As students from East High School marched down Colfax Avenue chanting “hands up, don’t shoot,” one East graduate announced a concert that aims to give protesters the power of music.
That alumnus is Jamie Laurie, aka Jonny 5, of Flobots. The Denver group, well-known for activism and making music with a message, began working on a campaign called No Enemies five or six months ago. From 7:30-9 p.m. this Sunday at Capitol Heights Presbyterian Church (1100 Fillmore St., Denver), they’ll
“With some movements, they’re bubbling up all over the place, so it’s natural that they start off disconnected,” Laurie said. “I think songs, music, culture and art have the ability to unify. We want to take some leadership in that process.”
There has already been one such No Enemies event in November, featuring the youth 303 Choir performing remixes of Flobots songs with the band, along with music inspired by past social movements. This call-and-response concert will be different. Laurie said it will “feel like a huddle” and that the music will require only percussion and vocals.
“Itap a completely different format, so it’s participatory call and response songs,” Laurie said. “The idea is that we’re practicing making music together as a crowd so that it can be used at rallies and demonstrations and actions. We’re seeing now that we all need to be activists and I’m saying that we all need to be musicians, too.”
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Ashley Dean is an editor and designer for YourHub at the Denver Post and a regular contributor to Reverb.
