Friday saw Love Music Hate Racism (LMHR) host a celebration of 50 years since Rock Against Racism (RAR) at Glasgow’s Rum Shack.
RAR was a political and cultural movement, born on the streets after the rise of the far right and racist attacks in the UK. RAR activists organised festivals, gigs, carnivals and tours in response to Eric Clapton’s “keep Britain white” speech. Scotland was in the thick of it. The National Front were defeated because ordinary people got organised.
The evening did not treat RAR as an artefact, but instead took the central idea of the movement and put it back where it belongs: full volume in a sweaty basement. The tagline of the evening was scattered across t-shirts, badges and posters: “punk isn’t dead but racism should be”.
“Does anyone like Beethoven? Does anyone like mosh pits?” Raj Mahal, rapper from opening act Raj Against The Machine, asked the crowd. Their irreverent set, enhanced by the sax and fiddle, immediately established the tone for the night: loud and fast. It included a suitably ferocious version of “Break Stuff” which was the most memorable cover of the evening.
Another highlight came from a version of Panjabi MC’s “Mundian To Bach Ke”. Its instantly recognisable hook gave the performance a jolt of familiarity, but in Raj’s hands it was a statement of identity. It folded Punjabi cultural touchstones into the pit-ready energy of the room; a demonstration of how disparate influences can coexist yet avoid slipping into novelty or force.
The Zips followed with an excellent set and as RAR veterans, they carried the history of the anniversary without needing to lecture the audience. The fourpiece played their own classics like ‘Biff In The Whitehouse’ mixed with a couple of punk covers. Their performance had the directness and conviction that has historically made punk such an effective vehicle for politics.
The Fuck Farage Ensemble (formerly the Fuck Boris Ensemble) then took the stage, reunited only for Govanhill International Carnival and Festival. Before they played, Jeremy Corbyn made a surprise guest appearance and speech, providing a suitably charged introduction to what followed.
Their set was gloriously scrappy in the best punk tradition. When their guitar broke, The Zips stepped in with a replacement, allowing the show to continue. A few seconds of LCD Soundsytem’s ‘Daft Punk Is Playing At My House’ were enough to raise a cheer from the audience and ‘Bad Reputation’ by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts had to be restarted after sound problems, but rather than allowing the technical glitch to puncture the atmosphere, the band held the room with humour.
Their choice of covers, including The Clash’s ‘White Riot’ and Ramones’ ‘Rockaway Beach’ kept the set firmly rooted in punk’s tradition. The imperfections only reinforced the sense it was a live event rather than a meticulously managed production.
By the time local Glasgow band Spitback arrived to headline, the room was ready to be properly battered. Their sound was brutal and heavy, the mosh pits sending the front 4 rows flying and Spitback delivered an uncompromising set that justified putting them last. Their crazy fast guitar shredding and brilliant vocals from frontman Andy Griff shook the venue to its foundations.
Fifty years after the emergence of RAR, music is still most convincing when it is immediate, communal and deafening. At The Rum Shack, RAR is still alive in the songs, the broken guitar, the sweat, the laughter and the crowd.
