As a kickoff for the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, the organizers of this series couldn’t have picked a better band to pay tribute to. Held on Friday night at Castaways, “A Tribute to The Clash” was not completely successful in the music department — as some of the bands’ interpretations lacked either substance or the necessary intensity — but more often than not, the tunes were more than satisfactory and a general good vibe never waned.

Though purely a matter of personal taste, the seminal punk-rock/reggae band The Clash was undoubtedly one of the most important musical and artistic personalities of the 20th century. The band was also equally important in helping to bridge the gap between the hardscrabble punk scene and the less mainstream (at that point) hip-hop/funk culture relegated to underground music clubs.

Even more than The Clash’s contemporaries, such as The Sex Pistols and The Ramones, the band was blatant in its liberal political leanings and its commitment to progressive viewpoints. This meant more than being anti-authoritarian; it meant being so completely and utterly against injustice in this world that the mere sight of a riot baton would induce a person to vomiting. Thankfully, most of the bands managed to capture the delicate mixture of outrage, sarcasm and sincerity that made The Clash such a force to be reckoned with.

The vibe at Castaways made it a perfect venue for a show like this. Around 9 p.m., floods of eager music lovers came pouring in, and the intimacy of the floor was set almost immediately. The closeness of the stage and the pervasive hangdog air of the bar provided the perfect atmosphere to enjoy some old-school Clash songs.

After some initial spinning by the two-man DJ group No Radio, which added a few modern touches to some old Clash records, the first band came onstage. The order of the lineup gave audience members the feeling that the producers of the show knew not to start with the best acts. The first act, The Role Models, was, frankly, amateurish and upsettingly atonal. Its butchering of “Clash City Rockers” was the low point of the evening, with the lead singer screaming into the microphone as if the performance was drunken karaoke. The Role Models, with its garage-band antics and badly mixed bass slapping, takes a melodic hymn to a bygone era and turns it into sub-Sum 41. Bands always take some artistic license when they do covers, but this was enough to nearly send the audience out the back, beers in hand. There was polite applause at the end, but it was not the most auspicious start.

The next act was better, though still a little misguided. Billed as Emily Arin and Friends, this group was made up of a violin, upright bass and guitar — an interesting, if low-key, approach to such fan favorites as “Rock the Casbah” and “Should I Stay or Should I Go.” It was off-putting at first, but fidelity to source material is overrated, especially in a discography as rich as The Clash’s. Compared to the first act, this group was as unified and pleasant to listen to as The Beatles.

Other groups included Not From Wisconsin, Hee Haw Nightmare, Thousands of One, The Glue Zombies and NNNNNNNNNNN, but the real standout and clear audience favorite was Hubcap, who blew the lid off the joint with its amazingly powerful renditions of “Straight to Hell” and the perennial “London Calling.” The bar visibly shook with its booming bass lines, and its distinct yet faithful renditions allowed it to curry audience favor in a way Joe Strummer and his bandmates would have approved of. The crowd went ballistic, some even calling for an encore.

If the rest of FLEFF is this much fun, Ithaca is in for good times. Despite some of the more underwhelming performances from some of the initial bands, “A Tribute to The Clash” was a successful kickoff to a worthwhile endeavor.

 
FLEFF events continue through April 5. For a schedule of events, go to www.ithaca.edu/fleff.