Artists React and Reach Out as London Riots Continue

Sony warehouse fire in London on August 9, 2011

The people of London are taking Bob Marley's song "Burnin and Lootin" to heart with a multiple-day riot that has not yet ended.

The riots, which are a response to police shooting and killing 29-year-old Mark Duggan, have affected other cities as well, including Leeds, Liverpool, Nottingham and Birmingham. Thus far, four nights of violence have taken place.

In the midst of the madness, a three-story Sony warehouse in Enfield that was stocked with materials from over 150 indie labels was burned to the ground by rioters on August 8. The building, which was owned by Sony DADC, contained stock for Domino Records and XL Recordings, among others, and was the main warehouse for indie distributor PIAS.

Naturally, this is a major bummer for all of the artists on any label that had its stock in the PIAS warehouse. That's exactly why other artists are showing their support for the musicians that are mourning the loss of their stock of records.

Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos tweeted, "Thoughts go out to all the labels who have lost their stock in PIAS fire."

M.I.A. tweeted, "I'm going down to the riots to hand out tea and Mars bars."

Meanwhile, Kate Nash and members of the Kaiser Chiefs are aiding in the cleanup of the riots. The Kaiser Chiefs' lead singer Ricky Wilson tweeted about heading outside with brooms and urging others to do the same. Kate Nash tweeted that she was out and about with trash bags and was pleased to see parts of the community coming together to help clean up London.

Hopefully the riots will end shortly. In the meantime, some Londoners are doing their part to speed up the process.

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