The 2025 London anarchist bookfair crossed the river into South London for the first time since it started in the early 1980s and having been to many of them I have to say this was a very good one. Location was the Leake Street railway tunnel by Waterloo station, famous for its graffiti so aesthetically appropriate. Lots of stalls lining both side of the tunnel, and a busy crowd.
 Kae Tempest |
Some amazing live performances - I saw the mighty Kae Tempest doing a pop up spoken word only set in the tunnel, including 'These are the Days' and 'Hyperdistillation' from the new album ('Self Titled') with its observations of contemporary London:
'I watch it flow, the old river
Empty penthouses
But still the lone figure slept out the whole winter
And died before spring
Passersby saw, but felt sure
They were not like him
Life by numbers
Looking for the punchlines
Only getting punches
Crunches in the morning
Lunches in the boardroom
Numbness in the courtroom'
Later at the after party in 26 Leake Street anarcho punk band The Mob played a rare gig followed up by Roni Size (Paul Simenon from The Clash was also supposed to be doing a DJ set in the afternoon, did that happen? I also missed Kildren and Anarchistwood).
The Mob's 'Let the Tribe Increase' (1983) is one of my favourite albums from the 80s anarcho-punk scene and I regret never seeing them at the time. Mark Wilson still sounds great and sadly the lyrics are still too topical. 'No Doves Fly Here', a 1982 single on Crass Records, seemed to imagine the aftermath of the nuclear war we all feared. But with the ongoing massacre in Gaza we don't have to imagine terrible scenes of devastation, they are happening in front of our eyes:
'The buildings are empty and the countryside is wasteland
It never was before
And we never asked for war
The playgrounds are empty and the children limbless corpses
They never were before
And they never asked for war
No-one is moving and no doves fly here'
As for 'Witch Hunt', 40+ years later we are most definitely still living with the English fear. A week before and just round the corner I had found myself stuck in a crowd of far right nationalists swarming over the area on their Tommy Robinson/Elon Musk rally and sadly they don't seem to be going away any time soon.
'Stubbing out progress where seeds are sown
Killing off anything that's not quite known
Sitting around in a nice safe home
Waiting for the witch hunt
Still living with the English fear
Waiting for the witch hunt, dear'
With the Mob's Mark Wilson now heavily involved with Bristol area space Rockaway Park, it felt like a bit of a Bristol takeover with Roni Size finishing off the night. I last saw him in 1999 in a tent at Reading Festival, still riding high after winning the Mercury Prize for the New Forms album. He dropped plenty of that in Leake Street and it still sounds fresh. Could have done with a bit more low end on the sound system, but hey I can never get enough bass. Great drum and bass set anyway.
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| Roni Size |
Banners from Black Lodge Press:
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| 'Everything for Everyone' |
Oh yes and I did pick up usual collection of printed material and tote bags, including this book from the Minor Compositions stall - Brian Massumi's 'Toward a Theory of Fascism for Anti-Fascist Life. A Process Vocabulary'
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