Off the success of Oxjam Clapham earlier in the month, decided to volunteer for Oxjam Brixton. For this event, I was a venue steward at Market House. This meant that I checked wrist bands as people came through. I also sold programmes, raffle tickets and wrist bands to those that hadn’t already purchased. Finally, I was responsible for informing the stage manager when the artistes arrived. It was all so much fun!

One of the acts I really enjoyed was Tribo Band. They are a samba reggae group originating from Morro De Sao Paulo, Brazil and now have splinter groups in London and Zurich. Anyway, as I manned the door, I couldn’t help but dance away as they beat the drums. I also accompanied them up to the square near Ritzy for a further performance. As we walked up, I learnt that a few were Pandemonium Drummers in the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony. Wasn’t too surprised as they were very GOOD!

Another performance I really enjoyed at Market House was by poet El Crisis. His lyrical style of poetry which combined rap, spoken word, song and chant was truly hypnotic. Check him out below.

Finally, poet Mr Gee who gave away copies of his CD for free! He indicated that people unfortunately don’t purchase poems/music and so best to give away a CD in the hopes that if they like, they might recommend him for a show of some kind where he can earn some money. He is currently host of BBC Radio 4’s “Rhyme & Reason” and “Bespoken Word” and was the poet laureate for Russell Brand’s SONY Award winning Radio Show. Also check him out below.