Last Amendment, formerly known as The Crass Collective and Crass Agenda, is the working title of a series of collaborations by ex-members of the

anarcho-punk Anarcho-punk (also known as anarchist punk or peace punk) is ideological subgenre of punk rock that promotes anarchism. Some use the term broadly to refer to any punk music with anarchist lyrical content, which may figure in crust punk, hardcor ...

band

Crass Crass were an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977, who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a way of life, and a resistance movement. Crass popularised the anarcho-punk movement of the punk sub ...

and others. Although Crass had formally split up in 1984,

Penny Rimbaud Penny Lapsang Rimbaud (born Jeremy John Ratter, 1943) is a writer, poet, philosopher, painter, musician and activist. He was a member of the performance art groups EXIT and Ceres Confusion, and in 1972 was co-founder of the Stonehenge Free Fes ...

Gee Vaucher Gee Vaucher (born 1945 in Dagenham, Essex, England) is a visual artist. Biography Vaucher met her long-lasting creative partner Penny Rimbaud in the early 1960s when both were attending the South-East Essex Technical College and School of Art ...

, Eve Libertine,

Steve Ignorant Steve Ignorant (born Steven Williams in 1957) is a singer and artist. Career Steve Ignorant was born in Stoke-on-Trent but grew up in Dagenham, East London. He later lived at Dial House, which since 1967 has been a self-sustaining anarchist- ...

, Andy Palmer and Pete Wright came together in November 2002 to put on a concert at the

Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by Benjamin Britten. The Q ...

in opposition to the at that time proposed War on Iraq. Although they did not all appear on the stage at the same time, most of the ex-members of Crass participated in the event under the name of The Crass Collective, along with other performers such as

Ian MacKaye Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye (; born April 16, 1962) is an American musician. Active since 1979, he is best known as the co-founder and owner of Dischord Records, a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label and the frontman of hardcore pu ...

Goldblade Goldblade are an English punk rock band from Manchester, England. The band formed in early 1995 when ex Membranes frontman, John Robb, put the band together with Wayne Simmons and former Membranes and A Witness vocalist Keith Curtis on ba ...

, the English Chamber Choir,

Fun Da Mental Fun-Da-Mental is a British-based multi-ethnic hip-hop– ethno-techno– world fusion music group formed in 1991. The group is notable for its energetic fusion of Eastern and Western musical forms, for its outspoken political stance, and for i ...

, and

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, among others. The Crass Collective continued to put on gigs and performances, usually of a collaborative nature, on a regular basis throughout 2003 at the Vortex Club in

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. T ...

, London. In October of that year however they changed the name of the project to Crass Agenda. Works by the collective have included

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

cabaret, an interpretation of

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Genera ...

's poem ''

Howl Howl most often refers to: *Howling, an animal vocalization in many canine species *Howl (poem), a 1956 poem by Allen Ginsberg Howl may also refer to: Film * ''The Howl'', a 1970 Italian film * ''Howl'' (2010 film), a 2010 American arthouse b ...

'', Crass' '' Yes Sir I Will'' and an update of

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Unde ...

' play ''

Under Milk Wood ''Under Milk Wood'' is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, commissioned by the BBC and later adapted for the stage. A film version, '' Under Milk Wood'' directed by Andrew Sinclair, was released in 1972, and another adaptatio ...

'', in which property developers move into the mythical

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village of

Llareggub ''Under Milk Wood'' is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, commissioned by the BBC and later adapted for the stage. A film version, ''Under Milk Wood'' directed by Andrew Sinclair, was released in 1972, and another adaptation o ...

. Others that have worked as part of Crass Collective/Crass Agenda include

disability rights The disability rights movement is a global new social movements, social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunity, equal opportunities and equality before the law, equal rights for all people with disability, disabilities. It is made u ...

advocate and actor

, violinist and pianist

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player

Ingrid Laubrock Ingrid Laubrock (born 24 September 1970) is a German jazz saxophonist, who primarily plays tenor saxophone but also performs and records on soprano, alto, and baritone saxophones. She studied with Jean Toussaint, Dave Liebman and at the Guildha ...

John Sharian John Sharian (born John Shahnazarian) is an English actor of Armenian descent. He appeared in the film '' The Machinist'' (2004). Education John Sharian attended the Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut and later the Kenyon College in Gambier, ...

, Julian Siegel, Gene Calderazzo, Kate Shortt, guitarist and bass player Jennifer Maidman, Ed Jones, A-Soma and others. During 2004 Crass Agenda were at the forefront of a campaign against the closure of the

Vortex In fluid dynamics, a vortex ( : vortices or vortexes) is a region in a fluid in which the flow revolves around an axis line, which may be straight or curved. Vortices form in stirred fluids, and may be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools in t ...

jazz club, which has now relocated to Hackney. In June 2005 the project was renamed Last Amendment, with their website,Southern.com
declaring the name Crass Agenda as being "no more". Their first live performance using this incarnation was on 30 June at the New Vortex club in Hackney, east London.

Discography

* ''Savage Utopia'' – featuring Eve Libertine,

Christine Tobin Christine Tobin (born 7 January 1963, Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish vocalist and composer from Dublin who has been part of the London jazz and improvising scene since the second half of the 1980s. She has been influenced by a diverse range of ...

, A-Soma, Louise Elliot,

Kevin Davy Kevin G. Davy (born 29 October 1961, Nottingham, UK) is a British jazz trumpeter/flugelhorn player, composer, arranger and bandleader. He has recorded with and toured with Finley Quaye, Lamb, Adam F and Lemn Sissay's Secret Society. He has led t ...

, Phil Robson, Liam Noble, Davide Mantovani, Matt Black (of

Coldcut Coldcut are an English electronic music duo composed of Matt Black and Jonathan More. Credited as pioneers for pop sampling in the 1980s, Coldcut are also considered the first stars of UK electronic dance music due to their innovative style, ...

) performing work by Penny Rimbaud ( Babel Label/

Exitstencil Crass Records was an independent record label that was set up by the anarchist punk band Crass. Overview and history Prior to the formation of Crass, Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher had published their creative works via their own Dial Hous ...

, 2004) * ''Penny Rimbaud's How?'' – poetry based around

's ''

'', recorded live at the Vortex Club. (Babel Label/Exitstencil, 2004) * ''In the Beginning Was the WORD'' – Live DVD recorded at the Progress Bar, Tufnell Park, London, 18 November 2004 (Gallery gallery Productions @ Le Chaos Factory, 2006)

References

External links

Last Amendment upcoming events

Video of Rimbaud/Elliott – Last Amendment – at Gavin Brown Passerby NYC on Nov 8 2006. {{Authority control Crass Free improvisation ensembles British jazz ensembles