Occupy October!

The elite finally start  to take notice as protests sweep across the world…

          

Hello all! It seems like years ago that I last wrote from the throes of the Alternative Reality Tour. As promised we rocked up to Block the Bridge on October 9th to occupy Westminster bridge with comrades UKuncut. The action was incredible; over 3000 people turned up to fight for the NHS, with comedians entertaining them all the while on a bicycle-powered PA. Yours truly even sang a couple of songs which you can have a nosey at here (thanks to Miggiuk!).

As you’ve no doubt heard, the NHS reforms were, regrettably, passed by the House of Lords. Does that make Block the Bridge a failure? Not in a million years. The point of occupation is to draw attention peacefully to an issue and to raise public awareness of the things that the media and the government want you to remain in the dark about. If the bridge blockade was the first you’d heard of the NHS bill, then now you know. Make sure you’re at the next action you can possibly join - the student demo on November 9th, the general strike on November 30th - and fight the growing injustice in our society.

And if you were at Block the Bridge, don’t let it become your Anti-Iraq War demo, and feel defeated. David Cameron relies on you giving up, and believing that they have all the power and you’ll never change anything. Don’t buy into that myth. It only took 2 weeks to get the Church of England singing from our hymn sheet.

The End of the Tour…?

In other news, I finally made it into the Guardian - albeit looking ever so slightly like I’m starring in a British version of Friends.

A massive THANK YOU to everyone who made the Alternative Reality Tour such a wonderful thing. It definitely would not have been possible without: the hard work, dedication and good spirits of Josie, Tom, Aisha, Thom and Willl, my tour-buddies; the hospitality, biscuits, beer, cheese and beds of those wonderful people who put us up and fed us; but most of all, the people who sat in parks, bus shelters, beaches and even an underpass to listen to us. It really couldn’t have happened without you. Or it could, but it would have looked a lot more insane.

You will be pleased (I hope some of you will at least!) to hear that we unanimously decided after about 2 days of the tour that we wouldn’t be able to simply stop after a mere 10 gigs. The Alternative Reality Tour will therefore be springing up in a town near YOU once a month, delivering guerilla gigs celebrating public art, fighting the cuts agenda and getting people talking about politics. Keep checking here, @gracepetrie on Twitter and www.alternativerealitytour.com for updates of where we’re off to… you never know where we might pop up!

And coming up…

Over the next few months I’ll be busy hopping around the place to play in London, Northampton, Leicester and Taunton among others. On November 19th I’ll be with the wonderful Robin Ince at Nook cafe, you can find details of tickets at the gigs page. Maybe catch some of you there. :)

Solidarity!

GP x