TURNING REBELLION INTO MONEYTURNING REBELLION INTO MONEY
An
Idea which come to us on a cold, wet afternoon in January '87 out of long
conversations about our disillusionment and disappointrmnt in the punk
movement, about whether or not we felt we had achieved anything in our
respective bands. What we could have achieved? Then, more importantly,
what we could achieve! Did we have anything left to offer? Punk seemed
dead and buried, but the respectable front of it could still be seen peacocking
up and down the Kings Road, or postcards entertaining the tourists. We
talked about the excitement, the energy, the enthusiasm and the dignity
that punk was, that appealed to so many people and inspired them ro form
bands, magazines, fringe theatres, shops, venues, squats, etc. and how
it all seemed to be disappearing, wasted. We talked about the so-called
punk bands of present, who see punk as nothing more than a musical style
imported from America. "The words have no importance but you should
see how fast we play" and discussed those who are all too willing
to earn their bucks out of punk along the way. What were these people doing?
Punk set out to destroy ageing superstar rock and all the pathetic leeches
that went with it. Where now was the originality? The do it yourself spirit?
And where had all the people gone who we'd worked so closely with at one
time? Then, more to the point, if we could see what a burnt-out wanked-on,
miserable rut punk was becoming, what were we doing about it except for
whining on just like anyone else? Suddenly it came to us, do a gig! Together!
Why a gig? we both already had eight years of gigs? Soon we realised there
was no point in just playing the usual credible gig at Joe's squat, it
had to be different, a mouthy, well over the top gig that would prick up
the ears if nothing else and do it in the biggest venue we could find this
side of Wembley. Do it for no other reason than to try and inject a feeling
of excitement and hope into the air, bring everyone together in mass, and
then see what happens. We agreed first off that we couldn't consider the
whole idea to death, that we, as confused and lost as everybody else, would
just throw ourselves in the deep end and hope for the best. Would enough
people come to see us? Is anyone still interested in songs now years old?
Who gives a shit as we 'phoned our final choice, the Academy in Brixton,
which hosts a capacity of 5,300.
Colin
posed as a Rough Trade representative throughout in order to book the hall,
complete with briefcase, greased-back hair etc. (they hadn't heard of Conflict
but everyone knows Rough Trade). After~many more 'phone calls, meetings,
and lies from both parties, a deal was drawn up on stolen Rough Trade headed
paper. A date was set, Saturday 18th April 1987. A good omen, The Gathering
of the Five Thousand on the anniversary of the Resurrection. The costs
that were involved in organising the event were frightening and at this
stage were set at £6163, this being made up of £1500 hall hire,
£1300 security/ staff, P.A. and lights £1300, posters £1300
and a further £763 spent on radio advertising, ticket printing, electricians,
firemen, nurses and so on. All the costs of which The Academy were adament
had to occur if the concert was to proceed. The Academy then informed us
that the entrance price was to be £3.50 and this was the first time
the whole event ground to a halt. We eventually and reluctantly submitted
to a door price of £2.50, higher than our usual admission price but
under the circumstances the compromise seemed reasonable. During the following
months we set to work on publicizing the event, scrapping together the
money needed from various sources, Paco a daytime job, Colin some security
work, loans etc. and worked hard letting anyone and everyone know exactly
what we were up to. We painted and distributed leaflets, arranged press
adverts, mail-out to over 3,000 people, interviews, arranged rehearsals,
equipment, supports and so on, and with the new costs the break even figure
now stood at around £6600 (2,640 people).
The
18th getting closer, we blew the dust from the banners, checked over the
lyrics and got the videos in order. We arranged for ten T.V. screens to
be on stage (more costs) to show videos throughout the set, and set to
work producing a new video, introduction tape, it was when we mentioned
this to The Academy that they first warned us that the police were unhappy
about the event taking place, assured us that plain clothes officers would
sneak into the hall and informed us that they would be stepping up their
security to a total of 75 men and 10 women. Then they told us to be careful
of the content shown in the films. Our immediate reaction was fuck this,
the gig's off, secondly it was, no fuck them, lets rub their noses in it.
By now a scene of paronoia and confusion had entered into the atmosphere,
The Academy still not knowing Colin was in Conflict, the police pressure,
us arriving at a meeting to find police happily chatting with Academy staff.
Who was on who's side?
We
rehearsed late into the morning for a week with a new brass section and
female vocalist, and slowly built up a set which we felt was relevant and
poignant. A massive boost to us all occured when Steve Ignorant announced
he had plenty more to give and joined the Conflict organisation on a permanent
basis. The whole idea now seemed to have changed, we hadn't played for
six months and Steeve not for three years, and with the mounting pressures
it seemed more like we were going into battle rather than a concert, Conflict
on trial? Conflict's last stand? From the very start we had decide it would
be good to document the event from beginning to end, and arranged for a
mobile recording studio and a five person video team to be present on the
night, one of which was to be with us at all times prior to the event in
the able hands of a mate called Pinko, who recorded rehearsals, and just
about anything that happened, including us monitoring police activity around
the Academy three days before the gig. By now we had decided the event
would have more purpose a benefit and got in touch with a wide range of
causes with the ever present help of Malcolm from Housmans' Bookshop. It
was planned for all causes receiving benefit from the concert to provide
a stall, each showing what they were about and offering direct contact
with the general public. We hired in 25 tables for their displays and informed
the Academy that we would draw up a list of names/organisations and they
would have to be let in early and free of charge on the day, also we eventually
persuaded the Academy there should be no rent charges, for the stalls,
after all the concert was a benefit for them! Over next few days we set
to work arranging coaches from all over the country which proved quite
a task. Although coaches successfully arrived from Manchester, Newcastle,
Leeds, Exeter, Ireland and various parts of London. We were called to our
final meeting with the Academy prior to the concert on Thursday 16th April.
It was at this meeting that Colin was informed he had to meet police chiefs
in Brixton to discuss the plans and aims of the gathering, but prior to
this several important points were raised! No meat was to be on sale at
the event, the security were to be calm and treat the audience with respect,
no security was to be on the stage, (this would provided by Conflict) stall
workers would be allowed free entrance from 3p.m. onwards. The Conflict
organisation would arrive at 11a.m. and help set up P.A., lights etc. If
the concert broke even all further monies would be split 50-50 between
the Academy and the stalls, and lastly, under no circumstances could the
police enter the hall without the band's/Acaderny's permission. Then at
the police meeting they informed us they would be mounting a full scale
security operation around the Academy, and would, in fact, be sealing off
certain streets. When asked if expecting trouble they replied no, it's
just a precaution. They began to question further and we thought we had
convinced them that Conflict were just a rock band with a few violent trouble
makers in their following, until an officer announced that Conflict have
a huge loyal horde of supporters with the reputation of being the most
political and violent audience in the land, and their main target was,
in fact, the police. What can you say to that?
When the meeting concluded they still did not know I was in fact a member of Conflict, but I had a feeling I hadn't seen the last of Brixton Police Station. Travelling home it occured to me that perhaps they were not banning the concert in order to get one long look at Conflict and our ilk in one move, perhaps they were planning to test their new riot control tactics on us? After all, they've stopped concerts before, why not this one?
Looking
back over what authority has done to Conflict and the peace movement over
the years a feeling of are we doing the right thing emerged. Had we made
a big mistake by raising our heads and bringing the whole movement out
into the open, in one day. A staged battle? By now, however, it was too
late. One day to go and we went over everything, it was now we received
information that the Three Wise Men, a political rap band, had chosen not
to appear on the bill. We felt deeply disappointed for this was to be the
first time we were to appear live without the appearance of other 'punk'
groups, and the importance of reaching new people was now more relevant
than ever. A huge gap to fill, but help soon came in the form of Benjamin
Zephaniah who calmly and quietly said yes. It's not often you get the chance
to work with unpretentious, undemanding, 100% people, but Benjamin is one
of them. Forward, the final agreement. no meat on sale, banners o.k., lighting
platforms, stage risers, t-shirts to be sold at £4.00, cheaper than
usual drinks, ignore usual house rules and let cameras and tape recorders
in, guest list drawn up and confirmed, areas cleared for coaches to arrive,
parking permits obtained, door price £2.50, no police allowed in
the building, security to treat people with respect, Conflict people to
provide stage security, any profits to be split 50-50 between the Academy
and the stalls, Conflict to arrive at 9 a.m., P.A. at 9 a.m., lights at
10 a.m., mobile recording studio at 11 a.m., video crew at 11.30 a.m.,
T.V. monitors of 11.30 a.m caterers at 12 noon, tables for stalls at 1
p.m., stalls at 2 p.m soundchecks at 3 p.m., doors open at 7 p.m. .
The Academy management finally agreed on all points, but stipulated that a safety barrier would now have to erected at the front. We objected, they said no barrier, no concert, we had now covered every angle to the extent that as the 18th grew nearer we ate, slept, and shat the Academy. The 18th arrived, one of the sunniest days of the year up to then. We arrived at the Academy at around 11 o'clock after picking up vans, people and equipment, to find people already outside purchasing tickets. On entering the building we found the P.A. had arrived along with the mobile recording studio and lighting rig, and with the help of the brilliant Conflict team was in the process of being set up on the vast stage. Looking to the front of stage we saw the safety barrier being erected and felt disappointment at the distance created between stage and audience.
Most
of the time was spent arranging the stage and when it came to erecting
the backdrops we encountered what was to be the first of our many problems,
"You can't put them up". "Why not?" "Because they're
not fireproof, that's why!" "Why didn't somebody tell us they
had to be before now then?" we snapped. Eventually someone got hold
of some flamegard, treated the backdrops and they went up. Trying to keep
calm with time not on our side we pushed on, checking over the recording
and video equipment and meeting various people who were working for us
throughout the day, it was now we round out our soundman had rung to say
he couldn't make it, what a day to let us down. The company who were supplying
the T.V. monitors arrived soon after only to say they would not set them
up as we hadn't taken out insurance on them (not that anyone mentioned
we needed it when we hired them) so, as usual in these circumstances a
compromise was reached, four T.V. screens, not the spectacular towers of
ten we wanted, but tirne was running out on us, and fast.
The backline then arrived only to be sent straight back, wrong amps, bits missing, not working etc. Although in all fairness the company responsible were quick to provide replacements. Things now running late, the stall holders began to arrive but were having difficulty getting access to the building. We began sorting this out, only to be informed we now had to soundcheck. We ran through a few numbers and eventually got a sound that was reasonable, but in no way satisfactory, then back to the stalls, it seems the Academy had not printed enough passes, so were insisting that the remainder of stall holders pay to enter, and with their 85 security now present in the building, who was going to argue? A quick glance outside in the street enhanced mixed feelings of joy and fear as we witnessed hundreds of people massing in the areas surrounding the Academy. We also witnessed a heavy police presence, but all seemed quiet.
On returning to the building to grab a minute's peace and some food we found, to our horror, police in uniform inside the hall taking a good look at our stage layout, and in particular the banners. We soon found out that the Academy management had let them in and were showing them around. It was now quite obvious what side they were on. In between mouthfulls of food (the firstall day) we ran back and forth to the stage door, "can you get me on the guest list", to the front door, "they're making our stall holders pay" to the support bands "when do we soundcheck", to the P.A. bloke, the lighting bloke, the management, to the coaches, to the stalls again, and taking into consideration the size of this place I personally was beginning to think that some people must think I'm a fucking whippet or something. Another argument developed when the Academy informed us that in fact the stalls would have to be charged rent, a fee of £15 per stall, "But I thought we agreed that..." "Look bollox to that mate, we've had enough of these dirty bastards already", the management snapped. I reluctantly walked around the stalls and informed them of the change of plans, assured them it was no fault of Conflict's and most seemed quite reasonable about it, but then again most people are to your face, as we witnessed when reports reached backstage of how 'Conflict were ripping the stalls off'.
Faces looking drawn we met briefly to relax, only to be told the crowds outside were fighting and police would sure soon be arriving in numbers. Fuck it, open the doors, get them in off the streets and out of the reach of the cops. Now let's have that five minutes to relax and discuss the set, not a chance, door security weren't taking any notice of the guest list policy, and pandemonium threatened as people were told, go to the side door, no go to the front door, the side door. Most people paid anyway, just to get in and have done with it, but it left a gutting feeling as we looked from the balcony windows to see friends and people who were supposed to be working being jostled around outside, with the knowledge we were powerless to do fuck all about it. Listening to the chanting echoing up from downstairs realised people were becoming impatient, so on went the first band, Thatcher On Acid, it was then I got my first look at the crowd, it was huge, with hundreds still outside queuing to get in, from every part the country they came, and also from Ireland, Sweden and most Europe. The ungovernable force had arrived.
The people helping as our stage security managed to get in to the hall just in time f'or the start of Beniamin Zephaniah's set, and after a brief confrontation with the Academy security, took up their positions at the front of the stage, Benjamin blasted through a set of sheer brilliance, and by his finale had the crowd in a fine militaristic mood.
This was it, this was the moment we had worked and waited three months for, our chance, the 18 minute video intro commenced and the crowd let out a deafening roar. We rushed backstage for a final chat and checked over the set, and at the final moment with the hall ringing with chanting we eventually cracked, the pressure of the day and mixed feelings, frustrations, fear, hate, joy, love, hope and the overwhelming response of the crowd finally proving too much, the tears flowed for a few moments before we rushed to the front of the stage in an attempt to help our friends contain the vast enthusiastic crowd, the intro tape faded...and
The event ended, as we then saw it, in failure, fighting breaking out on stage, bringing an abrupt and violent ending to the closing stage of the encore. For this reason we decided not to include these tracks on this album, along with others that we simply fucked up.
We remained on stage for a while talking, listening and arguing with people, because throughout the set we noticed people present at the front, hell bent on trouble who could simply offer nothing more than destruction, damaging P.A. equipment, lighting equipment, ripping down banners, then invading the stage and mobbing group members, the latter of course acceptable when a gesture of support (although not entirely relevant) but most of this was fucking rnaliclous, and what happens when you retaliate? Popstars! Fucking popstars!
This along with Academy security beating shit out of people, bringing dogs on to the stage, assaulting Paco and getting tooled up to "Do over the rest of the group" finally got too much, tempers flared and we announced the event was over, and Conflict were finished.
We left the stage feeling gutted, shattered and totally destroyed. What was to have been the chance to bring all together had ended in a sham, with people blaming each other, some blamed, the venue, some the security, most blamed Conflict. With the masses now heading for the doors we retreated to a backstage room where everyone sat in silence trying to take in and recover from what had happened throughout the day, then we heard smashing glass and chanting outside. We ran down the stairs out of the side doors and came face to face with Brixton's riot control mob in full battle dress. There have been many different versions of what happened after and during the 'riot' that followed. All we personally saw before being beaten back into the venue was the sickening sight of Thatcher's police force at work, chasing, beating and arresting everybody in sight. However, various activities occured as police vans were left unattended outside the doors with their contents off in pursuit of 'criminals' although these are best left to the imagination.
Reports from locals said that the police arrived in force fifteen minutes before the scheduled end of the concert and lined the streets adjacent to the Academy, others said the police started it all by violently arresting anyone shouting or singing as they left the hall. Unity and companionship being the most important assets of our movement. People went to aid the arrested and from then on a full scale running battle between oppressors and oppressed commenced. The Academy was totally sealed off with us still stuck inside as police attempted to prevent any people retreating back in to the building. Those who managed to get through told different versions, some said the police battered everyone, others said the police got a bloody good hiding. We were eventually allowed to leave the Academy at approximately 1.45 a.m. and with police following (making sure we went straight out of Brixfon) we headed for home.
After another sleepless night I woke with hopes that the whole day might have been a nightmare, and in fact this might be Saturday, but of course it wasn't, this hit home as reports filled the airwaves an T.V. screens about "The Battle of Brixton".
Most of the day was spent on trying to enlighten ourselves as to exactly what happened both during and after the event, inside and outside the Academy, and finding out who had been arrested, on what charges, if any were still detained, and where!
CONCLUSION
The final outcome, as we know it, of what happened in the street following 'The Gathering Of The 5000', is as follows: Fifty-two people arrested, with thirty-two later charged under the new Public Order Act, with offences ranging from obstruction to A.B.H. on police officers, the remainder were roughed up, questioned and released!
Nine policemen and one W.P.C. were injured, two seriously, also four police vans and two cars were damaged.
There was an estimated total of thirty thousand pounds worth of damage to the surrounding area, much of which was pinpointed targets for attack in certain leaflets distributed prior to the event. A method that works? The official police statement that followed claimed they had drafted in five hundred police to the scene following disturbances after the concert, in an attempt to clear the area and move people out of Brixton, and that riot police and dad handlers were deployed a five hundred white punk rockers started attacking police with missiles, inevitable confrontation followed, and arrests occured.
What the statements failed to say, and is still unanswered is, if the police operation was mainly to clear the area and move the crowds out of Brixton, then why did they force Brixton tube station to close, after emptying a whole tube full of passengers back on to the streets? Why were officers frequently boarding buses and pulling people off? And why did they completely seal off all exit roads from Brixton within a five mile radius of the Academy???
Nothing to do with testing new riot techniques I suppose!
Not to fulfill their ever repeated brag of how they can quell a Brixton riot in one hour either!
Perhaps it was to show the local blacks that they beat up white people as well!
The above reasons are probabilities but can not be proven, but in reality the answer is obvious, the police hate us as we in turn hate them and their main objective was to hunt and frighten off as many people as possible.
Reports repeatedly flowed in of people simply attacked by police, not arrested, just beaten up and then left, others receiving serious head wounds, and even a man having his head smashed through a window by two officers. The police used boot polish to black out their identification numbers and went in for the ruck, comments by police officers included "You've had this coming you punk cunts", "Who wants some" and "Conflict are next".
People detained were forced to give fingerprints and have their photographs taken, spat on and generally abused. A senior officer admitted verbally that some of his younger constables had simply lost their heads in the mayhem, but I wonder if that story will also excuse the people awaiting trial for injuring police officers.
The truth of what happened on Saturday 18th April 1987 in Brixton, London, was in fact a police riot, made ever possible and more unquestionable by the recently imposed new Police Bill.
New bill, old bill, they're all a pile of fucking shit, they're the state's puppets, it pulls the strings and they jump, no one truly polices the police in the United Kingdom, they are a law unto themselves, powerful, uncontrollable and unstoppable.
It is essential we are not made weak with anger. We must push forward and create, I'm sick to fucking death of staged battles after our concerts, we can't beat them out in the open, only once have we ever held back and chased off the police but nowadays they are fully prepared for us, sure we must retaliate when started upon, but to think we can take over after leaving a concert is suicide.
It's fucking soul destroying to see the police hammering fuck out of people within our movement, people you respect and love, it's so wasted. We can and will beat them by using pressure, resistance and action , carefully and properly for it's far better to achieve a little slowly than getting five years in jail for rioting.
We can not state enough the importance of direct action, including after concerts, but be careful, there is always property and people in surrounding areas and on journeys home that require constant attention, but if you wish to hit back at the police do it only when the numbers are on your side, quietly, quickly and carefully.
The last paragraph was written after we received copies of a leaflet titled "Turning Conflict Into Reality", it seems these leaflets were distributed at the Academy and also at other London concerts by Conflict. The leaflet criticised both Conflict and the punk movement in general claiming it is stupid to enjoy yourself by dancing to groups it also stated that punk was about as revolutionary as Crossroads (an English soap opera series). The leaflet then went on to urge people to go out onto the streets and take over after the concert, are these people stupid? Can't they see that fists and boots are no match for truncheons and plastic bullets?
The general contents of the leaflet, except for the aformentioned were vaguely valid, but the fact remains that they were distributed by political activists who won't show themselves or take responsibility for their literature. They simply use you to take the risks and us to take the blame and pick up the pieces.
'Stuff your revolution - we want anarchy and peace'.
Over the next week we learnt, from reliable sources, how the Academy hod virtually gone back on our entire agreement, people were treated rough by security, girls were harassed, they confiscated tape recorders and ripped the film out of cameras. They also threatened stall holders, t-shirts were sold at £6 instead of £4, they ignored the guest list and stall passes, and disgustingly they were providing vegetarian food, instead they sold beefburgers.
We eagerly arranged a meeting with the Academy at which we hoped to find out what went wrong and get accounted to for the concert. At this meeting they denied all the above, then dealt the most devastating blow we had to deal with since the very idea of the gathering started, they were refusing to pay us any expenses, and furthermore refused to share any monies with the causes the concert was in aid of. They claimed there had been over a thousand pounds worth of damage inflicted on their building in the form of graffiti, broken windows and smashed toilets and sinks. When asked if we could see the damage they replied it's already been, repaired how convenient.
Further to this they informed us that there was not enough money to cover costs and in fact they would be requiring a substantial amount off us (some chance). Finally they refused to honour agreed bills for hiring the T.V. monitors and tables. We walked out.
Anyone who attended the concert will be aware of the Academy's lies and deceipt and hopefully will be less trusting than we were in any .future dealings with them. Financially the event proved a disaster with Conflict still paying debts off to various companies and people and with the Academy's management being so unhelpful by refusing to disclose any official figures there's no way of knowing how many people actually attended. A small consolation evolved when we learnt that the stalls had got away without paying rent and had, in fact, mode quite a lot of money selling product related to the causes.
The days passed and It become more and more obvious to us that without taking finance into consideration the gathering had been a huge success. We had brought everyone together, and to say that we injected exciteme into the air was an understatement. People were optimistic, and the press was full of 'stories and comments' (most utter rubbish) about Conflict and the movement In general. 'Phone calls and many letters of support were received daily and people generally were talking about the events before and after, all over the place, some good reports, some bad, but it didn't matter! Something was happening. The more we looked at what was going on around us the better it seemed, and anyway, how else was the biggest alternative concert in punk history to have ended? If we had finished, said goodnight, and all had gone home quietly what would have been achieved? Was anything achieved?
By now, however, it didn't matter, we felt alive and ready to go again and decided to consider our future. We met and discussed many things including the emotions at the concert, and commented on how nice it was to see people smiling again. We soon shrugged off our final doubt and depression and set to work producing this album in an attempt to repay the debts, generate urgently needed finance amongst the causes present on the sleeve, and start again. That's why this album is six pounds. We all desperately need finance.
We set to work on laying out the cover, and decided, like the concert, it should be different and well over the top. We decided the only way we could capture the atmosphere and feelings was to print pictures of all who took part, including the crowd, and as we layed out th pictures of ourselves we could already hear the screams of rockstars and sell out. But then again we've always been different and broke the "rules". We were the first anarchist band to use colour covers, the first to put the entrance to our concerts up to a more realistic price, and the first to claim pacifism was an ideal and not an answer, all of which in turn we were criticized for, but most soon realised being realistic is a matter of importance and followed suit.
The moss publicity now occuring also had an adverse effect as we found ourselves summoned to appear before police chiefs in Brixton, from then on we were threatened with incitement charges and informed that an offshoot of the Home Office was considering doing all in their power to prevent the group known as Conflict performing live anywhere within the boundaries of the United Kingdom until further notice. We were in fact banned from the U.K. and although no white paper was served upon us, we soon found our scheduled tour of the country cancelled as police visited club owners and "persuaded" them not to let Conflict appear.
Further to this we have found all our mail tampered with and have learnt of police entering record shops and taking copies of our recordings away. However, since the clamp down we have successfully managed to appear under pseudonyms at various venues around the country and will continue to do so. We regard the banning as purile and immaterial and therefore will not adhere to the state's restrictions.
Lastly we would like to send love and thanks to all who attended the gathering, to those that couldn't and the many that have shown so much overwhelming support over the years, we now will fight on, an we're sure you will too. Remember, whoever they vote for, we're ungovernable.