Friday 30 October - before I get down to the nitty-gritty of music, I'm afraid I'm going to have to drag out my soap-box and indulge in a bit of a rant. On Friday 30 October the news broke that Professor David Nutt had been asked to resign as chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs after claiming in a paper that alcohol and tobacco were more harmful than many illegal drugs, including LSD, ecstasy and cannabis. The paper was based on a lecture he gave in the summer and had been published by one of the UK's leading university departments of criminology.
So, bad enough then that the government are not interested in listening to scientific advice, but to sack the man for criticising their policy, in a land that prides itself on freedom of speech, is surely a step too far. But, I was appalled when watching The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday 1 November, when Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson said, "Well I think to find yourself in a situation like this is very controversial. These things are best sorted out behind the scenes [my italics], so that the government and their advisers can go to the public with a united front." (Courtesy of the BBC website). In fact Mr Marr asked Mr Donaldson twice if the professor was accurate in his claim, and Mr Donaldson avoided answering on both occasions. Clearly the CMO wasn't prepared to put his job on the line and admit anything. It seems that our government would rather the public weren't aware of these anti-establishment views. Personally, I'm not in favour of re-classifying ecstasy from class A to class B (essentially, one of the thrusts of Nutt's paper), but I would rather I had all the facts on which to base my opinions. I don't want government controlling my opinions by feeding me only information they want me to have. This is 2009 not Nineteen Eighty-Four.
OK, rant over, here the music stuff. We had a full turn out of The Friday-Nighters as we were in the Roman Bath to watch our favourite artist, Chantel McGregor and her band; Martin Rushworth on drums and Alex Jeffrey on bass guitar. Regular readers will know that I've run out of superlatives to describe the awesome guitar playing prowess of this pocket-sized dynamo. You won't believe me when I tell you that she plays like Hendrix, unless you're actually seen her. But she doesn't just play covers of all the guitar greats; she elevates these covers and makes them better than the originals. She is simply stunning. I'm normally pretty good at playing "spot the song" but I struggle with identifying some of them. Of those that I did recognise were; Bridge To Better Days and Mountain Time (Joe Bonamassa), Help Me (Sonny Boy Williamson), Up In The Sky (Joe Satriani), Voodoo Chile, Red House, and Purple Haze (Jimi Hendrix), Daydream (Robin Trower), One Of These Days (Ten Years After), Had to Cry Today (Blind Faith), Lenny (Stevie Ray Vaughan), High (Richie Kotzen), and New Day Yesterday (Jethro Tull). You can check out videos of her performing on YouTube. Please do it. Maybe I'll see you down the Bath on 18 December 2009, that's the next time she'll be playing in York.
After the gig we stood chatting outside the Bath. Andy had finally decided to make his way home and had unlocked his fold-up bike, ready to set off. Just then, Chantel and her parents emerged from the pub and Chantel wanted to have a go on his bike. Unable to resist a pretty face, Andy relinquished his bike to her and she hitched up her skirts and began wobbling around St Samson's Square. The early morning air was filled with her laughter as she shrieked, "Mum, Dad, can I have one for Christmas?" What a lovely lass.
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