'ban the bomb, free the banned its!'

Neil Young once proclaimed that he was proud to keep on rocking in a free world. For years, like Neil Young, the local Northern Irish music scene did the same, celebrating our diverse and eccentric talent like no country before us. That is, until very recently. In a country, however briefly, recently transported back to it's violent past with an attempted terrorist attack in Cathedral Quarter, it is to be assumed that our local music scene would come together to unite in unison in the face of discrimination and hate. Instead, for the simple crime of throwing lettuce into an unexpected audience, local punk hero's 'Bunny & the Banned It's' have lived up to their name and been black listed by a large majority of Belfast's music venues. This has outraged many and confused many more, as the band are now a thriving part of our music scene, as well as having developed a cult following in the process. Today Encore NI urges the people of Belfast and beyond to stand up and unite in the face of this outrageous decision. We want to see as many venues reverse their decision to ban the band as possible, to highlight that in a time of political discontent music will always be a unifying force, rather than a divisive one.

We say "ban the bomb, free the banned its!"

We hope you will join us.

Peace

Taylor