Sat, 24 Nov 2007 12:00am

Event | The Feeding of the 5000

Wow, what can I say? It may have been my first pantomime of the season, but it was amazing :-)

I went to see Steve Ignorant and band at the weekend doing a full set of Crass songs including a compete rendition of Crass' first album "The Feeding of the 5000".

For those who don't know, Steve was the lead vocalist of the most important band of the 70s and 80s - the punk artists Crass.

When Crass broke up in 1984 they stated that they would never reform or play together again. True to their word they have not shared a stage since, although they have occasionally performed as individuals on the same bill (most notably at the South Bank centre in 2002 as part of an anti-war gig. I was there).

So, when Steve Ignorant announced that he was to do a Crass set at Shepherds Bush Empire eyebrows were raised.

Still, as soon as I heard about the gig I had to get tickets. I really wasn't sure what it would be like though. Would it be a sorry representation of a magnificent past? Would it be the classic 'sell out' gig - nothing but a money raiser for the Mr Ignorant? Who would turn up? In fact, would anyone be there?

Firstly, the audience was great. Ranging from original punks and older fans, through to youngsters and an impressive selection of mohican wearing nu-punks. In fact, I estimate that half of the audience were probably not born when Crass started playing.

Then the music. I arrived at the start of a set by Conflict - an anarcho-punk band that started after Crass and have continued to this they. This was disappointing. The sound was poor and I didn't think the band was fully in to it.

After an interval Steve and band started up with the song "Do They Owe Us a Living". The place transformed instantly and it sounded great. What then followed was a series of classic songs, delivered with passion. The audience knew every word (even the youngsters) and there was a real feeling of celebration.

Yes, it probably was a 'sell out'. No, it was not like seeing Crass (I assume). But, it was such a positive evening. Dare I say it, it was great entertainment (is anarcho-punk allowed to be entertaining?) and I had a really enjoyable night.

Punk may be dead, but the corpse still knows how to party.

And yes, Steve, we do owe you a living.

Check out my pictures of the show on Flickr

Author: Sean Clark