Trash Orchestra played at a march against UC Santa Cruz expansion plans. Here's an excerpt from a great article about it:
Tree Sitters Thrwart Police, Reclaim Space
With great excitement, around 400 people filled the streets, turning cars around and stopping buses in their place. The sitters, who had been in the redwoods for about eight hours at that point, could hear the clanging and banging of
Trash Orchestra as the crowd grew closer. The cops, surrounded by plastic orange fencing, formed a perimeter around the trees. They were armed with pepper spray, tasers and tear-gas guns.
“We need to get food, water and blankets up to our friends” went out the call. And within minutes, tons of supplies appeared. Students went to their houses or took snacks out of dining halls, bringing back as much food as they could carry. People found water wherever they could, and in some cases donated their personal water bottles. Blankets and sleeping bags appeared and people took the sweaters off their own backs to send up into the trees. Now they just had to get the supplies past the police line.
Supporters encircled the area, looking for the best way to get to the trees. People started pushing in closer and cops responded with pepper spray and batons. Our friends were cold and hungry, and we were not about to back down and allow the cops to starve them out.
The police continued to pepper spray the crowd, and began to strike out with batons and violently tackle and arrest people who ran forward in attempts to send up supplies. At least one person was de-arrested by people in the crowd. A total of five people were arrested in this confrontation, and many more were hurt as pepper spray filled their lungs and their eyes. But this time protesters weren’t the only ones taking a beating. One cop was accidentally pepper-sprayed in the face by another cop, and another cop was punched in the face. The protesters didn’t fall back as the police pushed in, they fought back.
The protesters managed to push the police line back, surrounding the central cluster of redwood trees. As the first bit of food – a small plastic bag of trail mix – was sent up the line, everyone cheered victoriously. Supporters rushed to tie food, water and sleeping bags to the lines as fast as they could. People donated bags and backpacks to carry the supplies up in.
With excitement and momentum, the crowd continued to push the police line back. Finally, overwhelmed with the number of people who were steadfastly determined to hold their ground, the police retreated to a nearby corner. A third platform soon appeared out of nowhere and was hoisted into the trees to the tune of a cheering crowd. Eventually the police had entirely vacated the area, and we began filling it with food, laughter and music.
On April 22nd, recruiters returned to UCSC. Trash was there to help with the UnWelcoming Committee. The police presence was light, and though security within the job fair was tight, the marchers paraded and demonstrated relatively unimpeded.
As part of a nationwide day of action to mark the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War, 1500 to 2000 students in the Portland metropolitan area walked out of class on March 20.
Out in the glorious suburb of Walnut Creek, the wealthy are able to ignore the injustice of the world. There they are distracted by promises of endless consumption; new toys, new gadgets and the latest fashion. This consumption allows them to ignore the rest of the world and ignore the fact that much of the suffering in the world is due to the existence of capitalism. Consumption of natural resources, such as oil, used to create all these unnecessary items is behind much of the world’s problems. Yet those in power are only concerned about a constant flow of oil pumped out of the Middle East and into the ever expanding consumption habits of the United States; all the while, corporations make a huge profit.
March 15th, 2008, was the third permitted anti-war protest in Walnut Creek. While the majority of the participants were obediently walking on the sidewalks, a small group of radicals took to the streets. We passed through a few parts of town that the permitted march did not, to the shock and cheers of shoppers. Afterwards we ended in the same park that the permitted march ended their rally, where we were greeted with much positive feedback from those who marched on the sidewalk. It was a small step in bringing more actions into Contra Costa County.
Hundreds of people marched down Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz on December 31st, 2007, as part of the Last Night DIY Celebration while hundreds of spectators lined the sidewalks and cheered. Leading the parade was the Santa Cruz Trash Orchestra.
A parade, a street party, Balinese gamelan, fire dancing, burn barrels in the streets, bone-shaking drums, dogs and skaters on the mall, brazen square dancing in the streets, pillow fights, bagpipes, encounters with "authority" in which the people prevailed, fireworks, sparkly lights, music, DIY street barricades, DIY everything, man oh man. What's not to like?
Trash Orchestra marched at the head of the 59th annual Gault Elementary Halloween Parade. It starts at 9am on a Saturday morning and, thanks to Trash Orchestra, woke up several whole neighborhoods.
The Santa Cruz Trash Orchestra was off the hook. They played a pretty long "set" and they even got some good feedback and response from the crowd, several of which joined in to play on the "instruments". Probably the highlight of the set was when the band started marching around the downtown playing music.
Resisting