The Tenementals at the Cabaret; Maria Suarez 

The Calton Weavers Commemoration Comittee is delighted to announce that this year’s Great May Day was another resounding success. 

A packed theatre at The Stand Comedy Club in Glasgow gave a great ovation to the entertainers, including Chris Sheridan from The Wakes, who performed a set of powerful new songs recently written to commemorate the Calton Martyrs. The Tenementals – a six piece band specifically formed to perform songs celebrating  Glasgow’s radical working class history – also paid tribute to the Weavers with their poignant new song Broken Stones.

Sadly, two of the multi-award winning  acts scheduled to appear – comedian Vladimir McTavish and TV and film actor David Hayman – had to pull out due to unforeseen events. This was compensated, however, by two rising young talents, comedians Kim Blyth and Jack Brookmyre, who were warmly recieved by the audience.

Adding a more literary touch to the evening, poet Rosa Blyth eloquently recited some of her own powerful writings.

The event also heard from  Robert Rae of the Calton Weavers Commemoration Committee and from  a young UNITE official Daniel Friel who has been leading a six-month long strike against the exploitation of young hospitality workers at the Village Hotels group in Glasgow.

A special thanks to the brilliant Susan Morrison, a strong supporter of the Calton Weavers campaign, who compered the  evening’s eventts with warmth and humuor. Thanks  also to the staff at the Stand Comedy Club who helped make this a great night.

The event raised a much-needed £3000 to maintain the momentum of the campaign to restore the memory of the Calton Weavers.