Album Review: Live At Shea Stadium [Live] by The Clash

In Clash lore, the band's stint as the opening act for the Who's farewell tour in 1982 is where the band had stardom in its hand and dropped it on the floor. That's how Joe Strummer phrased it in retrospect, but in 1982 the pairing was seen as a rock cultural clash, with the Who's audience bristling at the punks, and the punks not quite being comfortable operating on a larger scale -- a suspicion somewhat proven by the band's implosion within months of the Shea Stadium gig. Given all the stories about how poorly received this tour with the Who was -- that the Clash were routinely greeted by boos as they hopped from stadium to stadium across the U.S.

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Conventional wisdom tells us the Clash had jumped the shark by the time they played Shea in 1982. That October night, the UK punk foursome endured rain and a classic rock crowd eager to see the Who – headlining and claiming the tour to be their last – not to mention personnel conflicts (guitarist Mick Jones quit within months). Happily, the late Joe Strummer never had much use for conventions.

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