Thom: “So what do you reckon to Caribou?”
Me: “Yeah they were good Tom. I do like a bit of Electronica.”
Thom: “I really wasn't that sure about them. I mean Daniel is a great guy, but we really needed someone to really get the crowd going.”
…......
Thom: “We wanted LMFAO you know.”
Me “Really?”
Thom “Have you seen the video to Party Rock.”
Me: “Yeah it's a nice little twist on the zombie apocalypse theme.”
Thom: “Over 485 million hits on YouTube. That's nearly half a billion man. I mean, we're just not in the same league.”
….......
Me: “So Tom, the response to the Arctic campaign has been really positive. Your fans have been really supportive and open to what we're trying to achieve. It's been great.”
Thom: “Yeah they are a great bunch. We're really lucky to have such amazing fans.”
…......
Thom: “Do you play piano at all?”
Me: “Well a bit. I did lessons for a couple of years but I don't really keep up the practice.”
Thom: “It's just I'm not sure about how Karma Police went down last night. I'm looking for someone who might bring a bit of that big arena feel to it. You know sort of Coldplay it up a bit. I don't suppose you'd help us out would you?”
Me: “I suppose I could give it a go.”
….....
Me: “Tom? Are you feeling all right?”
Well okay it didn't really happen like that. But I'm sure everyone who volunteers at a music gig has their moment of imagining the back stage encounter....
Thom Yorke and Radiohead have been big supporters of many positive actions on Climate Change over the years. They have already lent a song to the the Save the Arctic campaign, a video featuring Paula the polar bear and have furthered their support by inviting Greenpeace to come and campaign at all of the European dates on their current tour. As one of those invited (not personally by the band by the way) Claire and I find ourselves at the O2 one, not so sunny, Monday afternoon. Armed with a #SaveTheArctic ipad, lovely new tabards and a smile we headed out into the waiting crowd.
What is certainly true from the above fictitious imagining is that the response from the fans was really amazing. So many were really behind the campaign that I saw people actively seeking out a Greenpeace volunteer to get their name on the Arctic scroll. My favourite supporter of the day was a woman who was telling me they were eagerly keeping an eye on the building of a new Shell station near them, as once it is completed they would have something to protest outside.
As a group we got over 1000 signatures, Paula made many new friends and in the little friendly competition between campaigners Claire did amazingly well missing out on getting the most signatures by only one signature. So a big well done to her and thanks to all the Greenpeace volunteers and crew who made it an amazing day
Oh and for the record, in case you are reading this Thom, Karma Police went down great. As did the rest of the gig. A great end to a terrific day. Thank you.
Matt is the coordinator of the North Kent Greenpeace group / network that meets regularly in Rochester and organises protests, festival presences and campaign events across the area.
If you'd like to volunteer with Greenpeace, at anything from a Radiohead gig to a Shell protest, and everything from a school talk to Glastonbury festival, then please;
- Find you local group / network on the Getactive webpage
- Contact your local coordinators and say you'd like to help
- Attend your next meeting, and volunteer to help at the next local event
- Help us campaign for a green and peaceful world, have fun, meet new people, try new things
- Keep in touch and seize the opportunity to do anything and everything
We need your help so please Get Active with Greenpeace.
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