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I’m still reeling from the weekend. I have finally seen Paul Simonon play bass. And then some. Let me explain.

I caught the opening night of the The Good, The Bad & The Queen tour at the Trinity in Bristol on Saturday night (you can learn more about the band in my earlier post if you missed it.)

An amazing performance. The unique sound - a sort of spacey, dubby musichall English whimsey - makes much more sense live than it does on record. Damon, looking for all the world like the artful dodger is actually quite charming, but it’s Paul that everyone was there to see, with his bass guitar slung below the bollocks, skanking, knee-dropping and strafing the audience with stomach-shaking dub. Effortlessly cool.

And then the “I was there” moment I can bore my grandchildren with. The final encore saw the band re-shuffle to quickly put Paul on guitar centre stage, and have him launch into Guns Of Brixton - Paul’s monument on London Calling - and the first time he’s played it in about 20 years. Ohmyfuckinggod.

(Sorry about the rubbish quality - I was trying to skank, shout and pinch myself all at the same time)

I have been piecing together all the seperate live experiences i’ve had - Mick in Big Audio Dynamite, the sorely-missed Joe in the Mescaleros and now Paul in TGTBATQ, the jigsaw is complete and I can just about visualise what seeing the Clash must have been like, and I tell you, it melts my spine. You can get your own coat. I’m staying put.

“A one, two … a one-two-free-four …”