Razorlight top the Bill

5 June 2008

Rock band Razorlight showed their support for The Big Ask campaign in high style on 3 June, headlining a special one-off gig at London's Science Museum.

Sounding taut and thoroughly on form, front-man Johnny Borrell led the band through a string of hits including America and Fall, Fall, Fall.

Johnny says

They performed against a backdrop of aviation exhibits in the museum's Turbine Hall - and provided some stratospheric thrills for the invited audience. Watch the video on You Tube.

'It seems likely that we will be the first country in the world to have a Climate Change Bill, which is brilliant,' said Borrell after the performance.

'But as crazy as it sounds, the Bill does not include aviation and shipping and we're here to make some noise and inspire people to do something about that.'

John McClure of Reverend and the Makers joined Razorlight in calling for a stronger Bill, kicking off the evening with an edgy and energetic acoustic set.

Speaking between songs, McClure took a swipe at complacent attitudes towards the environment.

'It saddens me deeply that it doesn't seem very cool to care about the planet we live in,' he said.

MP supergroup

For some, however, the highlight was a performance by the Aviators - a 'supergroup' of MPs who turned out to voice their concern about climate change.

Led by Labour MP Emily Thornberry on vocals, the band included Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik on harmonica, Ian Cawsey (Labour) on guitar and Peter Wishart of the SNP, who employed the keyboard skills he learned in folk-rock outfit Runrig.

Together, the band performed a satirical version of John Denver's classic song Leaving on a Jet Plane.

Audience members, who won tickets to attend in a competition staged by Friends of the Earth, described the gig as 'awesome' and 'a really good night'.

The Big Ask campaign clearly wasn't the only winner in this brilliant night of rock and protest.

Press for change

Visit TheBigAsk.com to ask for aviation to be included in the Bill.