If we were
some kind of green, eco -friendly website then this article would be a
doodle to write. Primary because our heart would be in it and, more importantly,
we would understand what we were going on about. Alas, we aren't tree
hugging hippies and we are praying that the motorway near us does have
permission to cut straight through the woodlands so we can make our journey
to work slightly quicker. Our love is is in entertainment, predominantly
the music side. So when we heard Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood
were playing KOKO Bank Holiday Morning we filled our car right up with
petrol and headed straight over to Camden.
The concert was one of these fund raising events where you pretend to
be fully involved, grab one of the leaflets which describes the cause
(probably, we tossed ours in the bin straight away!) and dash to the bar
for a few pre-show pints. Perfect! Well 'perfect' if we had decided to
stay downstairs with JO Public. Once we saw the purple wristbands worn
by celebrities and MPs which included David Cameron, Michael & Emily
Eavis, Edith Bowman and Dave Gilmour we knew that he had to gain access
to the VIP room.
Job done and we could kiss good-bye standing with a bunch of common folk
for a few hours and wave hello to complimentary glasses of champagne and
a perfect view.
Kate Rusby was the first act, but nothing special. Apparently she has
already released six albums, the most recent called 'The Girl Who Couldn't
Fly', She actually picked up a Mercury Music Award in 1999 which has a
kiss of death attached to it as a large percentage of past winners have
disappeared without a trace. We guess that she appeals to a selected audience,
probably those which worship the sun and protest at people cutting down
trees - so she was given a warm welcome here tonight. When we say warm,
we don't mean a Radioactive one or anything like that!
Tonight's show was called 'The Big Ask' and was organised by Friends Of
The Earth. If we are honest it wasn't until late in the evening until
we actually figured out what the hell they were asking for and we are
still a bit in the dark. We think that FOTR are going to ask the Government
to do more about the climate and they've managed to rope in Thom Yorke
(Bono was probably busy saving half of Africa!). Another singer who helped
tonight was Super Furry Animal, Gruff Rhys. If you are Welsh and easily
offended by people slagging off your musicians than we suggest you stop
reading now and listen to your Tom Jones collection instead.
Imagine you are at Glastonbury, you are high after taking drugs and it's
4am. Somewhere at the festival you would find some mentalist playing a
musical instrument which would make a London underground busker a Grammy
winner. Gruff walked on stage dressed like a monk with a black hoodie
with his face covered to the most depressing, morbid music you've ever
heard. We've been to more lively funerals! After about 30 seconds Gruff
steps up to the mic and tells us that 'This song takes some time to get
going' and he's not wrong! About four whole minutes of this pointless
rubbish we starts muttering mindless rubbish. We haven't got a clue what
this freak is going on about. Yet when he eventually shuts up - the crowd
go mad. OK, green people do have a screw loose at the best of times but
bloody hell, if I was a Wildlife animal and knew that these morans were
trying to support my well-being I personally wouldn't count my chances
of survival. As for saving trees if one had fell on this prats head midway
through his set it would had ideally timed. An aerosol can sprayed in
his face to shut him up would had been equally welcomed. Gruff polluted
the venue for half an hour with this utter rubbish. We have nothing against
the Super Furry Animals and think they are a pretty decent live band,
but this was appalling.
Tonight wasn't good so far. These tickets had been changing hands for
thousands of pounds of eBay and they had even been fans camping out for
a decent place to stand. Was this going to be worth it? The night could
only be saved by two people.
Thom and Johnny played an hour acoustic set and it was certainly worth
waiting for. 'Paranoid Android' was one of the highlights and Thom's cool
laid back approach added to the vibe. There were also new tracks revealed
on stage tonight, 'Arpeggi' and 'Bodysnatchers'. Even though Colin and
Ed weren't on stage they were watching from the VIP area and were most
probably curious to see how the crowd took the new songs on board as within
a week they would start the Radiohead tour Copenhagen. Thom and Johnny
may not be able to save the planet but at least they saved the night!
You couldn't really class it an after show party as such, but the event which proceeded the concert in the VIP bar was pretty cool thanks to the fact that Thom Yorke made an appearance. His presence was there for a reason, which wasn't to take advantage of the canapés of free champagne. York was joined by the Director of the Friends of the Earth launch, Tony Juniper and made a speech explaining why he backed the cause. The campaign hopes to persuaded the Government to cut the amounts of carbon dioxide being released into the environment. Their aim is to cut back by 20% before 2010 and 60% before 2050. Yorke said during as part of his speech,
"This seems to be the first sane, reasoned way out of what is basically an international emergency. Any person out there who has any concern about global warming in this country, who feels powerless like I did, should think about getting involved in the Big Ask. "
After Yorke scored his brownie points with Fiends Of Earth we made a mistake, a bloody big mistake. We started speaking to a representative from Friends Of The Earth and told her that we were really interested in the cause and wanted to learn more. Now, this is just as dangerous as telling a Johannus Witness that you want to hear more about God! The conversation went something like this..
ABLE2UK:
Why do we need to look after the climate?
LADY FROM FRIENDS OF THE EARTH: Well, the climate
is changing rapidly every year and this could lead to drought and extreme
storms.
ABLE2UK: So, we will be having warmer Summers?
LFFOTE: Yes, but the air would be Radioactive.
ABLE2UK: But, we can have more Bar B Q's and trips to the Beach.
LFFOTE: But if we keep going and do nothing the environment
will be dangerous and in about 200 years time things will get out of hand.
ABLE2UK: So, it's not going to effect us?
LFFOTE: No, but it could effect your children's, children.
Especially in other European countries
ABLE2UK: How about England?
LFFOTE: Maybe places up North. Like far Scotland.
ABLE2UK: How about down South,(Where we are actually based!)
LFFOTE: Well in theory no........
We didn't bother to listen to what else she had to say, but at least you can rest assure that everything is honky dory for our lifetime and will be completely fine and roll on Summer. Lets hope it's a scorcher!