A few musings on the Coronation

 I didn't watch the King's Coronation on Saturday. I was busy. I was setting up the sound, stage and lights for the Centenary party to celebrate 100 years of The Mill Hill Services Club. My band, The False Dots, were playing, along with local legends, The Alan Warner Band. Alan has been playingt with '60's Superstars The Foundations since the bands inception. Alan is an old mate, I am a big admirer of his playing and it was a great opportunity for a catch up.

I have to admit that my attitude to the monarchy has changed over the last 20 years. I've always felt that the concept of a hereditary head of state is outdated, anachronistic and past it's sell-by date. I have to admit that the last ten years have lead to a re-evaluation. A system that gives us Tony Blair, David Cameron and Boris as PM's, and gives the USA Trump and Biden cannot claim to be working or a model for anyone. It is worth noting that elections also gave Russia Putin. Now I am not claiming that I have lost faith in democracy, but no fair minded person could say that Queen Elizabeth was a model of what a good Leader should be.  When we say that something is anachronistic and outdated, we need to look at whether it still performs a useful purpose. Lets consider something such as the Victoria and Albert Musuem. It has successfully reinvented itself, with exhibitions such as the amazing Bowie collection. The building is the same, but the way it works is different to what I remember as a child.

And what about the Monarchy. Charles is a divorcee, like many people in the UK. At his Coronation, representatives of all the major UK faiths attended. His family now wash their dirty linen in public. As to the role of the Monarchy? It seems to me that the most useful function they have is dishing out gongs to people who deserve them for great work in the community (and no I don't mean people who bung political parties huge cash wads) and to give us an excuse for a party, as we had at the weekend. They also bring in cash, as tourists do love a good gawp at Buckingham Palace. 

As to the constitutional role of the Monarch. Given some of the Prime Minitsers we've had over the last few years, someone telling them that the latest idiocy they've come up with is not British may not actually be such a bad thing. In a perfect world, we'd elect people who were fit to do the job, but that seems to be beyond us as a nation. When I think about the Royals, the one thing in their favour is that they spend their lives being prepared for the job. This doesn't seem to make them any better at keeping their pants up than the rest of us, but at least know how to smile at the right time and nod their heads when they are supposed to. 

I've come to the conclusion that as a species, we are not quite mature enough to live in fair and just societies. Once we elect people, we go off them. It's almost as if we hate them for showing us how rubbish our own judgement is. As we don't elect Monarchs, we have nothing to resent them for.

As for the "Not my King" protestors. Whilst I agree with what they are saying on a logical level,  it is crazy that the Police are wasting their time arresting them. I have to say that if we got rid of the Monarchy, we'd miss out on all those wonderful parties that we have when they reach their Jubilee. Life can be miserable and anything that lifts the misery of our existence for a few hours has to be good. I also tend to think that whether we have a Monarch or not changes nothing day to day in GReat Britain for the good. I for one, don't wake up thinking "Oh how I hate having a King". I personally wouldn't pledge allegiance to him and if he has any sense at all, he wouldn't be bothered by the fact. 

A lot has been made out of the failure of Liverpool fans to sing the National Anthem, with many booing. It's a free country and if that's how they feel, that''s their business. If King Charles genuinely is upset, maybe he could reach out to them and address some of the issues that have caused a disconnect between Liverpool and the UK establishment. If he isn't bothered, he can ignore them just like every other establishment figure since Michael Heseltine had done. 

And what about the actual event. I saw a few highlights. Perhaps the highlight from the coverage that I saw and from social media was the appearance of Penny Mordaunt in a completely insane outfit holding a massive sword. The highly erotic symbolism of this act certainly turned a few heads. MAny people on twitter are highly upset about the reaction to this. Apparently if someone wears an outrageous costume and carries a massive sword, we shouldn't comment. I'm sorry, but I quite enjoy the absurdity of the human condition and there is probably nothing more absurd that I will see this week. I'm a grown up and I'm not going to be looking Ms Mordaunt up on any dating apps, but I doubt anyone with eyes didn't have a pang of interest in her appearance if they are honest. I've seen all of the tweets condemning her as an evil harridan, but I suspect those who are shreiking loudest are the ones who felt the biggest and most unwelcome rumblings in their loins. There is nothing quite as discombobulating as realising that you have the hots for someone who you think you shouldn't. I well recall having a massive crush on a girl at school. All of her family were psychopaths and I knew that any interest in her would be met with certain death. All this did was make her more attractive. I feel the pain of those caught in such a conundrum. 

To sum up. I've reached the point in my life where I can accept things that are ridiculous, if they don't  hurt anyone. If the UK was being released from Alien Subjugatuon after a thousand years yesterday, there's no way we'd have a hereditary monarch. If there was a referendum to abolish the Monarchy and give all their cash to the NHS I'd vote in favour of that. But whilst we have them, I'll enjoy the spectacle. I really can't think of anyone who I'd rather see as the Head of State then King Charles. Rishi and Keir are uninspiring characters to say the least. For me it would be Suggs or Pep Guardiola (if he'd do it), but I'm not sure that would be universally accepted. I much preferred the Queen. Having a kindly old lady worked for me. Maybe we should keep the idea but just have a raffle for realtively sprighly, kindly old ladys, who's had a life of poverty and give them a few good years at the end of their lives. Give em a few Corgis and a Palace. I just can't get too upset about things that don't really upset me. 

The truth is that we had a wondeful party at the Mill Hill Services club on Saturday and that will be my abiding memory. Here's a short snippet of The Alan Warner Band performing the Foundations "Build Me Up Buttercup" from the party

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The Mill Hill Music Festival 2022 - Rog's Festival Diary Day 1 - Saturday 11th June

 Ever wondered what it's like to organise a music festival. We are now in the middle of the Mill Hill Music Festival. Saturday saw the opening night at the Adam and Eve pub in Mill Hill. I always share my studio diary with my friends who read the blog. I find it useful to record the events, so that when we organise the next one, I have a reference and a checklist. We've spent a year planning the festival. The first meeting was about a year ago. The first meeting is a fairly informal "Shall we do it and what would we like to put on". We then have another meeting in September to firm up our ideas, work out when, which venues we want and which artists we want to use. This is firmed up. As we moved into 2022, the meetings move from strategic to logistic. It seems strange to think that we were planning the festival with the spectre of the pandemic hanging over us. It really was touch and go as to whether we proceeded, especially when news of the Omicron wave hit. Our logic was along the lines that if we didn't do it this year, we may never. At Easter, we published the line up and printed the brochures. Almost immediately disaster struck. We had booked Joe Angel for the opening night. Joe is an amazing Reggae artist and is loved by the festival fans. Sadly he had to withdraw. I am lucky that being in the music industry, I have a stack of mates who can step up and do me a favour and we were lucky to get Alan Warner of the Foundations to take the slot. Alan is an old mate and it was a pleasure. Alan suggested that I got my band, The False Dots to support them, which I hadn't thought of, but we share lots of mutual friends so it worked very well. 

Saturday started with me picking up a van that was kindly lent to us by Mill Hill's most amazing Kitchen Design Company, Kitchens with Elegance. The festival only manages to run because wonderful folk like Paul and Mary from KWE kindly do this, meaning our costs are minimal. I had an early start at the studios as we had Rockschool Exams. This is an important part of our business, so I have to be around when they are setting up. Once they were in, we visited our storage garage and retrieved swinging signs that we use to advertise the festival. Once these were in place, I went home, walked the dogs, had lunch and got a haircut (need to look my best for a show!). I then tried to have an hour's downtime, but the phone went. At 5pm, I drove to the studios and collected the stage, the PA system, the lights and the backline. It was a quick schlepp up the hill to The Adam and Eve and then build the stage, set up the PA, lights and backline and wait for the bands. 

We had a bit of a hiccup. My band were meant to help me set up, but our bassplayer Fil had a recording and Graham had issues at his flat to sort out. They both arrived at 8pm, we were meant to start at 8.30pm.

Bang on the dot, we kicked off. We had wondered how many people would turn up, but by the time we started playing, the pub was pretty busy and the crowd enjoyed our set. We played for 40 minutes and then cleared the stage for the Alan Warner Band. It was a first for me. I've never been the lead singer in the band before, always doing guitar and backing vocals. I quite enjoyed it!

I was doing the sound for them. By the end of their first set, the whole pub was boogie'ing. There were probably 150-200 people there which was an excellent crowd for the first night. We were lucky that it was a beautiful day and the garden was packed as well. 

At then end, there was a real community effort to help us get the gear out ASAP. As well as Dan, Stephen and Gerry from the Festival, a special thanks to Lizzie, Brian, Paul L, Ian McGreevy and Umary, who helped us load. Thanks also to the staff at the Adam and Eve who were wonderful and ensured we had everything we needed. 

It was a marvellouys first night. I got home, had a sandwich, walked the dogs and was tucked up in bed by 1pm. I was absolutely shattered yesterday though. I'm really out of practice doing this!

Here is a song from my band. A rather bluesy number, I hope you like it.