In April 2023, the Peace & Justice Project launched its Music For The Many campaign to stand up for grassroots music venues under threat of closure in order to prevent "a generation of lost talent and artistry" with a sold-out concert at The Lexington in London, featuring HotWax and others.
A year later, the campaign returns to London for its anniversary show at The MOTH Club in Hackney joined by DITZ and special guests Saint Agnes, as well as MOSKITO and Gender Crisis. Twelve months on from the start of the campaign, the dial of debate on how to best protect Britain's grassroots music venues has firmly been turned to the demands laid out at the Music For The Many launch, with the creation of a specific fund to support struggling venues created and funded by a small ticket levy at corporate sponsored music arenas, now firmly on the arts agenda.
The Music For The Many anniversary show kicked off with a breath-taking performance from the phenomenal Gender Crisis, who played songs from their newly released Where Did You Go Wrong? EP including the sensational 'Die Together (In The End)', with lead singer Rory dancing into the enthusiastic crowd.
Next on the bill was the up-and-coming Lincolnshire-based rock band MOSKITO with a blistering set of the rock anthems. With the room filling by the moment, there was a palpable excitement during their brilliant 30 minute set.
Following MOSKITO, Saint Agnes took to the stage to deliver a powerhouse set. Returning to London fresh from their Bloodsuckers Tour, Saint Agnes certainly brought an enticing darkness to the golden, glittery dance hall at The MOTH Club. The leather-clad singer Kitty Austin prowled the stage and gave a confident performance of Saint Agnes' uniquely dance-tinged emo anthems.
With the night coming to an end, DITZ took to the stage for a breathless set of grungy anthems. Just a days after the end of their extended touring run in Europe where they opened for IDLES in France, Italy and numerous other countries, DITZ truly had our Music For The Many crowd firmly in the palm of their hand. At one point, their singer Cal walked through the crowd and conducted a dance-off from atop a table in the venues side-seating area. At another, Cal stood completely still as the excitable crowd ran circles around them. Their incredible set ended with the whole venue erupting into chants of "Free, Free Palestine" in a truly emotive (and surreal) moment of solidarity.
Music For The Many was set up to build hope in our communities and protect crucial community spaces such as grassroots music venues. The anniversary show at The MOTH Club, as well as policy changes in other music industry-related organisations, shows that it is succeeding.
