London Calling: International Clash Day 2019 is Coming Soon

The seventh annual celebration of all things Clash heads to the UK to honor the 40th anniversary of “London Calling.”
London Calling: International Clash Day 2019 is Coming Soon

The seventh annual celebration of all things Clash heads to the UK to honor the 40th anniversary of “London Calling.”

Words: Scott T. Sterling

photo by Bob Gruen

January 10, 2019

The Clash is forever.

The legendary and pioneering outfit eternally exists at the vanguard of the original punk explosion, evolving from raucous three-chord rock to an expansive and sprawling sound that incorporates a wide array of influences, from reggae to Motown, rockabilly and beyond.

February 7, 2019, will mark the seventh annual International Clash Day, an initiative spearheaded by Seattle-based nonprofit broadcaster KEXP. This year, the station will travel to London for a four-day live broadcast and online event featuring live performances, exclusive interviews, and a specific focus on the music and messages found in The Clash’s landmark 1979 album, London Calling.

“Traveling to London to celebrate the 40th anniversary of one of the most important records in music history is a dream come true,” explained KEXP Director of Programming, On-Air and Morning Show host John Richards via press release.London Calling is one of my personal favorite records and one of my main inspirations when I came up with International Clash Day. It is also one of the most seminal and important records ever made and a defining moment for The Clash.”

The history of International Clash Day dates back to 2013, when Richards dedicated an entire radio show to the music of The Clash. That initial spark would grow over the years, with other stations getting involved in celebrating the band. By 2018, the day was celebrated by over one hundred radio stations on all seven continents, along with dozens of events and official city proclamations all around the world.

In 2019, the London broadcast and live video stream will take place February 4th-7th, live from Studio 9294 in London’s Hackney Wick neighborhood. It will feature live performances from UK-based and international artists, and each act will perform their set for live broadcast on KEXP 90.3 FM in Seattle, online at KEXP.org, and streaming live on KEXP’s YouTube channel.

“London has an incredibly diverse and vibrant music scene and we’re excited to present a line-up of new and emerging bands celebrating that diversity and carrying forward the Clash’s spirit and message of inclusion, multiculturalism, pro-immigration, anti-hate, anti-racism, and anti-fascism,” explained KEXP’s Kevin Cole.

Cole continues, “It’s a message we need to embrace and we’re excited to do so with IDLES, Ibibio Sound Machine, Ghostpoet, and more, including Soviet Soviet, an Italian band who, on the eve of a scheduled KEXP performance in Seattle, were denied entry to the U.S., jailed, and then deported. We’re thrilled to finally share a live performance from them with KEXP listeners worldwide.”

Also on the docket: Piroshka, the brand new band featuring former Lush front woman, Miki Beryenyi, along with ex-members of such shoe gaze favorites as Moose, Ride, and Elastica.

“The first album I got into ‘live’ – as in, when it was released and not retrospectively – was Combat Rock. Great record,” Berenyi recalled recently. “I was always a bit quiet about The Clash because they were one of those bands that blokes would get very competitive over and start firing questions at you, testing your knowledge and commitment.”

Find more information about the live performances and programming here. FL