The Clash Live - Pritchard Gymnasium, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, Long Island NY - Thursday 26th April 1984

Out of Control Tour '84 - Supported by Paleface

updated 2 Sept 2016 with better audio information
Overhaul May 2020
updated August 2022 added article

No known audio or video

If you know of any recording, please email blackmarketclash

Posters

Lots of these blank posters knocking about so can never be sure what is original and what is not?

Ticket

Sponsored by WBAB 102.7FM, wonder if there is a radio interview?

Pritchard Gymnasium, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, Long Island NY

The Pritchard Gymnasium served as the original home for Stony Brook men's basketball from 1967 to 1990, until the Stony Brook Arena was opened in 1990.

The Gymnasium underwent a $1.2 million renovation in the summer of 2008 and reopened in time for the 2009 Stony Brook women's volleyball season.

The Gymnasium has been the home for several concerts, including Phish,
The Notorious B.I.G., Primus, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Clash, and U2.

Comment

Julie: "I attended the 1984 Clash show at Stony Brook University. I remember being thrilled that I would be able to see them in such a small venue. I also remember going to buy tickets and the gathering crowd was very excited to be able to go see The Clash show.

The night of the show, the crowd was loud and rowdy. At the time, this college had the reputation of being a liberal hotbed and being very open minded. Unfortunately most of this "liberal" crowd expected Mick Jones and The Clash from Combat Rock and so they were a little let down.

Despite all this it was a rocking show as the guitars were cranked up. I can't recall the setlist but they played a wide selection of songs.

My friends who were not Clash fans thought that they put on a good show. Joe looked very cool in his mohawk and was quite the showman.

Comment

Ed: Hi, great site. I attended the first Pier 84 show, and both the Hofstra University and Stony Brook shows.

Just thought I'd mention this: Vince White's recollection is incorrect, the Clash played a full set, not two or three songs.

Somemay have expected Mick Jones. That may be so, but we knew there were two new guys replacing Mick (we even knew this before the Hofstra University show, roughly two weeks before).

The 2nd Clash were excellent.

I was crushed when that Jose Unidos record came out, it was beyond disappointing. Anyway I hope to write some recollections for you of the shows soon, as they were all amazing in their own way. Thanks, Ed Fingerling"

The opening band for both the SUNY Stony Brook and Hofstra University shows was a great band called Paleface (not to be confused with the more recent singer/songwriter Paleface).I believe they were from NYC. They had really great songs, I can recall some of them to this day, and did a cover of Elvis Presley's "You're So Square."

We saw them again at a club on Long Island, then they disappeared. Anyway the Clash were great. In hindsight the Clash Mark II gets slammed, but at the time it was really fresh and new, back-to-basics high-energy Clash. --

Comment

vegangel - I saw the Clash that night, and it was at SUNY Stony Brook

Joe Spaventa Saw them at Stony Brook university

A Clash with new authority

Newsday Suffolk Edition Mon Apr 16 1984

CONCERT SERIES: The Clash

ELAINE VUONG
APRIL 11, 2012

Date of the show: April 26, 1984

Before London had called for them, The Clash had Long Island calling. The English punk-rock band, which spearheaded the punk rock movement when it first came out in the 1970s, performed at Stony Brook University in the 1980s fresh off a shift in band line-up.

The original members—singer/guitarist Joe Strummer and bassist Paul Simonon—were there to herald the new members in—guitarist Nick Sheppard, drummer Pete Howard and guitarist Vince White. The April 26, 1984 show was opened by New York City band Paleface in the school gym.

“They had the music, goods, attitude and swagger. They were the real deal,” said Norman Prusslin, Director for Media Arts and Interdisciplinary Arts Minors/Living Learning Centers and former director of campus radio station WUSB. “I didn’t attend the concert, but when The Clash first came out, we were playing them on our station in the ’70s. We were into non-commercial music—stuff that not everybody played.”

He also added a fun fact: Sandy Pearlman, a Stony Brook alumni from the late 1960s, produced The Clash’s first American album and second studio album, “Give ‘Em Enough Rope,” in 1978. The band is mostly known for their fusion of rock, ska and reggae coiled with a message of social unrest in England.

In a 1984 article by Howard Breuer for The Statesman, the event was “good…considering” an electrical malfunction that blew off the band’s power for about 15 minutes and brawls by the stage.

Photos

STATESMAN ARCHIVES: The Clash, April 1984, Corey Van der Linde