We are here primarily to remind Bush about Binyam Mohammed
a man from Kensington, incarcerated in
We arrive and the crowd builds. There is an irony. The last time I wa here
was with thousands of Ethioians celebrating the Ethiopian millennium. Reprieve
are also the guests of Massive Attack at
Meltdown at The South Bank and like
the famed pigeons of
Robert
Del Naja of massive Attack turns up, we shake hands and exchange pleasantries. The
last time we spoke would have been about
twenty years ago when I helped with an album made with his first band The Wild
Bunch on an anti drugs project in Bristol.
I am under no illusion that he would remember and don’t even broach the subject. I lent that album to a little man called coincidentally,
Barney, originally from
After the protest the journalist and I go over the River Thames to The South Bank. It’s buzzing. Elbow are rehearsing with an all male choir in The Blue Room situated in the lusciously named Spirit Level beneath the royal festival hall. I walk into the room and there they are in all their glory. Rehearsal is the greatest thing. Mary King is directing the Male voice Choir while Elbow play and Guy sings. The string section is lined up against the wall. The joint is right “lemn” Guy Garvey says “Guy” I say at precisely the same time. Hugs all round and kisses for Mary King. I then stand back and listen to the magic.
The Journalist and I listen to the most gorgeous song right there and then. What a treat, we get some food and sit in the sunshine. At 6.30pm we go to the purcel rooms theatre to watch taxi To The Dark Side an academy award winning documentary about an afghan taxi driver who killed by The American Army under George Bushes new regime of deliberate torture technique. The film was followed by a talk by Moazzam Beg and Clive Stafford Smith. At 10pm we go home after a day, rich with culture and protest as a celebration of the freedom of speech all enclosed in the exploding spirit of The southbank. Gorgeous..