‘Justice Tonight’ With Mick Jones

The Justice Tonight tour has gathered together an immensely talented array of musicians to support the Hillsborough Justice Campaign over a six date tour, raising money for the families of the 96 people killed in the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield in 1989.

With stories of James Dean Bradfield in Cardiff, and the Stone Roses in Manchester, expectations were high for the London show at Kings Cross’s Scala. Not least because London is the hometown of the guy who’s headlining the tour – former Clash member Mick Jones.

I’ve been a Clash fan since the age of four, when first hearing Should I Stay or Should I Go. Seeing Mick Jones play The Clash songs would be the closest experience I’d ever have to seeing the band live. As a result, I turned up to this gig like a giddy child, having bored friends and colleagues over the previous few weeks with anecdotes and stories of the band.

Dreams of an authentic Clash gig got off to a good start when I saw the crowd. I  thought that 90 per cent of the people in the room were hardened punks from back in the day – mainly I knew that I did not want to upset any of them. The place was rife for action as some relatively unknown bands started off the night including Savage Nomads and the Rotting Hill Gang featuring Hollie Cook, the Sex Pistol Paul Cook’s daughter, and Lauren Jones, Mick’s daughter.

The main event started soon enough, with early Nineties Madchester band The Farm taking to the stage. Luckily it only took two tracks before they brought Mick Jones himself to the stage, where he remained for the rest of the night. Seeing Jones live is a little like watching your dad play guitar. He clearly feels he’s no longer relevant to the music scene but just loves performing. You can tell this from the great big smile that never leaves his face, as well as some deft shimmying. It all added to my estimation of the man.

After playing through some more Farm tunes and a Pete Wiley set, it was time for the moment the whole place was waiting for. Kicking off with Train in Vain, from then on the night was something really special as the hits rolled out, passing the pleasure of performing with The Clash great between the frequent guest stars populating the stage. Guest appearances from the likes of Hard-Fi’s Richard Archer providing vocals for Clampdown, as well as Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie and co who performed crowd-pleaser Rocks Off, added to the magic.

But the best moment of all was when Jones’s former bandmate Paul Simmonon took to the stage. Taking the vocals for Guns of Brixton, seeing these two bandmates share the stage again was something most people in the room couldn’t have expected ever to see. After a rousing reprise of The Farm’s All Together Now and Big Audio Dynamite’s Rush the night drew to a close with chants of ‘Justice for the 96’ to the tune of The Farm’s classic, bringing a taste of the football stadium to The Scala.

It’s pretty surreal to see such a huge number of well known musicians on stage at the same time (unless you’re seeing The Polyphonic Spree, of course), but when they’re playing songs you never thought you’d see live, it ends up with a night you will never forget.

‘Justice Tonight’ took place on December 8 at:

The Scala
275 Pentonville Road
Kings Cross
N1 9NL

Tel: 020 7833 2022

Photo: PA