Gig Review: Friday 17th November - Whitechapel Factory

Hidden down a tiny side road in Whitechapel, there's a rundown empty building. It doesn't look like it's going to be much more than a well-organised squat party and the barely functioning soundsystem casts doubts about how well we're going to be able to entertain, but the easygoing vibe of those that have gathered and the spirit of the evening doesn't let us get too precious about it. Ultimately, you just have to do your thing and hope for the best.

This is a fundraiser for a charity that works to head out to wartorn parts of the world (Palestine and Iraq so far) with circus artists to bring smiles and hopes to children of these nations. These performers head out to areas with risk of gunfire/bombing activity to entertain kids grown up in poor conditions and extreme poverty forced upon them by political conditions. Suddenly, traipsing into London in the rain to play through a dodgy PA doesn't seem so bad. Besides, I felt like we were the ones being entertained. (By the poledancing roadkill rabbits just a foot in front of the stage.)

circus2iraq.org