I can’t stop thinking about an anecdote I heard about a British punk band from back in the day (they will remain nameless) who childishly wouldn’t let their support band soundcheck. I keep asking myself –
What would Solarpunk musicians have done differently?
On a slow tour of America, The Solarclash play first, as is the Solarpunk custom of supporting local talent. This guarantees an audience for the support act when they take the stage after them. The Solarclash are guests in this town and treat their hosts with respect, not hobbling them with cheap tricks like denying them a soundcheck so they sound worse than them, playing to an audience of no one. This is The Solarclash – they are the ones that jump on the energy bikes at the front of the stage during the soundcheck, pedalling hard to drive the soundsystem, generating enough energy for the support to properly hear themselves, working up a sweat before they’ve even got their guitars out.
Slow travel and slow vacations influence The Solarclash’s slow tour schedule, instead of the ‘one night only’ of days gone by, The Solarclash posters proudly announce that they will be in town for ‘one week only’. Time enough for them to get to know the place and, as is customary, to learn some of the support band’s songs. The last song of The Solarclash’s set is a cover of the first song of the support band’s set. The last song of the evening is a local cover of The Solarclash’s most famous song.
As the tour rolls on, more songs are learned and swapped, sometimes the changeover between bands sees more members on stage than are in the audience. Songs stretch, stages swell and the drummer looks up to find a wall of backs they don’t recognise, glimpsing the band they are supposed to be playing with, on the energy bikes, heads bobbing furiously, finally grinding that old punk pogoing spirit into good use as the sound system flares louder and louder.
In the morning it’s time to press the flesh as the band join one of the venue’s chosen causes – a local food scheme, keeping communities alive by connecting local growers to local tables. The band rocks up with minor hangovers, thanks to the organic craft brewery’s excellent quality drinks last night. There’s a crowd of fans here already. The Solarclash have been here a few days and they know most of the fans by sight and some of them by name.
Today is the last day of the tour and The Solarclash are planting, helping local people get out from under the unseasonal boot of Big Food. Fans smile and take pictures working shoulder to shoulder with their favourite band, all getting their hands dirty, joking about never washing their overalls again. The work is hard, but shared, and lunch is well earned.
The band aren’t selling T-shirts, or copies of the album. In fact there is no studio album, the only record of their songs is the physical, recyclable copies they record live at the gigs, distributed on the day for people who were there at the time. And, who needs a T-shirt to remind you of the time the band came to town in March, when you can tend the lime tree they planted and dream of the limes you’ll pick in years to come?
After lunch, The Solarclash say goodbye to the town, whose name they have remembered, not scrawled on the back of a set list as they burnt their way across the country, one place blurring into the next. Their ride is here and they mount their sky cycles and leave their cheering fans far below as they feel the warmth of the sun lift them into the sky, filling their solar sails with energy for the long journey ahead.