Over the years I’ve
come in for a fair amount of stick from Crass fans for challenging
the band's stance and views.
Some of it has been full of hatred and at other times
reasoned and well thought out. Now some of my comments are deliberate
wind ups others are to deliberately question a band and followers
who appear to set themselves up as an authority that would prescribe
my freedoms. Accept no authority! Debate!!
In 2007 Crass the
band is now slowly moving into a mythology helped by the rose
tinted spectacles of drummer Penny Rimbaud casting the band as some
great political force, the true spirit of punk and supreme
innovators and energizers. While there’s a grain of truth
there it obviously does no harm to let the legend grow and
he’s really been the voice of Crass through his books,
writings and personal appearances. He also was against this
event.
Look I’m
not the biggest Anarcho punk adherent and some people were
surprised I went but I’m open to anything and willing to
give it a go. So I went as a punter to see what I could
learn and would I be moved to investigate more.
And so to the gig.
It’s a combination of the surreal as anarchy meets capitalism meets
rock’n’roll meets the year 2007 meets legend!!!
I can only take so
much anarchy so we arrive at a packed gig to find second to last Conflict had
started their set. The sound was dire initially but then picked up. I’ve got
to say I love Conflict more every time I see them. The passion and
violence with which they play just commands your attention. From
Colin on his knees or carrying the mike stand over his shoulders to
the bassist head butting his guitar. They are a bundle of energy
fizzing a round like a grenade ready to go off. Afterwards others
who have seen the band more say Conflict are doing nothing new. That maybe so but to my ears
I love the whole panzer style attack and I respect the obvious
feelings and beliefs they’ve got.
And so to my first
gripe of the evening. Here’s a band with a strong message but I
can’t understand one word of what they’re singing. I picked up anti
hunting and testing and this and that and they’ve got my attention
and I want to know more but there’s nothing. The screens behind them
remain blank when it could be filled with images of brutality,
vivisection – things to explain and reinforce the songs. The point
I’m saying preaching to the converted won’t get you anywhere. The
message is what’s important. We’ll come back to this later on.
Flux were the
equivalent on the next night. I have to say they sounded fairly
average. Virtually empty stage, minimal lighting, minimal movement.
Sorry that’s a terrible 2 line review but they left me fairly cold.
And so to Steve
Ignorant. No more scout halls, miniscule PA, 40w light bulbs and draped home made
banners and flags or fighting violent bouncers here. No police
brutality and Maggie Thatcher and nuclear missiles. The world
has moved on though not necessarily for the better where
extremists strap bombs to themselves to murder innocent people and a bloody war is fought for oil. As Ian PT commented this is anarcho
punk stadium style 2007. This is anarchy in Shepherds bush with
drinks at £3, t shirts at £15 (In 1981 Crass would not sell t shirts
but give out free stencils. In 2007 there's commemorative tshirts of the
event selling for £15, posters for a tenner and so on) and bouncers
who care helping people and keeping walkways free so people can move
freely and won’t get hurt. This can be confusing to punks who find
this concept of help baffling.
This is a band the
equivalent of top punk session people with Giz Butts, Steve Whale and Vom, of
Gibsons and Marshall stacks, a bank of effects pedals and 3 huge
screens to project images on. This is a full light show and every
member of the band in a matching black logoed polo top.
There’s more though. The pre set starts
with the screens filled of images of a person running
through countryside with a huge crass flag that sets the
pulses racing and you’re struck
just how much Crass unconsciously tap into the tried and
tested almost
fascistic/communist stage set of spectacle.
The projection
is a powerful image with its potent Crass symbol and it's
reinforced as the band take to the stage with harsh
white backlighting sending them into silhouette all dressed in
black. At times when the projection turns to the Crass logo
the shaven heads of Ignorant and Whale and the black
uniforms make it look uncomfortably like some neo Nazi gig.
Now I know you’re
thinking here we go with a bashing but please this far from it.
Crass understood the potency of symbols, slogans and a uniform look
and this has always translated well into a rock’n’roll environment
and at Shepherds Bush the stage looked fucking good and they looked
fucking good.
And lets face it
this was an evening of music. Crass have always been trapped in
their own myth and politics that in the end overshadowed a band that
made some absolutely fantastic music and songs. So what did we get?…
It was all of the Feeding of the 5000 plus extras and it was with an
updated sound. The scratchy guitar off the album was replaced with a chunky steamroller of a sound that out
steamrollered Conflict who went on before but always and critically
it was the voice of Steve Ignorant that shone out. He don’t move
very much but there’s a passion and ferocity projected in those
yobbish cockernee vocals that commands your attention.
Around him and Giz
and Steve created sonic and visual mayhem. Pogoing, guitars slung low
like the Ramones, leaps, splits and even guitar windmilling. I’m sure
these words are an anathema to some people who view the sacred
corpse of Crass as somehow being pissed on but it worked because
these people breathed life into the songs and attacked them with
such relish it really did become a celebration. People were having a
good time and smiling in a good natured dance.
I liked it all from
start to finish. If I had a highlight it was 'Shaved Women'. This has
and always will be in my top 10 of punk tunes and on Sat & Sunday
they did it proud with the woman they got in for the female vocals
and the crunchy metallic sound with a virtual dance groove they gave it. It was just breathtakingly
jaw droppingly excellent. The version of Bloody Revolutions
came a close second with the horn section as did Banned from the
Roxy… Songs like 'They've Gotta Bomb' were actually better
than the originals...oh fuck they were all good! Hell I even loved the disco ball
lights going on because I know it wound people up and it just helped to
subvert it a bit more the Crass myth.
At the end a
clearly moved Steve Ignorant came out and said “A lot of people
have criticized this gig taking place but I’ve done it for all the
right reasons. It’s a celebration of the music and what we tried to
do 30 years ago. We may have achieved fuck all but at least we stood
up and had a damn good go at it! I wrote these words but they belong
to you." before kicking off into 'Owe us a Living' with the crowd
singing the words.
What a great pair
of gigs... for me better than the Sex Pistols. I take away from it a subversion of the Crass myth. I take
away songs, people having a good time and laughing. I take away a
celebration like Steve said of time when people made an effort to at
least try and make a better world. I take way the honesty of people
like Steve Ignorant, first and foremost a fucking great singer in a
band that became
more.
So where now for
Anarcho punk and its ilk? Is it redundant? If I come away with
anything it’s the fact that it needs to move with the times. Bands
like Conflict need to embrace YouTube and My Space get their message
out in all the media available before they become a ghettoised
musical genre preaching to the converted.
