Clerkenwell Festival 2022

Clerkenwell Festival 28 08 22  - Jim Jones All Stars rock the Casbah

Why do we – those born in the 50s and 60s – love the 70s so much? Yes, it was the best of our time, our prime, when we were young and brash and had the easy targets of older hippys to take the piss out of. But its more than that, the 70s were the last decade when the music scene had new lands to discover, led by a bona fide genius like David Bowie. (OK, Apart from the 80s ).Walking into Spa Field on Sunday was to feel the vibe of 1976 again. The smell of patchouli took me back to Camden , or Kensington Market, the HQ of bohemia in the days of change. In 1977/78 you could pick up NME or Time Out and stare in wonder at the gigs section. There was a choice of new  exciting punk and new wave acts playing every night. All you had to do was decide which to go to and find a couple of quid to get in. Most people were under age, so what?

Once you got there, you would have fun. There was a great feeling of liberation, everyone was there to enjoy the music and beer. The skinheads were around, but it didn’t get really nasty for a while, at least until The Jam split up and the boot boys took over the asylum (aka the Rainbow). The posing didn’t get serious until the eighties, which is what this terrific little festival reminded me of. The bands were surprisingly good, ending with the Jim Jones All Stars. I was amazed when their cover of the Velvets Run Run Run pricked a memory so buried in my back brain, I thought it was by the Byrds. Looking round, everyone was in their 50s or 60s at least, but no-one gave a shit. It was the same people, liking the same music, talking to the same people they had done 40 years ago. When Jim Jones’ admirable second song was Human Fly, first single released by ultra eighties act The Cramps, it felt like 1981 was yesterday. The Large Plants had already performed an enjoyable set of rocking tunes the like I haven’t enjoyed foe decades. Nostalgia is overated, its not as good as it used to be.

The best thing about the event, apart from the weather, good sound, stalls and food and beverages with no queues, meeting and seeing those you had presumed lost, and being free to enter,  the best thing was I wasn’t the oldest person there. To quote the kings of the early 70s Steely Dan, Do It Again !