The Farcroft Hotel Ltd Birmingham

From welfare rights and the struggles of refugees in Britain to minority rights and the fight against sectarian violence in Pakistan, get ready for a night of protest music like you've never heard before.

Originating from two far flung corners of the world and coming together for the first time, Taimur Reham from Pakistan’s most outspoken music group Laal, joins Birmingham’s First of May Band, to bring a fiery combination of music and social activisms to the heart of Handsworth.

Politically outspoken, Laal combine the poetry of the great Sufi saints and Urdu poets Habib Jalib and Faiz Ahmed Faiz and embed it within the sounds of contemporary rock, electronica, dance and folk music. They have been at the forefront of Pakistan’s human rights activism, leading campaigns on minority rights, gender equality, child labour and standing against sectarian violence and political corruption.

Creating powerful, polemical songs which are written and sung from real experiences of real people, The First of May Band rework traditional songwriting forms with uplifting sounds of world, funk and reggae to create a musical medley of political outrage in times of austerity and global capitalist crises.

Laal and the First of May Band share a common thread of using music to advance the cause of working peoples, marginalised communities and disadvantaged groups. This creative collaboration will combine their extensive catalogue of songs to connect communities and peoples of seemingly unbridgeable divides around shared narratives. This unmissable evening of songs will move, challenge, and inspire you – it is just the tonic needed in a time of uncertainty of wars and walls in the age of Trump and May!