by Terry/UKAN

Mad Pride in Leeds, England took the form of a  party at the Common Place on July 16th 2008. (The Common Place is an  interesting project in itself, check it out at http://www.thecommonplace.org.uk and support it by buying the cd and cook book!)

In the afternoon Simon led a memorable writing workshop based on Rilke’s lovely and fascinating poem ‘The Idiot’, which he read in the original German, then in translation. We talked about how it had affected us, then wrote our
own  piece. Two of the group, Careyna and Lauren, later read their poems in the open mic spot for the first time ever in public.

Emma and Milan had been busy the while making a sumptuous, nutritious  meal to feed the main crowd arriving between 6 – 7 p.m. while Chesh (or Dread Cabbage as he’s known in these parts) played a mellow brand of peace reggae through the sound system.

When the main entertainment started Johnny Solstice was in fine form as  MC with his brand of irreverent humour and hard hitting political rap poetry. He also interspersed his MCing by reading greetings from Mad Pride events around the world – Ghana, Ireland, North Carolina, Vancouver, Oregon,  which gave us a warm feeling of  connection and solidarity - a brilliant idea we should certainly do every  year.

After an hour of open mic (which included my effort below) Ginge from  local cult survivor band ‘The Schizos’ proved he’s just as powerful as a solo performer. Then Miranda Arieh and guitarist John gave a storming performance.

(Miranda sings like a cross between Kate Bush and Patti Smith for those old enough to remember such people – check out her My Space site http://www.myspace.com/mirandaarieh and  send her a nice message
for gracing our Mad Pride gig).

Lastly Jack Simpson took  time out from his local indie band The Rivers to go solo and give a powerful and  soulful
performance. This gig cost the last of the groups’ money, but a friendly ally Mick,  who is a local rebel turned Health Service manager had infiltrated proceedings, and said he’d had such a good time he was going to find some money in his budget  to enable us to do more! And so it came to pass.

All in all a very good night, and here to follow is the poem I read at  the open mic.

Love to all, Terry
The Off  Beat
You taught me how to hit  it,
That beat that cuts the solid  four
And gives the tune a  catch
For fiddlers to play  to.
You drummed it into  me,
to play the upward, backward  strum
against the  grain.
Playing on the beat is  safe,
It’s the machine beat, the fascist  march
Father  land,
Father  land,
Show us  a
Sign.
Playing off the beat is the start of  dance
Step we gaily on we go
Heel for heel and toe  for toe
It’s the off beat beat that makes the  beat
That makes you want to tap your  feet
That makes the  heat.
Martin Luther King  suggested
All progress depends on the  maladjusted.
If you’re happy with the way of  it
You’re not going to  shout.
It’s the awkward ones who make the  change.
It’s the maladjusted will sort this sad  world out.
So you need the offbeat to offset the  beat.
You need the complication to be  complete.
The beat needs the  offbeat
Like the sour needs the  sweet
Or the cold the  heat.
So don’t be scared to step out of  line,
And be the lone voice, be out of  time,
Saying the true  thing
Orthodoxy needs to put it  right
And make it  swing.
The beat is  neat,
But the offbeat is  sweeter.