SUMBA members skipped their classes. SUMBA members skipped their jobs. SUMBA members even skipped lying in bed procrastinating all day. That’s right, amidst countless signs and slogans reflecting the peak of human creativity SUMBA added our instruments (and a few signs and slogans of our own) to the sea of strikers for the September 20th Climate March.
Starting with an odd 80,000 others packed into the Domain, a giant (slightly deflated) inflatable Earth being tossed around the crowd reminded band members of the core purpose of this strike; the planet is becoming overwhelmed and can no longer handle being tossed aside by humans. But luckily SUMBA was there to try and help bring an end to this depressing reality…
Throughout the streets of central Sydney, traffic was brought to a halt as we blasted out our themed set list, including absolute bangers such as “The Time is Now”, “Hot Hot Hot”, “Wipeout”, and “Beds are Burning”. Of course, some SUMBA classics had to make an appearance, with much-loved classics like “Twist and Shout” and “YMCA” keeping energy levels for every striker as high as the CO2 levels in the atmosphere the whole way to Hyde Park.
Highlights have got to include a generous cow-bell owning woman joining in to add a little zest to our tunes, the sea of YMCA-ers stretched as far as the eye can see (much like my view of the ocean from USYD if sea levels keep rising), and Head of Talent Acquisition Harry Nicol’s much-loved hat. All in all, it was a wonderful day, and hopefully SUMBA and our fellow marchers have inspired some sort of climate action!
