A Freedom rally celebration in memory of John Lennon

A Freedom Rally Celebration in Memory of John Lennon JOHN SINCLAIR & THE BEATNIK YOUTH ORCHESTRA Under the direction of Youth & Alan Clayton with HOWARD MARKS & MARK STEWART THE DEVIANTS Mick Farren, Russell Hunter, Duncan Sanderson, Andy Colquhoun & Jaki Windmill THE DIRTY STRANGERS ROTTEN HILL GANG SONJA KRISTINA's ACID FOLK & special guests of all sorts DJ Paul Chukles LONDON O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE Thursday 14 June 8:00 pm   To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the John Sinclair Freedom Rally that culminated in his release from prison, the author, poet and activist announces a special one-off London show at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Thursday 14th June in memory of John Lennon with “Mr. Nice” Howard Marks, a full complement of guest performers and a specially assembled BEATNIK YOUTH ORCHESTRA arranged & conducted by Youth. The concert will introduce the unique music & poetry collaboration that unites “The Last of the Beatnik Warrior Poets” with the prominent bassist, composer and producer known as Youth and co-conspirator, guitarist Alan Clayton of the Dirty Strangers. The resulting album BEATNIK YOUTH produced by Youth with an all-star cast of contributors will be available at the concert from Track Records. Joining the Beatnik Youth Orchestra at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire will be spoken word artists HOWARD MARKS &MARK STEWART (both contributors to the BEATNIK YOUTH album); THE DEVIANTS with Mick Farren, Russell Hunter, Duncan Sanderson, Andy Colquhoun & Jaki Windmill; the DIRTY STRANGERS; the ROTTEN HILL GANG; SONJA KRISTINA's ACID FOLK and special guests of all sorts, with DJ Paul Chukles spinning sets. John Sinclair managed hard-rock pioneers the MC5 in 1967-69. Under his guidance the band recorded an historic “live” album for Elektra Records and developed the rock & roll revolutionary politics of the White Panther Party, founded to create support among young white people for the  Black Panther Party. Sinclair became a political prisoner in the early days of the ‘War On Drugs’ when he was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1969 after giving two joints of marijuana to an undercover policewoman. This sentence inspired Abbie Hoffman to jump on the stage during The Who's performance at Woodstock to protest. Sinclair was freed from prison on December 13, 1971—three days after the landmark "John Sinclair Freedom Rally " at Ann Arbor's Crisler Arena brought together a who's-who of left-wing luminaries, including John Lennon (who recorded the song, "John Sinclair" on his Some Time in New York City album), Yoko Ono, Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger, Phil Ochs, Allen Ginsberg, Black Panther Party Chairman Bobby Seale, and Jerry Rubin. The Shepherd’s Bush Empire show will also be the final performance of the first BREATHIN’ AIR WITH HOWARD MARKS & JOHN SINCLAIR tour that begins May 16 at the Udderground Fesitval at South Bank and continues through Ireland, Scotland and England before culminating at the Empire June 14 with a reprise of the new two-man show that draws on a wealth of common experience shared by the two grizzled veterans of the War On Drugs ranging from turning on in college back in the day to incarceration in America's toughest penitentiaries. Thursday 14th June   London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire           0844 477 2000   Tickets are £17.50 plus booking fees (£20 on night) and are on sale now.   http://www.gigsandtours.com/r/johnsinclairandhowardmarks 0844 811 0051     http://johnsinclair.us/   http://www.facebook.com/johnsinclairpage   http://twitter.com/#!/John_Sinclair   http://www.howardmarks.name/   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1648203197   https://twitter.com/#!/officialmrnice