Barnet Community Campaign Xmas Gig

Just got back from a highly successful Barnet Community Campaign Xmas gig at the Claddagh Ring. These things take a lot of work to put together and the whole event ran really smoothly. We had a few great guest speakers. Paul from the GMB Union on the effects of community, Alex from FCHS on the student campaign, John Burgess from UNISON on the effects of cuts in Barnet. Special praise must be given to Alex. He's 16 years old and spoke with more eloquence and passion than anyone from the Barnet Labour party for a very,very long time. He had no prepared speech, but he made a few excellent points, with passion. The Borough of Barnet is lucky to have him. I hope a few Barnet Tories were watching him on the www.gotseen.com broadcast as I'm sure that if he stays in the area, he's going to become a huge player in local politics. He understands organisation and the need to do things the right way.

And on to the music. We had a couple of great acoustic artists. Nick G kicked off with a set of 5 songs. It's always a hard task, opening a show. Nick did  a fine job - check out his music -http://www.myspace.com/nickgtunes. Next up we had Trevor from Radfax. Trevor is an organiser of the Peace camp and a video chroniclor of note - check out the Radfax Youtube channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/radfax -

The first full band were The Hamptons. A great band, with a bright future - Their song Peace could be a massive hit with the right promotion. Next up, Connie with The False Dots (my band). Connie is just back from touring with Emmanual Jal and she's doing a big gig with him at ULU on Friday, we were very lucky to have her. She's truly awesome. The show was closed by the Alan Warner Band. Al is the guitarist from the Foundations, but tonights set was a selection of his favourite covers. Al is truly brilliant. He's been the godfather of the Barnet music scene for years. I recorded my first demo in his studio in 1979. The Polecats recorded their first single, Rockabilly Guy there. You really won't find a better guitarist anywhere.

We had a great crowd and I am truly proud to be involved with everyone who helped to put it on. A rather bizarre thought crossed my mind as I chatted to Barnet Unison rep, John Burgess. Both he and Barnet CEO Nick Walkley are no nonsense Northerners. They both strike me as very bright guys and both strike me as people who can see through bullshit. What I really don't get is why Nick Walkley just can't see through the fact that so much of the cost justification for One Barnet & Future Shape is complete bollocks.

Nick, if you are reading this, I'm inviting you out for a few beers, with myself. If you can explain to me over a pint why Future Shape is not a crock of shite and that you really believe in it, I'll stop slagging it off in the blog if your logic stacks up. I've seen all sorts of figures and it just doesn't work. I know there have to be cuts, but this isn't the way. This blog has now had 200,000 hits. If I spoke complete bollocks, I'd get none.The people of Barnet trust this blog. If you really have the courage of your convictions, then it's time to have a pow wow and get your views to my readers. Real leadership is not leading the troops over the cliff, sometimes it involves taking stock and changing tack. Now is the time. True leaders are not scared of their own shadow