Rise: London United Festival Review

Free Anti-racism Music Festival in London

Rise: London United is an annual event organized by the Mayor of London to raise the profile of anti-racism campaigns. I wonder if so many people would attend these events if it wasn't free and they didn't put on top names bands, but it is free and there are always some great bands to see so I went to Finsbury Park on Saturday 8 July 2006 with friends and family to check it out.

Rise: London United is a good idea as it brings together many different types of people. London is a diverse city and the Rise: London United festival aims to reach out to all communities.

Pros

• A positive promotion of anti-racism
• Some great music
• It's free!

Cons

• Victoria Line on the tube closed (weekend planned engineering works)
• Quite political at times
• Lots of preaching to the converted - we were there, we know!

A real plus point about the Rise: London United festival is seeing so many families out together enjoying a fun day in the park. It can be hard to cater to all ages but Rise: London United works well on this score. There were plenty of smaller stages if the music on the main stage was too loud for the younger children, although my eight week old daughter seemed to have a great time dancing along to the main stage music. For the kids who could run around, there was the Children's Play Zone which went down very well with my friend's children.

Music was provided on the main stage by:

• Graham Coxon (from Blur)
• Common
• Sway
• Buzzcocks
• Killa Kela
• Roy Ayers
• The Wailers
• The Duke Spirit

I watched The Duke Spirit, Graham Coxon, and the Buzzcocks. I'm starting to see the appeal of The Duke Spirit. They're a London band with a female singer who are influenced by groups like The Pixies. They were on stage around 2.30pm so a fair amount of people had arrived by then and a lot seemed to enjoy the band.

For me, Graham Coxon was the highlight of the day, even though he did look remarkably like Elvis Costello! Standing on My Own Again has been my mobile phone ringtune since it was released back in March 2006. Compare prices of Coxon's latest album Love Travels at Illegal Speeds.

The crowds in the main field area grew dramatically before The Buzzcocks set. They certainly look a bit older these days (well they were popular back in the 1970s!) but their music is still great. It felt like the whole crowd joined in for Ever Fallen In Love? Compare prices of the Buzzcocks's huge hit Ever Fallen In Love?

I didn't stay to watch The Wailers on the main stage as to see The Wailers minus Bob Marley seems like making a cup of tea with only hot water and no tea bag!