We Want to Beat ZOMO! – Polish Rock of the Martial Law Era

On Saturday, 12 December 2026, at 7:00 p.m. at Stary Klasztor in Wrocław, the concert “We Want to Beat ZOMO! – Polish Rock of the Martial Law Era” will take place. The program features the most important rock songs of that period. The rock and nostalgia concert, with audience singalongs, will be led by WrocLove Band, well known to Stary Klasztor audiences, under the direction of Marek “Sting” Popow. Martial law was introduced across Poland on the night of 12–13 December 1981, and this concert takes place 45 years later. It was officially lifted on 22 July 1983, but de facto it lasted until 1989, when the Round Table talks ended with the elections of 4 June. Despite pervasive media censorship, the 1980s saw a flourishing of Polish rock, which returned to its roots of rebellion and defiance of the surrounding reality. Songs that were sung in chorus at concerts then took on new meaning. The audience changed their lyrics to “We Want to Beat ZOMO!” This applied, among others, to these songs: - “I'm Waiting for the Wind That Will Scatter...” – Maanam - “Who's That Man? In Those Cultured Glasses...” – Republika - “Less Than Zero” – Lady Pank - “Survive It Yourself” – Lombard - “We Want to Be Ourselves” – Perfect New artists also emerged on the independent rock scene at that time: Kult, Dezerter, Tilt, Chłopcy z Placu Broni, Sztywny Pal Azji, Emigranci, Kobranocka, Big Cyc, Voo Voo, and Wrocław's Klaus Mitffoch with Lech Janerka. Wrocław was also home to the underground band Miki Mausoleum, legendary across Poland. Their song “ZOMO na Legnickiej” became a symbol of resistance in the city, and Kazik later sang: “Wrocław has always been the last to give up!”