MLK Day concert in support of Reform LA Jails, which campaigns for prison reform and advocates alternatives to incarceration. The event also featured performances by Compton hip hop artist Boogie and upcoming rapper Bobby Gonz.
The guest speakers were Patrisse Cullors, founder of Reform LA Jails and co-founder of Black Lives Matter Global Network, and actress America Ferrera, co-founder of Harness, which activates artists and activists to advance social justice, and works alongside Reform LA Jails.
Read R42’s post-show blog below.
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It’s very nearly the end of this round of shows – the penultimate gig for this album. It’s also the ‘big LA show’, a fundraiser for Reform LA Jails. So by rights, today should either be enormously emotional, or massively stressful. Oddly, it’s neither – and I cannot put my finger on why.
There’s almost a sense of relief and relaxed enjoyment – as though the pressure is somehow off and today is a chance to informally just appreciate it. The Jordan broadcast was a massive undertaking and since then, it’s been an assault course of varyingly difficult, not-really-gigs.
I remarked the other day that most tours begin with a brutally difficult promo run and then settle into the promised land of smooth running comfortable shows – and on this campaign, we’ve just done the tough bit.
So maybe this is the payoff? Maybe this is like runners who’ve trained with rocks in a backpack? Finally, just before it all pops onto the archive shelf of history, there’s a chance to just appreciate it?
I shouldn’t jinx things, of course – there’s still tomorrow to do.
It was a wonderful night tonight though – and admitting that I enjoyed it can’t screw that up.
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