Take Down The Union Jack gig

[Walt Whitmans Niece]

Thanks to the ever reliable Nat, Joe M, Joe H, Ben H, Boggy and my wife (sorry if I've forgotten anyone) for turning up and giving me the support that I needed to get me through a difficult set.

I was a bit dissapointed by the turn out, especially as there was loads of people who said they were coming and didn't. In spite of that we managed to raise ?75 for the Living Wage Campaign and hopefully a few people might go out and buy the single as well. Rumours have it that it will be in the top 20 around the number 16 area if midweek sales are anything to go by. Not bad for a record that has been given zero airplay due to it having a couple of naughty words in it. By the way Nat, is my version any good or what?

The gig was very good. 8000 X were as hilairious as expected and 68 Comeback Special were spot on. I'm afraid I didn't think too much to Just:. They were good at what they do but I felt they were a bit dull and I hate it when bands don't say anything in-between songs, not even introduce the songs.

Cheers Andy.

[Freak-A-Chu]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><table border="0" width="90%" bgcolor="#333333" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="0"><tr><td width="100%"><table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" bgcolor="#FF9900"><tr><td width="100%" bgcolor="#DDDDDD"><font size=2 face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Walt Whitmans Niece:

...groups like Amnesty International and the Anti-Sweetshop Campaign have forced many governments to assess certain human rights issues.
</font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE>

But i love sweets! why would you anyone want to get rid of sweetshops????

WAHEY

[kurts ghost]

yes... the ever reliable Ben H

[pigeon]

can some explain what this things about in just 1 sentace please? [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Walt Whitmans Niece]

Surely if you got this far then some of it must have gone in. If it didn't then I don't really see the point in trying to explain any further.

Cheers Andy.

[JOHNFREDSMITH]

yOuR AlL FuCkInG LoSeRs

CuNtS WaNkErS u LoT

BiG Up U DeAd AlTeRnAtIvE CrEw An ThA'

[DJ-Ants]

I hate gothick typfaces...........

[Rachy]

"Ginger Minger"

Oh the hilarity...

[poison dwarfo]

feeling very guilty for not going
however i have limited money and have to budget. it was either the gig or out with my friends after my last day of seven years of school, so i sacrificed the gig for that. my thoughts were with the gig tho.

[Walt Whitmans Niece]

Ron,

I'll take your comments in the spirit I think your making them in and reply likewise to the points your making.

Firstly you suggest that I'm rebelling against the system. If having an opinion about something, and voicing it, is rebelling then so be it. Does that mean I'm being "a childish bastard" for merely expressing my opinion?

Regarding how much conviction I have. How can you tell how much by a few posts on this message board. A lot of people I know have strong convictions but you wouldn't know it until you got into a debate with them. I would have thought that the effort I put into organising the gig would go, some way, to illustrating my conviction on this particular issue. I still manage plenty of time to chill out and am on the whole happy with life, however, I have the right to "kick up a fuss" about something if I want to, thats democracy, isn't it?

You are right, I am not pro-communism. If you read back over all this thread, there is no mention of me being pro-anarchism or, for that matter, harbouring a desire to bring down "the system". I merely see something I feel is wrong, ie: the monarchy, and try and open it up for debate. The reason I do this is because I feel it's something which should be debated and I get a great deal of enjoyment from the exchange.

You see my efforts at trying to get Billy Braggs single to number one as a waste of time. Fair enough, thats your opinion. The 8000 people who have already bought it this week would disagree. You have lowered the tone of your post by dismissing the song as "crap" as that is purely a subjective point.

The reasons I only play Billy's songs, with the odd occasional song by other people thrown in are as follows. I am completely untalented, my attempts to write songs are quite hideous. I am as far away from being a musician as its possible to be and I consider myself to be a barely competant guitar player. Although I enjoy a very wide range of music from different genres, I haven't found anything I enjoy playing, or I am capable of playing. as much as the stuff I do. I can assure you I have tried, if I could wake up tomorrow with the ability to write and perform songs to Billys standards, trust me I would. I get up on stage to play those songs cause I enjoy performing to the fullest extent of my ability, as well as believing that quite a lot of people also enjoy listening to it.

I am probably as big a fan of Billy Bragg as you're likely to meet, and I believe that one of the reasons I am so attracted to him (not in that way I might add) is because his politics truly reflect mine. I would find it very unlikely that a Tory voter could become so engaged with his work.

Finally, I must take issue with your accusation of ramming my views down young peoples throats. At no stage during any of my gigs have I told anyone what to think, I've only ever expressed my feelings on various subjects and left it up to those people to make up their own minds.

If you really do think that I seem like a nice guy, then the next time you see me, introduce yourself and we could maybe iron out our differences. Also if anything I do offends you or anyone else in any way then please accept my sincerest apologies.

Cheers Andy.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ May 25, 2002 04:12 PM: Message edited by: Walt Whitmans Niece ]</font>