By Amy Jones: Staffordshire University’s Leek Road Venue hosted the latest gig in the Love Music Hate Racism campaign.

In a fitting response to the English Defence League’s march last month,the Student Union created the night to fight back at racial disputes in our area.

Tinie Tempah took to the stage, first with his unique blend of hip-hop, upbeat tunes and lyrics. It was a big difference to the rest of the event’s music but just as relevant. Although he may not be as well known as the later acts, Tinie still managed to put across the important message of the night during his short time onstage.

Tinie Tempah

Next up came Kid British, a real diverse mix of people hailing from Manchester. With their catchy mix of rap, punk and ska, they seemed to emphasise the importance that the nation we live in should be a combination of differences to create something great and diverse.

The boys put it well with their sign pointing out we are all Kid British and expressing that the stage was what Britain looks like, personifying the nation in a small venue in Stoke. If we weren’t aware of the Kid British boys and what they stand for before, we certainly are now.

Ending the night in style was The King Blues. Having been a part of the Love Music Hate Racism campaign for over three years now, this gig is clearly an important and pivotal one in the bands activist career.

“As a band, we have always kind of considered ourselves as activists first and musicians second, explained the band’s lead singer Itch.

Kid British

“Its important to come down here and show that, clearly by the amount of people here today, not everyone is a racist and that there’s still a lot of decent people in Stoke.”

Everything about The King Blues seems to scream working class, even down to their banner simply being a spray painted sheet held up by duct tape. Proving as a shining example that anyone can make a difference in anyway they choose.

They played all the usual hits with great enthusiasm including ‘Save The World, Get The Girl’, ‘My Boulder’, ‘I Got Love’ which acted as poignant anthems to the night due to their political undertones, catchy beats and sing-a-long lyrics, because of this, it doesn’t take long to be caught up in the songs.

It was apparent what a massive success the LMHR gig was, the vast amount of revelers who turned up supported the worthy cause and the Student Union.

Itch explained the poignancy of the night in an almost lyrical fashion, he said: “At the end of the day, this is what politics is all about.

King Blues

“Its not about people sitting around debating, it’s about people coming together. Words can only go so far but when people come together and start living it, that says a hell of a lot more than anything else.”

The whole night was a great expression of the Student Union and Staffordshire University in its entirety. Mixing together not only races, backgrounds and cultures but musical styles and genres too.

Whether they were there for the love of music or the hate of racism, everyone involved proved the cause to be a success for the University and the campaign.

Photographs by Laurence Mozafari.