April 9, 2008
MeeBOX (STILL NO NEWS) SPOON VID & BUG 07
DON’T MAKE ME A TARGET
The last time I spoke to someone at the BBC about my pilot MeeBOX they said there was still no confirmed transmission date but it might get shown in May, half a year after it was delivered. Things move slowly in the world of TV scheduling and that’s nobody’s fault but it’s very frustrating from my point of view not to be able to show you the fruits of last year’s labours, all of which I’m very pleased with, especially as BBC3 were originally talking about transmitting the show much earlier this year. However I’m grateful they commissioned the show at all and I don’t want to upset anyone at the Castle by putting stuff on You Tube before the show goes out but I’m hoping they won’t object too strongly to me re-posting this video I made for Spoon, an edited version of which turns up at the end of MeeBOX. This was on You Tube for a week or so last summer and then got taken down when the decision was made to include it in the pilot so it’s not as if it’s being unveiled for the first time ever.
In fact it was shown at BUG 06 last month and the audience liked it. That said someone who looked like a promo director of some kind (on account of his trendiosity) approached me in the bar after the show and said “I thought showing the Spoon video was very brave”. “How d’you mean?” I asked. “I just thought it was really, really brave” he said inscrutably before blending back into the trendy throng. I honestly don’t know if he was putting the video down or not. Perhaps he meant it was foolhardy of me to abuse my privileges as host by showing my own home made stuff. Surely not. I dunno.
Some people don’t seem to know what to make of the vid and they expect it to be either cooler or funnier, but it was just supposed to be a very quick, cheap response to a song that stood out when I first heard Spoon’s excellent last album, GA GA GA GA GA. I know the band are aware of it, because I showed it to lead singer Britt Daniel when I first met him. He was polite but a little mystified. Can’t blame the guy though. What other response is appropriate when you’re alone in a tiny dressing room with a sweaty fan who has just shown you a sweaty fan video starring themselves mugging furiously to your anti war song?
I’m happy to say we’re on slightly less sweaty fan terms now. In fact here’s a picture of me with Britt at February’s Spoon show at The Scala. The band were on top form but I couldn’t see a fucking thing as the place was so packed. It’s the short people who suffer when their favourite band gets famous.
BUG 07, 22nd MAY 2008 @ BFI SOUTHBANK
Speaking of being packed out, tickets for BUG 07 on Thursday 22nd May 2008 go on sale to the general public (ie. non BFI members) this Friday 11th April. You can book here so make sure you get in early as they really do go quickly. In fact that’s why there is an additional show (featuring the same videos) the following week on 27th May but I won’t be hosting that one as I’m away. We’re lining up a top class guest host however so if you do miss out on BUG 07 that’s always an option. If we do repeated nights in future I’ll almost certainly be hosting them too though. There’s also talk of us doing BUG events at some festivals this year but I’ll let you know when that’s confirmed.
Cheery tut-goodbye ho!
