Tom Collins, South Yorkshire Socialist Party
Eight weeks prior to our gig, ‘Rock Out Fascism’, when planning first started, it would have soothed our nerves to know of the success our efforts would culminate in. The organisers had the full support of South Yorkshire Socialist Party, including with leafleting efforts and social media promotion.
We sold 111 tickets to watch six heavy-metal bands play at a local venue in Doncaster. The event was organised primarily by two young members, Isobelle and Dan; they also kicked off the event performing their own music!
I was asked to get up on stage and speak briefly to introduce the event, and to use this platform to talk about the issues facing young people. I spoke on the Labour Party and Reform neglecting the issues that are important to us. Young people need to organise, to all shout together in unison, a voice so loud as to be heard by people with their fingers most firmly jammed in their ears!
I spoke about Labour’s tuition fees hike for already struggling students, the cruel attacks on minorities including transgender people, Reform’s climate scepticism and net-zero hostility, and Keir Starmer’s complicity in the Gaza genocide. All were met by cheers from the crowd of young people.
People are receptive to our anti-austerity, socialist message! I explained that the current parties in parliament were all far more interested in short-term profits for the bosses than the youth, and that a socialist alternative is necessary.
The bands were great (a few even threw in their own quite flavourful anti-fascist remarks), and the majority of the attendees signed up to get more information. Socialist Party members in South Yorkshire considered the gig a unanimous success. Everybody else seemed to have enjoyed themselves too.
We all agree that we should consider doing something similar in the future. Next time, without making people sit through a series of lectures, we will aim to have more, brief speakers between bands, explaining why a fight for socialist change is needed, and appeal for those there to join us!
