Saturday 1st October 2011,
The New Red Lion, Islington
On 1st
October 1936 Franco was appointed generalissimo of Nationalist Spain and head of state, leading the
Nationalist rebels in the Spanish Civil War, with support from Nazi Germany.
Exactly seventy-five years on, on what was the hottest recorded October day in
Britain to-date, the International Brigade Memorial Trust (IMBT) held a night
of entertainment in Islington organized by Philosophy Football, to commemorate
those who united against the fascists.
Philosophy Football (PF) have
long been supporters of the IMBT. Five
years ago on a night out drinking with a mate in Central London I was wearing their
‘No Pasaran’ anti-fascist t-shirt (pictured below) when we stopped off in an
Italian restaurant just north of Oxford Street; after being served a couple of
beers the staff questioned me about my t-shirt, and when I started talking
about British volunteers in the Spanish Civil War they brought up the Spanish chef
from the kitchen to argue passionately with me about how I was wrong, and
Franco was actually a great bloke. “You’re not Spanish are you?” “No, I am English
and wearing this for the British Battalion and all International Volunteers”. (When
the chef finally went back down to the kitchen and I was asked for my order, I
naturally just asked for the bill for the two beers and left).
As the writer Andy Croft said
on Saturday night in the less heated environement of the New Red Lion (metaphorically if not
literally), the Spanish Civil War is more than just a poetic romantic notion
for artists: many men and women lost their lives, and as at a number of previous
IMBT/PF events over the last few years, surviving ex-volunteers were in attendance
to both commemorate and celebrate the international effort.
Fellow speakers on stage with
Andy Croft as the evening got going were the historian Helen Graham, writer
Victoria Hislop, broadcaster Robert Elms, and Billy Bragg. At a previous IMBT/PF
event at the same venue in on the last Friday night of March 2008, Billy led a
very impassioned and moving version of ‘The Internationale', which will be
unforgettable for those of us lucky to be in the room; on Saturday he spoke
about today’s activism, and the youth leafleting on the streets of Barking and
Dagenham ahead of last year’s General Election, standing up against the far-right,
who see the current economic conditions and general cynicism to politics as a fertile
breeding ground for a campaign of hate.
Saturday was about more than
politics though, as Jackie Kay’s wonderful autobiographical poetry held the
full attention of a packed hot house for 45 minutes. Kay (pictured above by
Simon Green, the Producer of the night) has superb comic timing, and delivered
a great set that was funny and insightful throughout.
There was music on the evening
from ‘na-mara’, and Tayo Aluko performed a truncated version of his one-man
play ‘Call Mr Robeson’ which included a version of ‘Joe Hill’. Aluko fitted his
act into an hour, and despite the heat survived in his padded suit. The evening’s
entertainment was finished off with a specially commissioned song by Grace Petrie (pictured second below by Simon Green). I first saw her perform supporting
Billy Bragg at The Troxy last December, another cracking night.
The audience and mix of
entertainment of the 75th Anniversary was a reminder that the
Internationale ideal still unites the human race. (And on North London Derby
Weekend, Saturday would be the only occasion for red flags to be waved with
pride).
