Feature: Girls Against and Groping at Gigs

Sexual harassment at gigs has been a problem for decades but now the problem finally has a voice. I spoke to Girls Against and The Leadmill in Sheffield to investigate why this age old problem has finally been brought into the mainstream.

If you’re a fan of indie music it’s been almost impossible not to notice a number of the genres biggest bands speak about the same problem over social media in recent months.

Spector, Swim Deep and Foals have all spoken about the topic; Drenge have claimed that it makes them want to “stop playing gigs”, Slaves warned perpetrators that they “weren’t welcome at their shows” and Peace frontman Harry Koisser stated “If you think this is ok, then please don’t come [to shows]”.

The topic that has garnered such a strong response from a number of different artists is one that’s existed at gigs for many years; groping.

You might think it’s pretty strange for this new breed of artists to raise awareness of such a longstanding problem but it’s all down to a campaign set up by a group of five teenage girls.

Girls Against logo

“We created the campaign after my experience of sexual harassment at a Peace gig in Glasgow in September 2015”. Explains Hannah Camilleri of Girls Against. The subsequent group put together by Hannah and her friends Anna, Ava, Anni and Bea who are all aged 15 to 17.

“Many others began to share their experiences, forcing us to acknowledge how widespread the problem is hence leaving us compelled to do something about it.”

Girls Against: Hannah, Ava, Bea, Anni and Anna

Since starting the group, the girls have been giving away badges at gigs in London and Scotland, where the group are based, and have set up a crowd funder page in order to produce other items of merchandise to raise awareness. So far the page has surpassed its target of £500 and raised £655.

In terms of what to do if someone finds themselves a victim of sexual harassment at a gig, Hannah explains the best course of action: “If you are in that situation get out of it immediately.

“Depending on what you’re comfortable with either confront the perpetrator, alert security and the people around you or just move out of the crowd and let the venue staff or us [Girls Against] know as soon as possible afterwards. The same thing goes for anyone who notices someone being groped – don’t be a bystander.”

Despite the group mainly receiving the experiences of girls being groped by the opposite sex, they do get instances of men being groped and people being harassed by people of the same sex. “We do get fewer reports of them but they do still happen,” explains Hannah.

One of the many bands who have supported Girls Against, Spector, onstage

One thing the group has noticed however is “if it’s girl on girl or boy on boy it’s generally because they want to get a better spot in the crowd.” However this doesn’t excuse these cases as “they are, of course, still cases of sexual harassment”.

The group has received overwhelming support from a vast array of bands as well as appearing on BBC Breakfast and being featured by NME, BBC Newsbeat, The Huffington Post, and The Daily Mail, which is something the girls never saw coming.

“We set up the account on a random Tuesday night with no goal really apart to make some noise about the issue. Since then things have kind of snowballed and it’s very humbling and overwhelming at times.”

Even though they set out with “no goal” the girls are now focused on what they want to achieve with “no sexual harassment at gigs” being the ultimate aim, yet the magnitude of this task isn’t lost on Hannah.“It’s hard work and things aren’t going to change overnight no matter how much we want them to, which is why we’ve got to keep chipping away at things.”

This includes working with venues across the country “to ensure that a no tolerance is enforced,” which they’re aiming to bring in by “getting their security companies involved and ensure that learning how to spot and deal with sexual harassment appropriately is a mandatory part of training”.

The Leadmill

However according to Elyse Peacock, the brand manager at The Leadmill in Sheffield, the venue already operates “a zero-tolerance policy against harassment and all our security staff are fully aware of the issue.”

When asked how the security staff would deal with a complaint of sexual harassment Elyse explains “Our security staff would speak to the members of public that are involved in the incident to clarify the situation and if necessary the customer that caused the incident would be asked to leave the venue.”

Although The Leadmill don’t see groping at gigs as a growing problem and instead “believe that there is just more publicity and awareness regarding the issue,” the venue would “be happy to fully support” Girls Against which could mean that the group’s goal to work with more venues could soon become a reality.

Yet, The Leadmill claim that they “don’t have record of any incidents relating to harassment taking place in the past five years”.

But after a Palma Violets gig at this venue, tweets emerged claiming that fans had experienced sexual harassment, with one user tweeting  "shoutout to the two melts at pv’s [Palma Violets] who thought it would be good to grope girls and p*** on the floor to hold their place.”

Therefore this shows that despite the amount of awareness being successfully generated by Girls Against, the real progress against sexual harassment at gigs will only be seen when everyone feels confident to take action against it, in the moment that it occurs.

This will only come in time as Girls Against is still in the infant stages of its campaign but for as long as this problem has a voice, sexual harassment at gigs will become less of a stigma for all sexes.   

Tramlines - Friday 24/07/2015

Ah Tramlines, we meet again. As Friday dawned so did the 6th year of the eclectic Sheffield festival and the days events certainly didn't disappoint. Despite great deal of thumb twiddling that occurred during the day due to the festivities not commencing until the evening, the excitement was considerable as we travelled to the brand new main stage on Ponderosa Park. 

Once there it was only a short wait until Ghostpoet emerged to open proceedings as the slow spitting of rain began. For me being a total newbie to Ghostpoet, I was pleasantly surprised. The mix of hip hop drum beats and warm synths with cutting guitars from the full live band added a meatiness to his spoken word raps. The defining feature of this curious blend is his voice that holds the whole thing together, as it lays somewhere in between Morgan Freeman and Kano and seems to drip over the instrumentals and hang in the air. Yet, this proved to be a tame opening compared to what was to follow as the rain got heavier by the time Slaves took to the stage. 

The rain didn't dampen the primal (their words not mine) duo's spirits though, as they arrived with lightsabers and proceeded to have a battle that ended with both of them on the floor following opener ‘Are You Satisfied?’. This cheekiness carried on throughout the set, somewhat contrasting their thumping, aggressive tracks from their brilliant debut album, including  rousing singles 'Cheer Up London' and the sinister 'The Hunter'. However there was one glaring omittance as their self described aquatic ballad of Feed The Mantaray didn't get an airing. The Kent pair were their normal playful selves as they interchanged compliments and quizzed which member of the crowd had lost their shoes. Yet the charm melted away during their customary crowd surf to closer ‘Hey’ as Isaac refused to finish the song until his hat was returned from the crowd. After 5 minutes, chants of "where's his hat?" and Laurie making light of the situation, the hat was returned and the set was brought to a fittingly chaotic close. 

The contrast between Slaves and first day headliners The Charlatans couldn't have been more drastic. The former saw pogoing and moshing from the crowd whilst the latter saw kids on the shoulders of their parents and questionable dance moves from the middle aged members of the crowd. But The Charlatans proved they're still on form some 25 years after their first release with a career spanning set and cuts from new album Modern Nature. New tracks such as ‘So Oh’, which was given an extra atmospheric edge as dusk fell, and ‘Come Home Baby’ mixed seamlessly with the older, more familiar tracks from their back catalogue including ‘One to Another’ and the crowd pleasing ‘Only One I Know’ which still sounds fresh to this day. All of this shows that theirs still life left in the band yet as they brought their set to a close with a sprawling, woozily psychedelic 8 minute rendition of ‘Sproston Green’ that sent the crowd home happy. 

But my nights work wasn't done as there was still the small matter of seeing rising stars Yak at The Great Gatsby on Division Street where the upstairs venue felt like you were seeing a band in the living room of a terraced house. Starting half an hour later than planned due to technical difficulties and with frontman Ollie Burslem looking like a cross between Harry Koisser and Chilli Jesson with a maniacal grin spread across his face, their thunderous live show impressed the criminally small crowd. Coming off like a more psychedelic Queens of the Stone Age, it's easy to see why the band has their hype with the stop start ‘Smile’ and the furious ‘Hungry Heart’ hammering around the small room like somebody had let a jackhammer loose to spiral out of control. Mosh pits ensued for the raucous closer of ‘Plastic People’ and showed just why Yak are labelled as one of the next big things. 

With that the first day of Tramlines was over and as we went in search of a midnight snack, the most pleasing thought was that we get to do it all again the next day. 

Ones To Watch in 2015

Now we're deep set in January and the gloom is starting to take hold, I thought it'd be a good idea to put a bit of sparkle into the most depressing month of the year by showcasing 5 up and coming bands that look set to explode over the next 12 months. So give your ears a little treat and listen to what are the best new bands in Britain.

1. Bloody Knees

Cambridge's Bloody Knees have been making quite a racket throughout 2014 and 2015 looks set to be the year they finally explode. Consisting of Sam Conway, Brad Griffiths, Christian Wilkes and Tom Wilkes they're every bit as gruesome as their name suggests with lyrics such as "I'm covered in blood / but at least I'm having fun" from the title track of their brilliant Stitches EP, seeming to embody the band. They have a distinct post-punk sound as they're driven by Brad's spiky, gritty vocals that bleed into crunching, skater punk type riffs and pounding drums, you can see just why they have a notorious reputation for crazy live shows (see reviews of their latest gig at The Old Blue Last if you need proof). 2015 is there for Bloody Knees to conquer and make their own, that's if they manage to avoid any further injuries along the way.

2. Pretty Vicious 

If you're looking for a hit of straight up bratty rock 'n' roll for the year to come then look no further than Pretty Vicious. The Merthyr Tydfil quartet have every music label in the country vying for their signature despite only currently having one song online and all being aged between 16 and 18. But don't let their age define them; they're already fully fledged rockstars. They're the perfect blend of the most successful British rock bands in recent times with nods to Arctic Monkeys and Oasis but their youthfulness breathes new life into their traditional indie-rock sound that sets them apart from the rest of the bands following the formula. Pretty Vicious currently have the world at their feet and they have the looks, the confidence and, most importantly, the tunes to fire themselves into 2015 head first. There's no question about it; they're gonna be massive.

3. Best Friends 

Having recently signed to Fat Cat Records, Sheffield DIY favourites Best Friends are certainly in for an eventful year in 2015. Lewis Sharman, Ed Crisp, Tom Roper and Jack Collister are a band that are typically at home when the sun is out and summer is in full swing with their uplifting lyrics that tumble over fuzzy riffs but they suit anytime of year as their surf-pop charm infectious. You simply can't help but want to dance about like a lunatic no matter where you are and that is part of their appeal; they just make you want to have fun. They spent the latter end of 2014 in the studio recording their debut LP which looks set to be released this coming year, it's safe to say that in 2015 Best Friends will finally get the recognition they've deserved for so long.

4. Slaves 

Isaac Holman and Laurie Vincent hail from Kent and combine to make garage punk duo Slaves and they are possibly the most smartly dressed band on this list but don't let their dapper appearance fool you; they produce some of the best in your face punk to come out of Britain in recent years. Their brutal riffs, thunderous drums and Isaac's distinct shout that seems as if he's having it forcibly removed from his mouth through gritted against his will; it instantly makes you sit up and take notice. Having already finished recording their debut LP and scored the illustrious opening slot on the NME awards tour, Slaves are set to take 2015 by storm.

5. The Magic Gang

Being made up of members of several bands such as Abattoir Blues, YRRS and Home School works in The Magic Gang's favour as it has created a whole new low-fi movement that is slowly starting to seep out from it's Brighton roots across the UK. Channeling early Weezer, their distorted, nostalgia ridden slacker sound has already built them a core following that shout back every lyric of every song at their already notorious live shows. This is mainly due to their songs being so catchy and possessing huge, skyscraper choruses that get indented into your brain. They're already adding to their back catalogue that currently stands at 2 songs that are available to listen to online as they've recently been in the studio and have already showcased new material at recent gigs, it looks as if The Magic Gang's steady rise is about to take off in 2015.