A MUSICAL celebration of Glasgow’s inclusiveness has raised thousands of pounds for charity, with the sum set to grow at the next event in September.
The initial gig – which was staged quickly as an “antidote” to extreme right-wing marches in the city last September – was so successful it has spawned a series of nights in aid of the Refuweegee charity.
So far, £3500 has been raised with demand for tickets meaning that bigger venues are being hired to cater for the growing number of people wanting to attend.
Organised by musician and tour manager Mackenzie Burns, the next No Mean City event is planned for September 6 with the slogan “kindness as an act of resistance”.
Burns said the idea was to not only raise money while giving people a chance to experience the city’s music scene, but also to create an “ongoing conversation” about immigration and refugees.
The first event was sparked by marches planned in Glasgow on September 7 last year in protest at the Southport murders when Burns said the stabbings had been “undeniably horrific, tragic and just the worst of humanity”, but he had been dismayed by the response to it from far-right groups – even more so when he found a march was planned for Glasgow.
“I knew the counter protests would far outnumber the far-right stuff but it was still going to be a dark day,” he said. “I work in music and have a lot of friends in music so I decided I could put on a gig which would hopefully be a bit of an antidote to all the negativity and just have a really inclusive, positive space for people to come after the march and detox and decompress a little bit and have a good time again.”
With less than a fortnight to go, a venue was found at the Rum Shack, bands were invited and No Mean City was launched.
“The idea was to get the best, brightest and most diverse group of musicians that we could find, put them under one roof and celebrate our inclusivity, rather than challenge or try to take away from it, which was some of the intent of the George Square march,” Burns said.
The event raised £1500 but also generated a conversation.
“We want people to know that refugees and immigrants are not the Big Bad Wolf they are often painted as in media coverage,” Burns said.
“I want people to have a great time but more importantly, along with the money raised, I want to generate an ongoing conversation.”
For the first event, he relied on musicians he knew well but interest grew within the music community, so Burns decided to stage another in November, again in aid of Refuweegee.
“Refuweegee are wonderful people and really doing an amazing thing, and they need a lot of support around Christmas time,” said Burns.
This time he was helped in the promotion of the event by Declan Welsh, of Declan Welsh And The Decadent West, who is taking part in the next event, which is planned for September 6, this time in Stereo, which can hold 300 people.
“We’ve got real diversity in the lineup,” said Burns. “From Salt, who’s a Swedish artist who’s become part of the music scene here, to Psweatpants, a rapper who moved up from London to be a part of the Glasgow music community. We’ve also got The Dunts, who have played TRNSMT, as well as Tanzana, Majesty Palm and The Noise Club.
“Our Supergroup includes Andy Guitar, comedian and drummer Rosco McClelland, DARA DUBH, Connor Whyte and members of Bottle Rockets, Lacuna, SISTER MADDS and more. It’s a nice marriage of all the different styles and ways that people can come to be a part of the Glasgow music scene.”
Burns added: “It has the tagline Kindness As An Act Of Resistance because kindness appears to be the exception to the rule at the moment.”
