Critical mass

So - while I'm away in the company of (so-called) anarchists at a punk rock festival there is rioting on the streets and insurrection everywhere you look. I don't know, you turn your back for five minutes... to this end my first day back in the real World on Tuesday was spent clearing the shop windows in grim anticipation of organised trouble in the Uxbridge area. Word had got around on Twitter that there was a meeting planned at 4 o'clock outside the station with havoc and chaos to follow - mind you it also said that there were overturned cars on fire at Brunel University and hundreds of hoodie - wearing youths amassing in Fassnidge Park preparing to take over the town, which judging by the number of people tweeting things like 'well I've just walked my dog through there and there's no one about' was either panic or wishful thinking depending on your point of view. For what my opinion is worth it always saddens me to see working class people attacking other working class people and their property and possessions - it just gives those in power more reasons to say that they need to have more power over us. Look out for a right wing backlash from the 'hang 'em / flog 'em / deport 'em' brigade any time soon.

Incidentally two more clips have surfaced from last weekend's 'T.V. and Leigh' gig - along with 'Lion And The Lamb' which featured in the last posting 'Coming In To Land' and 'Man Down' (in black and white - excellent!) capture the atmosphere well, or certainly the atmosphere as I remember it. It would be nice to have the whole show - I wonder if the feeds to the screens were recorded?

Let's get back to the unreal World for a while, or more specifically the online World. Ian Husbands came into the shop this week - he's an old mate that I hadn't seen for a while (I think I last saw him when he helped us find a venue for a Price reunion gig way back in 2006) and it was good to catch up on things. Somewhere in the course of our conversation he revealed that he's involved with a podcast called Music Scene Investigation, in which three new songs by up-and-coming acts are reviewed by a panel of musicians and / or music industry people who then vote their favourite as 'Song Of The Week'. Somewhere else in the course of our conversation I somehow agreed to appear on this Sunday's addition, which goes out at 9 p.m. on the msi website. If nothing else it should be fun, if only to see if I can get to grips with using Skype...