Occupying Sydney this weekend

With three killer events this weeked, consider your weekend planned.

 

First, Friday Night in Marrickville is Food and Toonz at Addison Rd Community Centre where we’ll be performing

 

Music will include Johnny G and the E Types and Quimbombo, the latin band. We’ll be on early so come and get dinner and party.

 

Second, Saturday 2:30pm the global tradition of occupying the commons as a protest has come to Martin Place under the banner of Occupy Sydney. They say

We seek an end to the corporate stronghold over all governments. We seek an authentic democracy that represents the 99% majority – us. We hold corporate entities responsible for their crimes against us and the Earth. We are inspired by and stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters striving for liberty in North Africa and the Middle East, Europe and more recently, the United States.

Here they are on Facebook. Also, if you are in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth or RAdelaide

Lastly, on Sunday TEDxMacquarie is on for the first time. We’ll be performing on all things radical using subversive bluegrass as our expressive medium in a 10minute lecture. The event is free from 10am-5pm with a live simulcast in Building Y3A. If you use the train to get there you’ll experience the wonder of three flights of esculators up to ground floor of the University.

Someone else who has played at TED. This is a video of Paul Kelly performing ‘How to Make Gravy’ at TED Sydney in June this year.

Yours,

W.H.

Protesting with Michael Jackson

When you think of Protest Songs you might think of John Lennon, Sam Cooke and Pete Seeger. But what about Michael Jackson, The White Stripes or Lady Gaga?

Not so conventional but when Riff Raff Radical Marching Band rock them out at protests around Sydney they get people singing and having a laugh.

Riff Raff say

we are a bunch of friends who got tired of boring protests and started a fabulous marching band in 2010!  We play at community events, coal ports, solidarity demonstrations, artyhipsterthings, fundraisers, and on the streetz!

These musical protestors follow in the tradition of marching bands from USA such as the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, Infernal Noise Brigade and Brass Liberation Orchestra. Here is Rude Mechanical Orchestra performing Smash-A Bank Polka performed at Occupy Wall Street!

If you are interested they are looking for sweet new members and supporters! Including people that can play trombone, trumpet, clarinet, sax, flute, euphonium/tuba, and any forms of percussion.

W.H.

Aussie bloc at the world’s biggest climate protest

Happy to report that the repair job with a bicycle repair kit and some sticky tape did the trick and one of our blow up roos survived to represent us Australian’s at the mass rally in Copenhagen yesterday. We started with just 4 of us but our songs quickly drew other Aussies like moths to a flame. In the end there we’re about 12 of us (though the Danes walking next to us said it sounded like double, due the the gusto of our singing). We even had a few honourary members – a New Zealander, and American who was married to an Australian. Some Danes also joined in and translated our cries of ‘Aussie Aussie Aussie, cut the coal!’ into Danish.

Overall the Australian contingent definately punched above our weight in noise and colour and passion in the rally. Let’s hope Penny Wong and the Australian negotiators decide to punch above their weight in the negotiations instead of sitting on their hands and trying to do as little as possible.

Here we are at the end of the march.  It’s about 4:30pm, and we’d been marching in the total dark for maybe 45mins.  It’s a strange cultural experience, having a mass rally in the dark.

Tonight: activism of  a musical nature as we play a gig with David Rovics and Anne Feeney at the Raahuset – one of the activist hubs around Copenhagen.

Message to K. Rudd

Thanks to Cate Faehrmann for the footage