The Mescaleros' first gig was on 5 June 1999 at
the Leadmill in Antony Genn's hometown of Sheffield. They toured extensively for the next six months in the US and Europe, appearing as well at the
Glastonbury Festival. In 2000 the band played
Big Day Out in Australia and New Zealand, as well as touring Japan. The band signed with the
Californian punk label
Hellcat Records, and issued three albums. Following the release of the first,
Rock Art and the X-Ray Style, they toured England and North America; sets included several
Clash-fan favourites. Singer-songwriter
Tymon Dogg, a longtime friend of Joe Strummer, joined the band in 2000 playing violin and
Spanish guitar. He contributed some of the tunes on
Global a Go-Go, including "Mondo Bongo". Honorary Mescaleros include John Blackburn and
Jimmy Hogarth, both of whom played bass in place of Scott Shields on the 2000 tour supporting
the Who, which was also
Tymon Dogg's first tour with the band. Andy Boo, Strummer's
guitar tech, also appeared in the Mescaleros line up in place of Pablo Cook on percussion at a gig in Finland 1999. Following the departure of Genn and Smiley, Scott Shields moved to guitar,
Simon Stafford was brought on board to play bass, and Luke Bullen was recruited to play drums. Pablo Cook left in August 2001 to join
Moby. Following the release of
Global a Go-Go, Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros mounted a 21-date tour of North America, Britain, and Ireland. Once again, these concerts featured Clash material ("
London Calling", "Rudie Can't Fail"), as well as classic covers of
reggae hits ("
The Harder They Come", "
A Message to You, Rudy") and regularly closed the show with a nod to
Joey Ramone by playing
the Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop". Musically, the Mescaleros continued the genre mixing that Strummer was known for during his time with
the Clash. Elements of
reggae,
jazz,
funk,
hip hop,
country, and of course
punk rock can be found in the three Mescaleros releases. showing never before published pictures of Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, and a 26-minute film by Gregg McDonald and Alan Miles, were released as a unique visual record of that last London concert by Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros. Following the conclusion of this tour, the band headed straight for the studio, but Strummer died of a congenital heart defect on 22 December 2002 after returning home from walking his dogs. The band's final album
Streetcore was released, after Strummer's death, on 20 October 2003. The band also made appearances on the
Late Show with David Letterman, ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', as well as touring on the Hootenany Festival in the summer of 2001. Various Mescaleros members have performed at numerous tribute concerts in both UK and Europe. Pablo Cook and Smiley together with
Mike Peters (
the Alarm),
Derek Forbes (
Simple Minds), Steve Harris (
Gary Numan) are members of Los Mondo Bongo, a celebration of the music of Joe Strummer, who together with
Ray Gange (DJ) tour whenever possible, performing Mescaleros tunes. Antony Genn currently fronts
the Hours, a band that he and Martin Slattery formed in 2004. In an October 2013 interview with
BBC 6 Music, Mick Jones confirmed that in the months prior to Strummer's death, the two were writing new music together. At the time, Jones assumed the new songs would be on an upcoming Mescaleros album. But months later he ran into Strummer at an event, and Strummer informed him that the music was intended for a new Clash album. ==Members==