A special Joe Strummer memorial edition of "Retro Rocks" tonight at the Retro Bar features live performances from The No Tomorrows, Shunty Hawkins, Alice Offley, Carlina Walton, James Simmins, Anke Landeau as Marlene Dietrich & Micky P, as well as a special one-off DJ mash-up from the Rotten Hill Gang.
Starting at 7.30 pm, this fast-growing night is held at the Retro Bar, which is either across the park from The Cobden Club or around the corner from the Lisboa, depending on which way you look at it...
The address is 50 Bosworth Rd (junction of Appleford Rd)
Joe Strummer lived in and around the local area during his meteoric rise to fame and was often to be seen hanging out in the Portobello area when visiting London from his home in Somerset subsequent untimely death. I personally spent several hours jamming with him around a campfire and smoking weed at Glastonbury one year in the early/mid 90's, something that we both found preferable to schlepping around the site that day... due to arrogance and laziness I failed to take up further invites to form a band with him, a churlish decision that I will always fondly regret. Strummerville, The Joe Strummer Foundation, still hosts campfire jams at Glastonbury every year and I fully intend to check that out next time I find myself there... Joe was a internationally recognised superstar who post-Clash subsequently either shunned, or was happy not to chase fame. He was a man of principle, a benign influence who is sorely missed in the fame and greed-obsessed society of the moment. RIP Joe Strummer, we shall raise a glass to your memory tonight!
