Klaxons / Spending Cuts

I've decided that although I am advertising this blog as a "PR-Centric" product, that's not the only thing I'm going to talk about...

Last night I went to see Klaxons in Bristol, on the last leg of the BBC Radio 1 Student Tour. At the time I just thought of it as another gig, with the Radio 1 crew (Zane Lowe et al) doing an OB (outside broadcast) there.

But after that I thought about the 'bigger picture' regarding the freeze that has been put on the TV Licence fee (£145.50 for the next 6 years) and the fact that the BBC has to pick up the bill for things which were previously government funded (Like the BBC World Service and Welsh broadcaster S4C) and how much thinner the budget would be stretched.

In the future will events like the Radio 1 Student Tour be axed? Will the extensive Glastonbury coverage be scaled back? Will stations like 6Music and the Asian network finally be closed?

The answer is: probably. Which is a huge shame, and despite all the 'bad PR' that the BBC continually gets embroiled in (such as 'Sachs-gate with Russell Brand and Jonathon Ross) it still represents good value for money, offers decent programming and one of the best websites in the UK.

I'm finding it increasingly harder to become interested in all the talk of 'cuts' in the spending review. I watched footage from Prime Minister's question time, then hours upon hours of newsreaders picking apart the minutiae of what it would mean for "you at home" but the truth is, after watching looped coverage for a few hours, I didn't care as much as I should have.

I sometimes wish we in Britain were more like the French, who have been out rioting about (near enough) the same things. The retirement age has been raised to 62 (from 60) across the Channel, and everyone's up in arms about it, striking (they do love a good strike), storming The Bastille, throwing Molotov cocktails at riot police - actually going out and making themselves heard.

Over here we've quietly accepted these spending cuts, grumbled quietly about it, and just plundered along. Now I'm not saying we should be driving cars to Whitehall, torching them, and throwing missiles everywhere (although the idea of rioting is strangely alluring!) but it seems more people care about Wayne Rooney wanting to leave Manchester United? I don't understand this country (and I probably never will).

Anyway, thats enough of a rant there. I promised some Klaxons, so here's a nice little video of them performing 'The Same Space' from last night:



Thanks for reading what is probably a bit of a rant there! If you didnt read it, and just scrolled down to the video, go back up to the top and have a read please!

Feel free to leave a comment (about the spending cuts, or what you think of Klaxons)

Paul