Every once in a great while a piece of your past might come to light in an unpredictable, surprising, and occasionally glorious fashion. That happened to me a couple weeks ago. My ol’ pal Larry Lava messaged me that a video of my band CLASHBACK had been unearthed, and could I help identify the venue and date?

CLASHBACK was our All-CLASH covers band from 2000-2006, and occasionally after that. We were never a tribute band. We never dressed like The Clash, I could never pass for Joe Strummer (in appearance, musicianship, or coolness), and we weren’t historic purists when it came to playing their songs. We called ourselves “a Midwestern bar band playing Clash songs.”

There’s a tribute band on every corner now, and some corners have two. There are tribute bands to bands I’ve never even heard of. I’ve joked that pretty soon there will be tribute bands to tribute bands. “Hey! We’re Mr. Brownstone! A tribute to Appetite for Destruction: A tribute to Guns `N` Roses!”

If tribute bands are your bag and you’re having fun, go get `em tiger! I have to admit, there’s something cool to playing to a sold-out club with every last person raising their PBR in the air and singing every word to every song with you at the top of their lungs. I just prefer to take my lumps on the dive-bar circuit singing to the seven people in the crowd that know MY songs and the other 14 there that I hope to convert. Still, Clashback was a blast and we may even do it again some day.

Anyhow… so Lava sends me this newly discovered video of CLASHBACK playing at the Elbow Room in Ypsilanti, Michigan in February, 2001. There was some deep debate on the venue and date, but a few detective friends and I eventually landed on Ypsi, no question. We were opening for alt-country pals Corndaddy, a bit of an odd bill, but that’s how things rolled at The Elbow Room.

Corndaddy with Clashback Poster
The Elbow Room, Ypsilanti MI
February 9, 2001

It was our 5th gig, and we were still finding our footing a bit, original drummer Jimmy Jazz (Ayala) leading the way with his Topper Headon-meets-Keith Moon drumming and spot-on Mick Jones backup vocals. The video…is what it is. A document of the time. Looks ok on a mobile device, sounds better on a computer. I don’t think it’s the entire set, but who knows what else might have been played. Those were some crazy nights at the Elbow Room.

Either way, I’m glad it’s out there. Enjoy!

Without further ado….

Clashback – Elbow Room – Ypsilanti, Michigan – February 9th, 2001
Recorded by Jessica Laura, restored by Larry Lava

Hardeaux – Bass, back-up vocals
Jimmy Jazz – Drums, back-up vocals
C9 – Guitar, back-up vocals
Jer – Guitar, vocals

Jeremy Porter lives near Detroit, fronts the rock and roll band Jeremy Porter And The Tucos, and plays acoustic shows all over the place. Follow them on Facebook to read his road blog about their adventures on the dive-bar circuit.
www.thetucos.com
www.facebook.com/jeremyportermusic
www.rockandrollrestrooms.com
Twitter: @jeremyportermi | Instagram: @onetogive & @jeremyportermusic

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