About us   Get involved   Subscribe   Latest print issue

Take that, groupies!

Dear Auntie, As a music-obsessed greenie, the recent spate of bands reforming after years of obscurity has got me in a fix. The desire to get back in the saddle and start trailing my favourite band on tour across the globe is becoming stronger with every second that Take That! spend creating their new album. How do I reconcile my desire to be a transnational groupie to early-1990s has-beens with my environmental obligations? Is there any way of obsessively trailing my idols without resorting to multiple short-haul flights? Martha Owen, Chester

Dear Martha,

Musically, you may be beyond redemption, but there are ways to solve your environmental problem. Rather than cityhopping by plane, try travel website The Man in Seat Sixty-One for suggestions about how to wend your way between gigs by land and sea.

Trains and boats are ideal for someone of your musical inclination, with excellent scope for singalongs and improvised musical numbers. You can karaoke your way through a million love songs by the time you hit Calais.

However, even if you refrain from emission-heavy modes of transport, your idols will not. I can't see Gary Barlow and company crooning 'Could it be Magic' from the backseat of a Megabus, or breaking into an impromptu chorus of 'Everything Changes' while stranded on the platform at Crewe station.

No, no. It's going to be short-haul central for those boys. They might try to greenwash their reputation by planting a tree for every gig - but an entire grove of Jason Orange saplings is unlikely to save the world, or do much for bio-diversity.

You're better off starting a campaign to encourage the band back into retirement.

Once they're back for good in Cheshire, you'll be free to indulge your inexplicable obsession while sticking to your environmental convictions.

Take that and party

share


leave a comment

December 2006



The crack pipe of peace Dear Auntie _ War, famine, economic depression and global warming - the idea that 'another world is possible' seems remoter than ever. Will we ever have a just and peaceful world? _ Desperate for peace, Preston

Learning by number Dear Auntie _ At one of the Gaza protests in London, Stop the War put the number of protesters at around 100,000 but the police insisted it was only 20,000. Can Auntie reassure me that the Met has a scientific methodology for estimating crowd numbers? _ Numberless in London

No hope Dear Auntie, All my left-wing friends seem to be overjoyed about Obama winning the US election, holding real hope that he will bring change, that he'll stop the wars, and that he'll somehow make America all cuddly and nice. But haven't we been here before? I'm getting flashbacks to the expectations people had of politicians like Tony Blair and Bill Clinton, and how quickly they betrayed us. Is it terrible that I think Obama will be just more of the same? Hopeless, London


High-speed rail is a rich man’s plaything HS2 will benefit a few corporate centres and leave everyone else behind, argues Mike Geddes

Cycle city Kathmandu Jennie O’Hara meets Nepali campaigners seeking to tackle pollution and inequality by transforming their capital into a cycle-friendly city

Roads to freedom Rachel Aldred considers a city humanised by sustainable transport

latest from red pepper


February 15, 2003: The day the world said no to war Phyllis Bennis argues that while the day of mass protest did not stop the war, it did change history

Egypt: The revolution is alive Just before the second anniversary of the Egyptian revolution, Emma Hughes spoke to Ola Shahba, an activist who has spent 15 years organising in Egypt

Workfare: a policy on the brink Warren Clark explains how the success of the campaign against workfare has put the policy’s future in doubt

Tenant troubles The past year has seen the beginnings of a vibrant private tenants’ movement emerging. Christine Haigh reports

Co-operating with cuts in Lambeth Isabelle Koksal reports on how Lambeth’s ‘co-operative council’ is riding roughshod over co-operative principles in its drive for sell-offs and cuts in local services




Red Pepper is a magazine of political rebellion and dissent, influenced by socialism, feminism and green politics. more »

Get a free sample copy of Red Pepper

ads




The UK's leading supplier of Fair Trade products

get updates


Get our email newsletter, with news, offers, updates and competitions.
help red pepper

Become a Friend of Red Pepper
Help keep Red Pepper afloat with a regular donation

Watch films online
See free trailers and support Red Pepper by streaming the full films:
Cocaine Unwrapped
The War You Don't See