Most bands who have played Danmark in the past have visited Christania - the Free Town - to play the five venue hopper, or to do some shopping. Recently the Danish Liberal-Conservative government decided to try an normalise Christania in every possible way by letting the police persecute the people in the area, laying plans for knocking down houses and building blocks of flats and, in general, trying to put an end to the Free Town by intergrating it into standard Copenhagen.

A huge festival last Friday backed by thousands of people marked and supported the strut of the campaignfor the right to be different and abmormal and the values for a society to grant such rights.

Christania has many fine music venues. The Danish Academy of Rock and Popular Music sent out the following press release:

Don't kill Christania's music life

Christania isn't just Pusher Street - it's a lot more than that. Since its foundation, the Free Town has given space for a varied music environment which has been like a cross-section of Danish music history and has never been afraid of experimenting, development, curiosity and fellowship.

The Danish Academy of Rock says that this solitary environment must be preserved.

In a time where mainstreaming and following the crown is commonplace in the music industry, Christania is a decisive voice with its freedom of speech which can put development into picture and give an opposing view. And venues such as 'The Flea Market', 'Nemoland', 'The Moon Fisher', 'The Opera', 'Woodstock', 'The Rock Machine' and 'The Grey Hall' prove their right to exist every day against the all-enclosing uniformity of today.

"Therefore we must preserve Christania. Our greatness as a society shows its self in what we can tolerate with a smile. The Free Town is like a mirror where we can see our own weaknesses, but also all of our possibilities" says the Academy.

The Danish Academy of Rock is a independent forum for free minded discussion of all subjects that concern Danish rock or pop music and its circumstances. The members are a long list of the most tone setting musicians, music professionals and music journalists.

Leif Skov