David Rovics

No, not drowning our sorrows in some dubious shebeen bewailing the fickleness of the electorate, although there may have been an element of that.

Nor gnawing fingernails to the quick in front of the television trying to make sense of the incomprehensible swingometers and graphics, but joining in gleeful rebellion and celebrating Somalian piracy - yes, you read that right - with activist/song-writer David Rovics.

Rovics, who has carved himself out a name in left-wing folk circles over the last two decades was performing at the Islington Folk Club, one of several London dates on the British leg of his tour.

For the uninitiated, the New Yorker is a political troubadour very much in the Wobbly tradition of Joe Hill and later political folk-singers Woodie Guthrie and Phil Oakes.

Having been introduced to Rovics's music some years ago through his Palestinian-themed album Return I am constantly surprised that, although well known in certain circles, he remains unknown to many.

The upstairs room of the Horseshoe pub made for an intimate and appropriately relaxed venue for Rovics, no backstage area or heavy-handed security - in short, no barriers.

Opening with the aforementioned Pirates Of Somalia, Rovics immediately set the tone for the evening by paying tribute to revolutionaries and rebels everywhere who struggle to throw off the yoke of capitalist oppression.

At times riotously humorous at others painfully poignant, the singer spun tales of direct action for children, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the passing of the last member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

One of the evening's standout songs celebrates the heroics of the St Patrick's Battalion, the Irish brigade which fought with the Mexicans against the US in the 1846-8 war. Others, such as the excellent Burn It Down and East Tenesse, could have been penned by Edward Abbey himself.

The left itself did not escape a spot of mockery either with a rousing version of I'm A Better Anarchist Than You, which hilariously punctures the "prolier than thou" attitude of some sections of the movement.

But despite the articulate rage, as with all true revolutionaries, Rovics's message is one of compassion and love, as illustrated by the inclusion of such ballads as Life Is Beautiful.

The finale to the evening was a stirring chorus of The Internationale, which served as an excellent antidote to the pervading feeling of gloom felt by many that night.