Review: Commoners Choir

They sing songs about social injustice and inequality but that doesn’t mean they are in any sense worthy – it’s all done with just the right amount of irreverence and plenty of humour. They make a powerful sound and deliver messages that pack a mighty punch. The choir are currently on a tour of libraries in the North of England that are under threat from cuts. On Saturday lunchtime, Keighley Library, the first Carnegie library in England, and we are told, touchingly, the first meeting place of the parents of one of the choir members, was packed as the 50-strong choir raised the roof while raising awareness of the importance of public libraries. The playlist was diverse and unapologetically political – it included songs about homelessness, the refugee crisis, the invention of the printing press, the Kinder Scout trespass and the movement of the Royal Photographic Society’s collection from the Media Museum in Bradford to the V&A in London.

The unifying themes throughout were humanity, solidarity, activism – and hope, even in dark times.

At Carlisle Library April 23 and Doncaster Library April 29.