THE ANTI NIGEL LEAGUE
- Altered State
- Dec 8
- 3 min read
It wasn’t quite Crass or Chaos UK in Trinity Hall or The Granary, but with the stage dressed with elements of Led By Donkeys’ best known interventions, banners hanging off the balcony and a large Ukrainian flag, the dignified surrounds of St George’s Hall had a distinct atmosphere on Dec 1st. Anticipation was keen - the event had sold out ten weeks in advance - two activist groups with huge followings were to share a stage for the first time to talk about THE ART OF DIRECT ACTION.
Both Pussy Riot and Led By Donkeys revealed ingenuity, cunning and dark humour underpinning their actions that ridicule the political class and hold the powerful to account. We laughed out loud at surreal and slapstick elements to the lampooning of the FSB, Liz Truss and Donald Trump. Ben Stewart explained the Donkeys’ motivation to challenge the prevailing right wing winds in the digital space. Having been inspired by Masha and Olga of Pussy Riot, Ben, Olly and James of LBD were at pains to recognise the world apart differences in risk, retribution and safety.
LBD whetted our appetite with clues to their new year’s targets, check our forthcoming podcast from the event to hear who ‘donkey number one’ is (clue: rhymes with ‘garage’). The toolboxes were not dissimilar; the Donkeys’ James Sadri insisted that everyone in the room CAN make a difference (and get yourself a hi viz jacket and extendable ladder), Olly Knowles implored us to be active in our communities and Ben pleaded for us to remain outraged at the drift into open hatred that is the new normal in political discourse. For Pussy Riot, Masha demanded activist action - just do it - whilst Olga wanted to hear dialogue.
Both groups and Altered State were donating to Safer Skies Ukraine on the night, a civilian initiative to make defensive non-lethal drones that intercept incoming Russian attack drones. The utter cynicism of the Russian military was made clear when we heard that the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital that we supported in our 2024 talk with Pussy Riot had been hit by missiles this summer. The SSU video directly addressing the people of Bristol closed the talk with a visceral sense of the realities of Putin’s war and a way for the audience to make a small positive difference.
The very first Altered State talk was called The Price of Protest, in which we railed against the ever more authoritarian response in the UK to peaceful protest, something that should appal people on all sides of the political spectrum. It was utterly inspiring to hear from two heroic modern day activist collectives and we left the hall with a renewed sense of purpose and the comforting power of unified like-minds.
The book signing at the end of the of the night included Masha’s recently published ‘Political Girl’ and Led By Donkeys’ ‘Adventures in Art, Activism and Accountability’
On the night we span a playlist featuring :
Jarvis Cocker ‘Running the World’
MC5 ‘The American Ruse’
Primal Scream ‘Swastika Eyes’
Steel Pulse ‘Handsworth Revolution’
The Clash ‘Up In Heaven’
Gary Clail ‘Beef’
Public Enemy ‘Rebel Without A Pause’
Hawkwind ‘Urban Guerilla'
Misty In Roots ‘Poor and Needy’
The Pop Group ‘She Is Beyond’
Idles ‘I Dream Guillotine’
Chaos Uk ‘No Security’
Billy Bragg ‘A New England’
Photos in St George’s Hall by Nick Willcox-Brown
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