
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