Brewed Beverage of Choice: A Pint of Anchor Liberty Ale
I know. I know. It took you long enough, confucian brewer, to get to this point. And all I have to say to that is, “It was worth the wait!” To be honest, I was so young at this show that I vaguely remember details. I know the stage had a bunch of televisions on it. I know the band played the songs, Rock The Casbah, London Calling, and Should I Stay or Should I Go. I know I got goosebumps when I walked into the then MECCA Auditorium, where years later I would graduate from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. To be honest I do remember a lot about the night.
Much like the 5th concert, my brother took me to this show, and I do not think I could ever thank him enough for it. By my recollection it was my first concert ever and I was still in grade school at St. Thomas Aquinas. This last fact is the main reason I remember this concert and why it stands as one of the best concerts I will ever go to. That is besides the fact that Joe Strummer and The Clash were all-out fecking fabulous!
Back then the thing to do was to buy a tour shirt to show off. Not only buy it but wear it the next day in school! I eyed up a bunch of them and decided on one. I thought it was the best shirt and, man, my friends are going to be jealous when I walk into class wearing it. But when we got to our seats, my brother said, “Are you sure you want that shirt?”
“Of course,” I replied. “Why? What is wrong with it?” I looked it over. It looked awesome. It was the perfect shirt to flaunt that I went to see The Clash…In Milwaukee…On a school night. My brother looked at me and said, “They’re not going to let you wear that at school.” What was my brother thinking? Of course they are. It is just a concert shirt and our catholic school did not have any dress code aside from the no jeans policy.
“It is just that it says ‘Go Straight To Hell’ on it. They won’t let you wear that at St. Thomas.” And with that, my bubble was burst. He was right. I was not going to get into school, into a catholic school, with a shirt with ‘Go Straight To Hell’ emblazoned on it. Thwarted by satan himself. Excellent move, Mr. Beelzebub! Good show, sir.
But what was I going to do. I wanted to wear my Clash shirt to school the next day. I had to! I told everyone I was going. So my brother being the loving, caring brother he was…He knew you had to wear your badge the next day…took me back to the T-shirt vendor. I explained to him my predicament and asked if I could exchange my unfortunate purchase for a different one. The nice man, probably going against the rules, let me exchange it for one with no swearing on it. With that, we went back to our seats and waited as The Clash took the stage. By the end of the night, my throat was raw. But I did not care because I was going to show up at school the next day with my pride and joy…my bragging rights.
My brother has taken me to some of my best concerts. When you are in the eighth grade, your older brother usually pesters you and would rather you not follow him anywhere, especially to a show like The Clash. Thankfully mine was a bit more gracious. Oh, he pestered me, picked on me, made me cry. But I can forgive him because I got to see…That’s right…The Clash! I went to school the next day a proud man. I cannot remember if it really had the affect on the lads I thought it would. To tell you the truth, who cares. That shirt lasted me a long time. And I still have the memory. So here is to all our first concerts! To all our best concerts ever!
Cheers!
the confucian, Clash Lovin’ brewer