Amnesty Fundraiser in Glasgow: A Right Old Balaclava Ding Dong

A wee bonus post today, with the sole purpose of spreading the word about this incredible fundraiser on Thursday night – that’s Thursday 11th October. In just two days, the Flying Duck will play host to a banging DJ, four superb bands, a glorious raffle and even some cakes from the Rock Salt Kitchen, all to raise money for Amnesty International. The event was sparked by the arrest and imprisonment of three members of the band Pussy Riot. In Amnesty’s words:

Maria Alekhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Ekaterina Samutsevich were each sentenced to two years in prison for their part in Pussy Riot’s punk performance in a Moscow cathedral earlier this year. We believe the women are prisoners of conscience, victims of a campaign of persecution by Moscow authorities, targeted for speaking out.

Now, their appeal is set for tomorrow, Wednesday 10th October. We are hoping that Thursday will be a night to celebrate their release, as well as to raise funds for Amnesty’s important and ongoing work. The Flying Duck are donating their space free of charge, and some lovely local businesses are lending their support in the form of raffle prizes. The stage is set. This is where you come in.

Help a sister out. Retweet this blog post. Stick it on your Facebook. Write a song about it, climb up on your roof and sing it as loud as you can. Whatever method you feel comfortable with, you know? Of course, telling everyone about an event in Glasgow, Scotland when you live in Glasgow, Ontario, Glasgow, Illinois or Glasgow, Virginia might not seem to make a lot of sense. I have an answer to that. There is an online fundraising page! So you can support this local, grassroots event from anywhere in the entire world! I know I’m excited about it.

The main fundraising drive is, of course, the event itself. However, we are hoping that anyone who can’t make it, but who wants to support Amnesty, will find themselves able to drop in a couple of quid online. It all counts, it is all appreciated. Here’s the info:

THE VENUE: The Flying Duck, Renfield Street, Glasgow.

THE DATE: Thursday 11th October.

THE DEAL: Doors open from 7pm to 12 midnight. A nice civilised start time for a Thursday night, some of us ain’t as young as we used to be . Admission £5. That’s only £1 an hour, and you don’t see a bargain like that every day.

THE ACTS: Dance-inducing beats from DJ Chinaski_31; folk-rock acoustics from James and Gerry; electro-organic stylings from Nanobots; raw-ass blues from Stomphouse Sauce and unbearably good melody, harmony and revelry from The Famous Dave Duo.

IF YOU CAN’T MAKE IT: Here’s the fundraising page on Just Giving. If you can’t make it along, and would like to lend your support to the event, that’s where you can do it. Just lately, I’ve been looking at about 150 views a day on Rock Salt (which utterly blows my mind, by the way). If everyone who visits today could spare a pound, a euro, a buck or a <insert currency here>, we would be a long way towards reaching the target we hope to reach. Please, take the time to drop in anything you can.

Thank you all, so much. Glasgow folks, see you on Thursday!