Smiley: "Canada was the obvious choice. We all love the country and the people."

It's been 10 years since Smiley and Pablo Cook first played with Strummer in The Mescaleros, and the duo, according to Smiley, "have done a few guest appearances together at various Strummer events, and after the last, slightly drunken event, we discussed the possibility of putting a line up together to celebrate Joe's music."

Named after the Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros song Mondo Bongo, the Los Mondo Bongo lineup, featuring former members of Simple Minds and The Alarm, is, at first glance, a seemingly unlikely one, but, as Smiley explains, not an incongruous one: "I had always been a fan of Derek Forbes from his time with Simple Minds, and I got to play with him with Spear Of Destiny and 4Goodmen. He mentioned the influence The Clash had on the early days of Simple Minds and so he was an obvious choice. I play with Steve Harris in Archive. He is an amazing player and extremely flexible and again was heavily influenced by The Clash and was with Gary Numan for many years. He suits the set we have lined up. And Mike Peters was always my first choice. When I saw him with The Alarm he had so many similarities to Joe - passion, energy - he was the perfect choice. I was chuffed when he said yes."

The shows in Canada follow five in the U.K., and if Smiley's enthusiasm is any indication, this should be the show of the winter: "Canada was the obvious choice. We all love the country and the people. I was writing the set last night and I must say I was getting quite excited. I just can't wait to get out and play the songs."

Los Mondo Bongo
@ Zaphod Beeblebrox
March 13




 
 

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