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Catch Me If You Can…..WSO Weekend(s) 2017


After a hectic few weeks rallying events, musicians and punters We Shall Overcome #WSO2017 is finally upon us. In actual fact, I’m part way through already having sung in the Ukrainian Club in Huddersfield, The People’s Bookshop in Durham, and a back alley outside The Golden Smog in Stockton-on-Tees last weekend.

This year we have consolidated so the gig numbers are down a little, but we were spread too thin last year and decided fewer events but better ones was the order of the day. We have still clocked up 180 gigs and that will bust the 200 mark by Christmas, bringing the total number of events organised by WSO volunteers up and down the UK and beyond to more than 700.

We also have the exciting prospect of a documentary film charting We Shall Overcome 2017 which is currently being shot by Michael Lee Toas of MLT Productions. Michael is attending a number of gigs filming bands and conducting interviews with audiences and organisers with a view to telling the story of the amazing people who make this magic happen. The film is set for a Spring 2018 launch and we’re hoping to screen it at special events around the country which will be WSO events themselves.

Incredible stuff.

There are gigs all over and they need you now, so check the listings at Gig Listings 2017 and see if there’s one nearby you can support. If you can’t make it to a show you can still do your bit by sharing anything We Shall Overcome-related on your social media or by donating to our JustGiving page which is raising money for Shelter

If you want to catch me out there this weekend my itinerary is as follows:

THURSDAY

PORTSLADE– Railway Inn

FRIDAY

SCARBOROUGH– L’Amour

SATURDAY

LEEDS– The Grove (pm)

STAINFORTH– Pit Club (night)

SUNDAY

WARSOP– Black Market Venue

and it would be great to see you.

I will have a bag full of badges, stickers and wristbands with a recommended donation of £1 for each. All money raised from this will, as ever, be poured in the collection bucket at the end of the night. I’ll also be collecting warm clothing for #SocksAppeal so if you can spare them bring along socks, gloves, hats and scarves. These will be shared between street homeless here in the UK and refugee camps in France.

We Shall Overcome is only as big as you make it. The lesson of this amazing movement is that no gesture, no matter how insignificant it seems, is ever wasted, because thousands of seemingly insignificant gestures all added together make something very significant indeed.

Join in.

We can do this x

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