Patrik Fitzgerald, X-Ray Spex, The Clash,Tom Robinson Band, Steel Pulse Review in SOUNDS music weekly Victoria Park, Hackney, London May 1978 by JOHN GILL

Rock Against Racism 1977-82: a campaign supported by fans and musicians alike including TRB. "We want rebel music, street music. Music that breaks down people's fear of one another. Crisis music. Now music. Music that knows who the real enemy is."

Trafalgar square on an overcast sunday morning. Thousands of people jammed into, spilling over and swarming around all sides of the square. banners galore, steel bands, clowns on stilts, grotesque monster-heads of messrs webster, tyndall, hitler. And thousands of whistles, deafening and chaotic, sending the pigeons berserk. Glad day! glad to be black and white and ready to fight. An estimated forty thousand of them, stretching endlessly up the strand, through the city and into the east end. The sun came out, people danced in the street and chanted against the (absent) front. By the time the main body of the march reached Victoria park in hackney, X-Ray Spex were ending their set. Another forty thousand too lazy to march were already there soaking in the hot sun as x-ray spex rocked out with 'Bondage'. Enter patrick fitzgerald for probably his shortest set ever. strumming out strident, envenomed versions of 'I wanna be a straight boy' and 'Banging and shouting' his set was abruptly curtailed by a can in the face. Exit patrick, cussing. So much for prole solidarity, eh kids ? For a crowd well over double the expected amount, the PA was abominable!. A third-way back from the stage, I still had to strain to hear. God knows what the people in the trees at the back could hear. The clash's set suffered considerably from this. Try as I might to squeeze nearer the distant stage, their set lost any kick due to the low volume. 'Clash city rockers', 'Tommy gun', 'Palais' and more; it wasn't until 'Police and Thieves' that the sound increased to do them any justice. The set was finally redeemed when they brought on jimmy pursey to lead an encore of 'white riot'. Cue much pogoing and people getting beaten up by skinheads at the front.

Meanwhile, the loo queues got longer, the ground muddier and Steel Pulse came on. We danced reservedly as they tried to get their sound past the mixing desk. There were points when they began to burn but any involvement in the music was nixed by the ongoing inaudibility situation. warm music for a warm day, but it was like listening to music from a farther room. The ambulances skidded off with the victims of the head-cases down front, a small hot-air balloon hovered up from the stage and someone announced the Tom Robinson Band. The crowd rose and moved forward for a glimpse/earful of the distant man. As they hammered into 'up against the wall' they were met with cries of 'turn it up!' and 'louder!' alas, this was not to be. They continued quietly with a new song, 'let my people be', a bluesy, mid-tempo song with an unhealthy resemblance to 'woodstock' in places. 'Glad to be gay' had everyone singing along; ditto 'martin'. 'Power in the darkness' blew the lid off what had been a musically poor afternoon. Tom's establishment spiel (this time as a GLC parks official) was perfect, powerfully theatrical with enough faked disgust in the audience to win them over completely. he ended the set by bringing on steel pulse for a jam and got 80,000 people clapping and shouting against the front. It went on a bit but nobody minded. they were the revolution and they were being televised. There was nothing left except to join the thousands queuing for buses and tubes home. The sun was still shining and everyone was wasted but pleased. it was the biggest anti-nazi demo london has seen since the days of the blackshirts. What do you say to that, Martin* dear ?

*Martin Webster, leader of uk national front