The short answer is that I gave my press pass to a friend. To be honest, as good as it is to see Nottingham acts, a lot of whom I have worked with and possibly helped on the way up, there wasn't a great deal else on offer. I can see all of these bands any time, and the rest of the line up was pretty weak. If I'd paid thirty pounds to see this line up I'd be feeling short changed, especially as one of the steps taken by the council to systematically ruin Nottingham was the axing of the free City Pulse three day festival As we discussed on Wednesday's show, we see a lot of the same people at gigs; band members, promoters, broadcasters, and if you asked a member of the public about a band or singer then they wouldn't know who you meant.
The fact that there were some Nottingham musicians appearing at Glastonbury this year was exciting, (I say 'exciting', in my opinion Jake Bugg and Dog Is Dead don't really represent Nottingham at its very best), as that is a festival regarded as one of the best in the world. Having Jake Bugg as a headliner shows an unbelievable display of goal-hanging on the part of the organisers. It feels like we've only just got rid of him and now we're inviting him back without having changed the locks first.
Besides the Nottingham acts that did deserve to play at Splendour, the rest of the line up was the weakest one yet. In the past the festival has been headlined by Blondie, Madness, Scissor Sisters, (who I assume were booked during their twenty minute moment of something resembling relevance), and the Pet Shop Boys. The grounds of Wollaton Park, (affectionately known as 'Batman's garden') have a history of music festivals; the free Heineken Festivals of the 1980s, City In The Park, The Longest Day, and Distortion to name a few from a dusty cardboard box in the back of my memory. With that in mind, I can't help wondering if this is all part of Nottingham City Council's ongoing plan to fuck Nottingham up. The event this year sold well, so they have to up the ante now and book worse acts than this year, until a few years down the line they will be able to say that the whole thing has been cancelled due to lack of interest.
We still haven't had a sufficient explanation as to the cancellation of City Pulse yet, although the news report at the time blamed it on money. Has everyone stopped paying council tax?
When I moved to Nottingham in 2007, the city had a real feeling of excitement about it, and a feeling that anything was possible. I noticed that not only was there a shop called Jugglers, which only sold balls and bats to juggle with and is sadly now reduced to being a mere window display, but there seemed to be a fancy dress shop on every corner. The Market Square was redesigned and reopened in 2007, and a lot of people complained about it. The people who complained were wrong, as the square was able to accommodate a wide variety of events including the aforementioned City Pulse. Other treats included the big-wheel, Christmas ice-rink, and the Nottingham Riviera. All gone or reduced these days. The big wheel is now just a memory, as is the Christmas ice-rink. In fact the Christmas Wonderland went the same way as the beach; all the free entertainment scaled down in favour of stalls selling things.
Part of the problem with Nottingham is the people who harbour these apathetic thoughts; I know people who don't go to the city centre or Goose Fair because it's busy or too noisy. Don't live in a city if city life is too exciting for you. If you lived in a seaside town, you'd go to the beach wouldn't you? Wouldn't you?
The fact that there were some Nottingham musicians appearing at Glastonbury this year was exciting, (I say 'exciting', in my opinion Jake Bugg and Dog Is Dead don't really represent Nottingham at its very best), as that is a festival regarded as one of the best in the world. Having Jake Bugg as a headliner shows an unbelievable display of goal-hanging on the part of the organisers. It feels like we've only just got rid of him and now we're inviting him back without having changed the locks first.
Besides the Nottingham acts that did deserve to play at Splendour, the rest of the line up was the weakest one yet. In the past the festival has been headlined by Blondie, Madness, Scissor Sisters, (who I assume were booked during their twenty minute moment of something resembling relevance), and the Pet Shop Boys. The grounds of Wollaton Park, (affectionately known as 'Batman's garden') have a history of music festivals; the free Heineken Festivals of the 1980s, City In The Park, The Longest Day, and Distortion to name a few from a dusty cardboard box in the back of my memory. With that in mind, I can't help wondering if this is all part of Nottingham City Council's ongoing plan to fuck Nottingham up. The event this year sold well, so they have to up the ante now and book worse acts than this year, until a few years down the line they will be able to say that the whole thing has been cancelled due to lack of interest.
We still haven't had a sufficient explanation as to the cancellation of City Pulse yet, although the news report at the time blamed it on money. Has everyone stopped paying council tax?
When I moved to Nottingham in 2007, the city had a real feeling of excitement about it, and a feeling that anything was possible. I noticed that not only was there a shop called Jugglers, which only sold balls and bats to juggle with and is sadly now reduced to being a mere window display, but there seemed to be a fancy dress shop on every corner. The Market Square was redesigned and reopened in 2007, and a lot of people complained about it. The people who complained were wrong, as the square was able to accommodate a wide variety of events including the aforementioned City Pulse. Other treats included the big-wheel, Christmas ice-rink, and the Nottingham Riviera. All gone or reduced these days. The big wheel is now just a memory, as is the Christmas ice-rink. In fact the Christmas Wonderland went the same way as the beach; all the free entertainment scaled down in favour of stalls selling things.
Part of the problem with Nottingham is the people who harbour these apathetic thoughts; I know people who don't go to the city centre or Goose Fair because it's busy or too noisy. Don't live in a city if city life is too exciting for you. If you lived in a seaside town, you'd go to the beach wouldn't you? Wouldn't you?
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