Last night we went to see The Broonzies.
A great live hoax of a band with members drawn from amongst musicians well known in the NE.
In creating The Broonzy family of which all five performers are 'cousins' the musicians have begun to weave a web of possibilities.
Inventing a faux family is not especially wicked, its not illegal, its not morally wrong its just a group of friends who are musicians creating for themselves a creative persona, after all, most Bands play under a made up name and having made up the name sometimes they begin to embody some of the essential characteristics of their invention.
When The Broonzies returned to the stage for their encore it seemed entirely appropriate to end the evening with This Could Be The Last Time by another band with a made up name, The Rolling Stones, who have certainly lived up to their chosen name by gathering no moss, they kept their hair and plenty of money, but no moss.
Some years ago I flew from Luton on a Monarch flight to Gibraltar.
On board was the TV presenter Robert Kilroy-Silk.
I was tempted to pop in to the loo and write Kilroy was here on the wall but good manners prevented me.
Mr Kilroy-Silk was briefly a member of UKIP but left after nine months calling the party 'a joke'.
If it is a joke it is neither as funny or gentle or persuasive as the family history concocted for and by The Broonzies, although the Broonzy family, like UKIP and Mr Kilroy-Silk, apparently split apart after a disagreement which left a rancour that lasted for some years and which has now been put aside and is not referred to.
Now apparently, according to Ofcom, UKIP is a 'major party' and qualifies to feature in televised debates whilst The Green Party isn't and doesn't and now the PM is refusing to take part in the debates if there is no Green Party representation..
It is a strange decision. The Green Party it seems to me has a long and respected history, founded in the 1970's it went through various personas becoming The Green Party in 1990 when it separated into separate parties in England, Scotland and Wales, Caroline Lucas a Green Party MP sits in the commons.
UKIP was founded in 1993, now it has two MP's, both former Conservatives, it has a number of members in the Upper House and is the single largest English party in the Europe Union.
Both the Labour Party and the Lib Dems are challenging David Cameron and he is being accused of using the Greens as a smokescreen because he has no desire to debate with the UKIP Leader Nigel Farage and they might be right.
But they are also wrong because, apart from Russell Brand it seems, no-one can win a debate with Nigel!
But Mr Cameron is also right because the UK is not in the business of electing Presidents, it elects parties whose leader attends HM The Queen and is then invited to form a Government.
Mr Clegg managed to wriggle his way into the debates last time and possibly affected the outcome of the election negatively, resulting in five years of a coalition for which people did not vote.
With Mr Farage, the privately educated ex Banker, posing as a man of the people, articulating the populist rejection of politics and politicians the risk of the debate ever actually addressing the issues that really matter, whether it is the NHS or the economy, is extremely high.
The gentle humour of an invented family forming a band made for an enjoyable evening of music played by talented musicians, but if Mr Kilroy-Silk is right about UKIP being 'a joke' the risk is that if these debates are aired it is the public who may find themselves the 'butt' of a joke that is in very poor taste.
A great live hoax of a band with members drawn from amongst musicians well known in the NE.
In creating The Broonzy family of which all five performers are 'cousins' the musicians have begun to weave a web of possibilities.
Inventing a faux family is not especially wicked, its not illegal, its not morally wrong its just a group of friends who are musicians creating for themselves a creative persona, after all, most Bands play under a made up name and having made up the name sometimes they begin to embody some of the essential characteristics of their invention.
When The Broonzies returned to the stage for their encore it seemed entirely appropriate to end the evening with This Could Be The Last Time by another band with a made up name, The Rolling Stones, who have certainly lived up to their chosen name by gathering no moss, they kept their hair and plenty of money, but no moss.
Some years ago I flew from Luton on a Monarch flight to Gibraltar.
On board was the TV presenter Robert Kilroy-Silk.
I was tempted to pop in to the loo and write Kilroy was here on the wall but good manners prevented me.
Mr Kilroy-Silk was briefly a member of UKIP but left after nine months calling the party 'a joke'.
If it is a joke it is neither as funny or gentle or persuasive as the family history concocted for and by The Broonzies, although the Broonzy family, like UKIP and Mr Kilroy-Silk, apparently split apart after a disagreement which left a rancour that lasted for some years and which has now been put aside and is not referred to.
Now apparently, according to Ofcom, UKIP is a 'major party' and qualifies to feature in televised debates whilst The Green Party isn't and doesn't and now the PM is refusing to take part in the debates if there is no Green Party representation..
It is a strange decision. The Green Party it seems to me has a long and respected history, founded in the 1970's it went through various personas becoming The Green Party in 1990 when it separated into separate parties in England, Scotland and Wales, Caroline Lucas a Green Party MP sits in the commons.
UKIP was founded in 1993, now it has two MP's, both former Conservatives, it has a number of members in the Upper House and is the single largest English party in the Europe Union.
Both the Labour Party and the Lib Dems are challenging David Cameron and he is being accused of using the Greens as a smokescreen because he has no desire to debate with the UKIP Leader Nigel Farage and they might be right.
But they are also wrong because, apart from Russell Brand it seems, no-one can win a debate with Nigel!
But Mr Cameron is also right because the UK is not in the business of electing Presidents, it elects parties whose leader attends HM The Queen and is then invited to form a Government.
Mr Clegg managed to wriggle his way into the debates last time and possibly affected the outcome of the election negatively, resulting in five years of a coalition for which people did not vote.
With Mr Farage, the privately educated ex Banker, posing as a man of the people, articulating the populist rejection of politics and politicians the risk of the debate ever actually addressing the issues that really matter, whether it is the NHS or the economy, is extremely high.
The gentle humour of an invented family forming a band made for an enjoyable evening of music played by talented musicians, but if Mr Kilroy-Silk is right about UKIP being 'a joke' the risk is that if these debates are aired it is the public who may find themselves the 'butt' of a joke that is in very poor taste.
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