Back to the earth (as quick as you can)
Well this should be interesting if nothing else! Mick Jones of The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite teaming up with Tony James of Generation X and Sigue Sigue Sputnik in the recently formed Carbon/Silicon. There are a lot of people down at the main stage for this one as you’d expect and it only remains to be seen whether two of the godfathers of punk can come close to matching their former glories.
The answer becomes apparent very early on and is a resounding no. One of the comics in the comedy tent made the observation ‘Guilfest, where old rock stars come to die’ and Carbon/Silicon are a case in point. Everyone wants them to be great, we want to be able to say that they still have it and can show these young whippersnappers a thing or two but quite frankly all they manage to do is to embarrass anyone who told their mates to come down and check them out. The tunes are somewhere between generic pub rock and mid-paced average 77 punk and just plod along without any purpose. The vocals from Jones are weak and whiney and for guys that played in bands with real grit and energy this is distinctly lame by comparison and completely lacking any kind of edge whatsoever.
The lyrics are predictable and unoriginal, it’s social commentary but delivered with no passion. Songs like ‘Oil Well’ are just awful mediocre pub rock addressing subjects that have been covered a 1000 times or more already (and far far better). Drummer Dominic Greensmith (formerly of Reef) must have thought it a dream come true when he got this gig but how quickly a dream can become a nightmare! Carbon/Silicon are easily the biggest disappointment of the weekend and not surprisingly they get a muted reaction from an equally unenthused audience.