Post by markwj on Nov 12, 2007 12:51:06 GMT
Jello Biafra
Pacific Road Arts Centre, Birkenhead
6/11/07
Close encounters of the political kind
A few years since the ex-Dead Kennedy’s front man’s last visit on his epic spoken word tours, which was also close to bonfire night I recall. Me and Dave Cox ventured up to get an update on his current take on the (police) state of the world, some incendiary thoughts, words and deeds to stoke our own fires of resistance. A lot of grant money had obviously been splashed on converting this large factory/warehouse building into an arts space, not sure Birkenhead is as much of a deprived area as Objective 1 Wales but it can certainly look it in parts. Anyway, a lot of attentive staff and a quality sound and lights system, fresh and unsullied. Shame their forthcoming program seems quite MOR, maybe that justifies the Arts in the title. As Jello commented himself on his first visit to the town he found it a lovely place, nice and clean. Well, it was dark, or maybe he was being ironic. The ticket prices were a steepish £15 but a new local friend of mine who’d got some then couldn’t go gave me an incredibly generous BOGOF deal, very much in keeping with the spirit of the occasion. Even better this was for a table in front and centre of the stage, allowing some good bootleg filming opportunities. The rest of the hall filled up reasonably, 100+, but then it was competing with a Tranmere home game for some!
The customary “you are now under martial law” introduction heralded his entrance to stage, again clad in his pseudo police / charity shop security guard uniform (“it pays to fit in, in the police state.”) After his welcoming introductions, he gives an instant left right combination of two of his almost spoken rap/lyric pieces. “Ass clowns”, that he had provided for a recent Ministry track of the same name, expanded on though, detailing the shitty corrupt Washington take on democracy, and “die for oil, sucker”, that he had originally done for the first Gulf War and was as sad as anyone that he had had to update, yet again.
From there he relaxes into a freer flow, showing us some examples of the insane junk mail he has received at home in San Francisco, including a lovely photo of Dubya and Wife mailed direct to him thanking him for his ongoing hard work and support! Surely someone’s pisstaking in the campaign office, they’ve certainly got access to all personal information. And while he demonstrates the more obvious hypocrisies of future president elect Schwarzenegger (“bought” in to offset energy crisis prosecutions, "beware Austrians who want to rule the world") it’s interesting to hear some on Hilary Clinton (kind of forgot to mention Iraq being a concern on voter questionnaires) and Boroco Bama, the much hyped black alternative, who is not at all, promoting military options in Pakistan for example. His ultimate warning on participatory politics is that while voting does matter we should never accept any electronic element (organised/run by corporations) to it over here as that has basically resulted in 2 fake results over there.
My scribbled notes trying to catch these verbal hand grenades inevitably scatter off in all directions but the major core themes are civil liberties, international politics, and alternative action. Some gems on Iraq, that those dodgy elections facilitated for the purpose of wholesale corporate country rape - the country has had to pay millions in war reparations to us, the US and stacks of corporations. Death statistics are one thing but how about MTBI running at 20,000 for UK soldiers? That’s a wonderful new acronym for Medium Trauma Brain Injury. And how about 325,000 or 50% of Gulf War 1 veterans in the US now living on permanent disability. That’s a sin-drome, surely, and depleted uranium sure hasn’t gone away yet (come back in 4.5 billion years). There’s an aside on how there always was the intention to invade, set out in documents, long before 9/11 that leads to his quite perfunctory dismissal of conspiracies over this. Dave is riled, but bites his tongue for now. The new US embassy over there is the only project to be finished on time, equivalent to 80 football pitches, 10 times bigger than any other embassy in the world, in a green zone as big as a London suburb. What does that say apart from “we are here to stay”? As was always the intention in the Project for the New American Century.
Easy transition to the next target, Iran, with the history lesson on western interference with support for the depotic Shah ultimately resulting in the fundamentalist backlash. And the US’s preferred puppet after regime change. His son? But if it goes ahead it will be so many times worse on so many levels, surely they couldn’t be that stupid…
And so as abroad, so at home, the crackdown continues. The Patriot Act being made permanent gives us the warning parallels over here of our civil liberties being given in by inches with detention without trial or duration for “terrorists”. The concentration camp business is also well advanced in the US, with more contracts being set up as contingencies for immigrants, disaster evacuees and other “new programs”. What?!? 90% at Guantanamo confirmed innocent but too embarrassed to let them go, or else the excuse that “they may be tortured if they are returned to their home countries”! The big publicity of in your face airport security but only 10% of shipping is searched. The control of dissent, distant “free speech zones” for protestors, even if against fascist rallies. “Shut up and shop”, yet arrests for T-shirt slogans in the same mall where they had been bought in.
While he does refer to notes regularly he also does fly off on freestyling tangents at times, which may be why he has to somewhat rush to an ending given a strict shut down curfew. He throws in the usual Bush quotes and also the odd gibberish of one of his old teachers again, but I don’t really appreciate this. Perhaps it’s an attempt to provide some contrast and relief from the fact onslaught but it just pointless mockery in my opinion, and unnecessary, especially if it’s on every tour. There’s only a couple of little swipes at the “Dead Kennedy’s” this time, and no fighting fund collection beyond the merchandise “snake oil” so maybe it’s a good sign that things are moving on there without further draining legalities.
He does get on to the right to communicate being eroded though, and yet highlights our own failings too. The shutting off and isolation through techno gizmos, earplugs in, myspace trophy cabinets, parents facilitating this for their “artefact kids” so they don’t have to deal with them. Unlike our general (and generally ignored?) no mobiles while driving ban apparently it only applies to yoofs over there, so naturally they are up in arms about this restriction on their right to crash. Still in wrapping up, he is encouraging in his efforts to inspire people onwards and outwards in their own efforts of communicating.
We take the opportunity to do that after the show and fair play he listens to Dave’s thoughts on 9/11, in particular the “coincidental” massive insurance scam, perhaps his initial dismissal is partly due to the an element of them not being able to believe they could do that to themselves, while it seems a bit more feasible to us from afar. He also receives the treat of a Global Parasite CD and the flyer for their gig with Instant Agony inspires an “Are they still going?” We could say the same for you Jello but personally I’m very glad you are.
“Didn’t they change their name to Half Man Half Biscuit?”
Pacific Road Arts Centre, Birkenhead
6/11/07
Close encounters of the political kind
A few years since the ex-Dead Kennedy’s front man’s last visit on his epic spoken word tours, which was also close to bonfire night I recall. Me and Dave Cox ventured up to get an update on his current take on the (police) state of the world, some incendiary thoughts, words and deeds to stoke our own fires of resistance. A lot of grant money had obviously been splashed on converting this large factory/warehouse building into an arts space, not sure Birkenhead is as much of a deprived area as Objective 1 Wales but it can certainly look it in parts. Anyway, a lot of attentive staff and a quality sound and lights system, fresh and unsullied. Shame their forthcoming program seems quite MOR, maybe that justifies the Arts in the title. As Jello commented himself on his first visit to the town he found it a lovely place, nice and clean. Well, it was dark, or maybe he was being ironic. The ticket prices were a steepish £15 but a new local friend of mine who’d got some then couldn’t go gave me an incredibly generous BOGOF deal, very much in keeping with the spirit of the occasion. Even better this was for a table in front and centre of the stage, allowing some good bootleg filming opportunities. The rest of the hall filled up reasonably, 100+, but then it was competing with a Tranmere home game for some!
The customary “you are now under martial law” introduction heralded his entrance to stage, again clad in his pseudo police / charity shop security guard uniform (“it pays to fit in, in the police state.”) After his welcoming introductions, he gives an instant left right combination of two of his almost spoken rap/lyric pieces. “Ass clowns”, that he had provided for a recent Ministry track of the same name, expanded on though, detailing the shitty corrupt Washington take on democracy, and “die for oil, sucker”, that he had originally done for the first Gulf War and was as sad as anyone that he had had to update, yet again.
From there he relaxes into a freer flow, showing us some examples of the insane junk mail he has received at home in San Francisco, including a lovely photo of Dubya and Wife mailed direct to him thanking him for his ongoing hard work and support! Surely someone’s pisstaking in the campaign office, they’ve certainly got access to all personal information. And while he demonstrates the more obvious hypocrisies of future president elect Schwarzenegger (“bought” in to offset energy crisis prosecutions, "beware Austrians who want to rule the world") it’s interesting to hear some on Hilary Clinton (kind of forgot to mention Iraq being a concern on voter questionnaires) and Boroco Bama, the much hyped black alternative, who is not at all, promoting military options in Pakistan for example. His ultimate warning on participatory politics is that while voting does matter we should never accept any electronic element (organised/run by corporations) to it over here as that has basically resulted in 2 fake results over there.
My scribbled notes trying to catch these verbal hand grenades inevitably scatter off in all directions but the major core themes are civil liberties, international politics, and alternative action. Some gems on Iraq, that those dodgy elections facilitated for the purpose of wholesale corporate country rape - the country has had to pay millions in war reparations to us, the US and stacks of corporations. Death statistics are one thing but how about MTBI running at 20,000 for UK soldiers? That’s a wonderful new acronym for Medium Trauma Brain Injury. And how about 325,000 or 50% of Gulf War 1 veterans in the US now living on permanent disability. That’s a sin-drome, surely, and depleted uranium sure hasn’t gone away yet (come back in 4.5 billion years). There’s an aside on how there always was the intention to invade, set out in documents, long before 9/11 that leads to his quite perfunctory dismissal of conspiracies over this. Dave is riled, but bites his tongue for now. The new US embassy over there is the only project to be finished on time, equivalent to 80 football pitches, 10 times bigger than any other embassy in the world, in a green zone as big as a London suburb. What does that say apart from “we are here to stay”? As was always the intention in the Project for the New American Century.
Easy transition to the next target, Iran, with the history lesson on western interference with support for the depotic Shah ultimately resulting in the fundamentalist backlash. And the US’s preferred puppet after regime change. His son? But if it goes ahead it will be so many times worse on so many levels, surely they couldn’t be that stupid…
And so as abroad, so at home, the crackdown continues. The Patriot Act being made permanent gives us the warning parallels over here of our civil liberties being given in by inches with detention without trial or duration for “terrorists”. The concentration camp business is also well advanced in the US, with more contracts being set up as contingencies for immigrants, disaster evacuees and other “new programs”. What?!? 90% at Guantanamo confirmed innocent but too embarrassed to let them go, or else the excuse that “they may be tortured if they are returned to their home countries”! The big publicity of in your face airport security but only 10% of shipping is searched. The control of dissent, distant “free speech zones” for protestors, even if against fascist rallies. “Shut up and shop”, yet arrests for T-shirt slogans in the same mall where they had been bought in.
While he does refer to notes regularly he also does fly off on freestyling tangents at times, which may be why he has to somewhat rush to an ending given a strict shut down curfew. He throws in the usual Bush quotes and also the odd gibberish of one of his old teachers again, but I don’t really appreciate this. Perhaps it’s an attempt to provide some contrast and relief from the fact onslaught but it just pointless mockery in my opinion, and unnecessary, especially if it’s on every tour. There’s only a couple of little swipes at the “Dead Kennedy’s” this time, and no fighting fund collection beyond the merchandise “snake oil” so maybe it’s a good sign that things are moving on there without further draining legalities.
He does get on to the right to communicate being eroded though, and yet highlights our own failings too. The shutting off and isolation through techno gizmos, earplugs in, myspace trophy cabinets, parents facilitating this for their “artefact kids” so they don’t have to deal with them. Unlike our general (and generally ignored?) no mobiles while driving ban apparently it only applies to yoofs over there, so naturally they are up in arms about this restriction on their right to crash. Still in wrapping up, he is encouraging in his efforts to inspire people onwards and outwards in their own efforts of communicating.
We take the opportunity to do that after the show and fair play he listens to Dave’s thoughts on 9/11, in particular the “coincidental” massive insurance scam, perhaps his initial dismissal is partly due to the an element of them not being able to believe they could do that to themselves, while it seems a bit more feasible to us from afar. He also receives the treat of a Global Parasite CD and the flyer for their gig with Instant Agony inspires an “Are they still going?” We could say the same for you Jello but personally I’m very glad you are.
“Didn’t they change their name to Half Man Half Biscuit?”