Banquet Records @banquetrecords - Tumblr Blog

No More Plastic Bags

NO MORE PLASTIC BAGS

So this has been a bit of a time coming but we've been talking about it for a few weeks now. The video should explain it all. I won't pretend to be the most green warrior, but I'm surrounded by people who are. Be that friends, work mates or political colleagues. I don't think there's a contradiction of a record shop doing this. There's a huge difference between consumable / disposable bags and pieces of physical art we'll keep for ever. There was a drive here (and I'm sure a drive in many other places too) to stop doing plastic bags, but not really knowing what to replace them with. Paper bags wouldn't really do the job, and seemingly have a really bad carbon footprint for something that's just to be recycled. Biodegradable plastic seems a bit of a sales-spin sham. In the "Reducde, Re-use, Recycle" mantra, it's really all about making sure there's a cultural shift. And we knew that re-useable bags were the only real answer, but how does an independent business afford it? If we were just giving away tote bags instead of plastic bags, it would financially cripple us. But we're not doing that. What we're doing is giving the first bag free, and having the conversation. It's our place to have the chat and help inspire. I don't even think it's about education. Everyone knows really. But it's about giving a nudge. All (no exceptions) of our customers so far have been really supportive of this. I know Banquet's in a foruntate place in that a lot of our customer base thinks this wway, but I'd imagine that holds true for other independent retailers and certainly other independent record shops too. For this to work for us - and importantly for elsewhere too - we need to prove it works. Financially. And I think it will! The totes are about 8 times the price of a regular plastic bag. I think in the course of a year if we say this is how it is now, we'll get this cash back. In doing so we'll have stopped lots of unnecessary plastic. So I believe this can prove to be not only good for the environment, but good for the black/red finances of the business too. And it's absolutely because I don't consider myself as a green warrior that I feel I can be objective about this. To encourage a cultural shift we need to prove with eveidence that these shifts are beneficial, and in a number of ways. I think we'll be able to do that. Extrapolating this further I think this concept is something that covers other ideas, and my politics too. Brexit: let's see the evidence. Arts and Culutre; it's not about blindly chucking money at stuff, it's about encouraging changes to make things sustainable. But back on track. No More Plastic Bags. And they look good too!

presenting the petition, the debate and what went down

Last night I spoke on the petition “Kingston Needs A Large Live Music Venue”. I’m more comfortable than I used to be in that zone, and the full speech is below.

There then followed a healthy debate, and there was broad support for what I was saying about facilitating (as opposed to providing) a venue. Some members really didn’t understand it. Some absolutely did. Although I had to go outside while the debate was on to avoid any Conflicts Of Interest, I could hear every word, and you can see what was said here

Council - Tue, 17th Oct 2017 - 7:30 pm - Kingston Council

A feed of my reaction to it all can be seen on the thread at

if you can't get there.... the Live Venue petition, my question about the drinking fountain, the motion on the Tory consulting. @ me https://t.co/0VsarzjktG

— J?o?n? ?T?o?l?l?e?y? (@JonTolleyTweets)

October 17, 2017

The main thing i wanted was a) a commitment to a larger venue in Kingston, and b) for this not to be dropped. My man Tom Davies proposed a motion which you can see in full below

Cllr Davies' motion is voted through.!!! For 22, Against 6, Abs 15. the first step on a journey. thanks to Tories who wouldn't vote against pic.twitter.com/3WKHl31wvd

— J?o?n? ?T?o?l?l?e?y? (@JonTolleyTweets)

October 17, 2017

Legal advice told us that the council COULD make this decision, but it seemed some Tories were still scared it might prejudice future planning applications, so would only abstain. However, they didn’t vote against, and with broadly cross-party support this went through... But only after some slapstick confusion about Davis vs Davies, and people wondering why one councillor hadn’t voted (YOU JUST BOOTED ME OUT) we got the result we wanted. So the first step of many has been taken. Thank you to everyone who signed the petition and turned up. It made a difference. Of course I’ll keep you posted.

As a footnote it was really great seeing punters and staff there supporting it. Most of them hadn't been to a council thing before, and this battle isn't worth it unless I'm part of a team. So all those who were there, and you know who you are, and to Jane being on it digitally from afar, thank you.

A Word On Awards - given stars from Kingston for bringing stars to Kingston.

Some notes on the Kingston Business Awards...

For context, the Kingston Business Awards is the annual get together of the (largely town centre businesses) of the borough. There’s various categories to enter into, the form filling is pretty long, but it’s a therapeutic way to make you step back and look at the business over the past year, and where it’s going. We entered the Best Marketing & Social Media, and Best Independent Retailer categories. I find the whole awards ceremony strange. And that’s not exclusive to these awards, I count Music Week, The Brits, anything where we’re trying to compare things which aren’t like for like. It’s quite a bit of cash which is hard to justify, but we got some tickets and put on our “black tie”. or as close as we could get. But it’s very much our vibe to play with the big boys knowing that this is really the only way you can get your voice heard.

I thought we had a good chance in the Marketing / Social Media one. I’m continually frustrated that certain entities (not just businesses) treat social media as an optional extra. Or marketing as the thing to think about towards street-date of a campaign. On a shop level, as a town level, and with council and other authorities we need to identity who needs to know as soon as we know what the product is. It can go further where sometimes we’ll identify the customer base first and then work out the product. I’m concerned that businesses forget that it doesnt matter how good your product is if no-one knows about it. As a Robert Palmer classic was played on the PA, a man of the same name introduced and gave us the award of best in this field. I hoped to use the stage to talk about the importance of us all treating social media as an integral part of any campaign. it works for your bottom line, but also on enhancing the whole town and your part of your industry, I hope others can see how we do it, and how you just need to get on with it, and be responsive, and you can create and keep a customer base.

we just picked up the Marketing & Social Media award at Kingston Awards #KingstonCelebrates pic.twitter.com/I2lqED1YHl

— Banquet Records (@BanquetRecords) October 12, 2017

After eating a few potatoes, the next up was Independent Retailer. We’d won this a few years back so thought we had a chance. I had some lines ready but we didn’t get it - it went to Milano Barbers (if it wasn’t us, we’re glad it was them)). That night King Krule was playing New Slang down the road. A quite late notice gig, I knew the queue was gonna be a nightmare on what was a sold out show. And as much as I wanted to stay at the grandiose Raven’s Ait venue,I couldn’t not get to the show, and also I just wanted to see the gig too! So I raced off down the Portsmouth Road Quietway and got to the venue in time to do some stuff, which might not have been done otherwise. King Krule is unique and the crowd was unique. Loving every minute of the show, it’s everything New Slang’s about. After a couple of tracks my phone started buzzing (nothing new there) that we’d picked up another award. But we were only nominated for two!?

Turns out we’d been named “Business Of The Year”. We didn’t even consider that this was a possibility. Thank goodness we got those tickets and thank goodness it was only me that left to get back to New Slang. Mike, Claire and Jonnie were there to pick it up. Obviously we love music. We love records and putting on gigs. But for the people who are most emotionally involved in the business, the business itself is also so very dear to us. So to be recognised like this is touching.

at the exact moment King Krule took to the stage at New Slang, we picked up the Business Of The Year award at the Kingston Business Awards. pic.twitter.com/bcKdbv5sUl

— Banquet Records (@BanquetRecords)

October 12, 2017

On the stage, Mike made the point that events like this shouldn’t be about one’s rankings in a competition, but more that we need to play our part in a cohesive, vibrant and progressive Kingston (I thought I was the politician!). He’s bang on it

And the final award of 2017 @KingstonAwards is #best business goes to..... @BanquetRecords @JonTolleyTweets CONGRATULATIONS!! pic.twitter.com/um0dClyTwb

— Kingston Chamber (@KingstonCOC)

October 12, 2017

I often feel after the highs of a great New Slang (which last night was) that’s is frustrating that there’s never time actually enjoy it. Friday is our busy day of the week, and today moreso with The Wedding Present and Wretch 32 playing for us. But it’s important that our wonderful music scene and Banquet’s place in it has been recognised both on a cultural and black/red level, by our fellow Kingstonians. There was quite some talk on the night on the London Borough Of Culture bid, and from others about what makes Kingston so special. But again music and music venues weren’t specifically mentioned. As the petition to retain a large music venue comes to council this Tuesday, the current climate of music events in Kingston is of uncertainty. It’s brilliant that the importance of Kingston music and our culture is beginning to be recognised. The challenge now is to get authorities to commit to protecting our music culture. And we’ll keep fighting that battle.

on Tuesday 17th Kingston Council debates the petition to retain a large live music venue. free event, all welcome https://t.co/dwjucfFeRw pic.twitter.com/LjOnc9dDTz

— J͇o͇n͇ ͇T͇o͇l͇l͇e͇y͇ (@JonTolleyTweets)

October 10, 2017

not sure i even posted this here... but here for posterity now as we’re on 2015 or so...

Enjoy Yourself... at Kingston Carnival 2017

I swear half of these tumbles must mention Kingston Carnival. well, here’s another! For the uninitiated, Kingston Carnival is the yearly event in Kingston town, a week after Notting Hill Carnival. It’s a party. The cancellation of Kingston Carnival in 2014 was my route into local politics

Now, I'm at pains to point out the role Banquet plays is small. The carnival is a thing around the town over many areas, processions through the town, with loads of different stages and spaces. But for the last several years we've been tasked with sorting the music for the main stage. Previous years have brought The Skints, Akala, Beans On Toast, David Rodigan and The Heatwave and many more to the stage. There is a budget, yet we've never yet done something within budget, but I'm happy to go over and pay for it from me / Banquet cos I utterly believe in Kingston Carnival, and that's even before you look at the cause behind it Kingston Race & Equalities Council. This year's event has been as frustrating as the ones before with budgets / grants and the like being up in the air for too long. We can talk about the how's and why's of this another time, but the money we have to play with, to bring in genuinely great musicians who will pull and also fit in with the vibe of the day, is limited. But I really think we've sorted it for this year. We've been keeping our eye on Jungle Brown for a while. It's A Tribe Called Quest influenced sounds that will fit everything the carnival spirit is about.

But it's particularly pleasing that this year we're joined by Neville Staple. It's not a band set up, but the DJ set up is such a fun time. He (farily) recently played in the shop, and it was life-affirming

The guy's a living legend. As the Original Rude Boy™, he's been campaigning for racial equality for longer than many of us have been alive... He's been behind so So SO many amazing songs, and he's still the best example there is for living life to the full and enjoying every minute. The cancellation of Kingston Carnival in 2014 due to safety fears over the same artist made this a risky choice. But it's a measure of how far we've come that this is now recognised as being a safe choice. I'd like people to see this as the opposite of a middle finger to the council. We've shown that by working with all the sides involved and having proper contingency and planning, we can make good things happen. I'll always be heard saying that authorities need to be facilitators of others' ideas and endeavour. This is a great example of this happening in real life, at minimal subsidy. The set is a fun singalong / dance-along to (mostly) Specials tracks and is just ear-to-ear grins. I can't wait to take this out of the shop and put it in the market square, and live Kingston Carnival as it's meant to be

With what's going on with the potential closure of The Hippodrome, and Wondering Now, what town will become if Bands Don't Play No More, it's the absolute (alcohol-free) tonic to have Neville Staple play Kingston Carnival this year. Check @BanquetRecords a bit nearer the time for stage times and the like. See you at the front. Enjoy Yourself It's later than you think.

(gold teeth and) a curse for this town

So it's time to put this in the public domain, now the rest of it is in the public domain. The Hippodrome is going to close. We don't know when. Realistically it looks like mid-2019, but worst case it might be as early as this year. Here's a piece about the context, why the venue is important, and what we can do from here. The Hippodrome is the venue which currently houses our weekly live-bands event New Slang, and a lot of our one-off gigs in Kingston. We started off, as just this week Kingston Museum has said, with a Frank Turner gig; plugging his guitar and vocal into the DJ mixer and had a dance afterwards. It was fun and we turned it into a regular event..

New Slang was born out of this gig in 2006. Since then it has brought so many acts to #Kingston. Share some of your memories with us? pic.twitter.com/WJNs153Wii

— Kingston Museum (@KingstonMuseum) June 28, 2017

New Slang quickly evolved into a weekly event bringing over 1000 bands, some of which are amongst the biggest in the country, to play Kingston. It also tries to support new music and upcoming bands, as well as - obviously - providing a service for the music community of Kingston and surrounding areas. It's so much more than a job to me. I've never missed a New Slang in over a decade of doing it. As much as New Slang has moved to McClusky's and back - twice! - The Hippodrome (previously known as The Works) has always felt like home. I'm emotionally involved in that place. Probably second only to Oscar. I've had some of the best nights of my life there. I've also witnessed some really dark and pretty stressful times there. I met the one via New Slang and now The Hippodrome is a big part of what pays my bills. But the drive behind New Slang is, and always has been, bringing some of our favourite bands to our town.

In truth The Hippodrome, like any venue, is always just one catastrophic event from shutting, but management, particularly in recent times have done loads to make it a safer space, concentrating on events and "product" rather than just lowest common denominator cheap drinks/loud music. Noise / ASB complaints, rules and regs and licensing constraints while reducing margins and forcing changing practices, have not stopped The Hippodrome from being a profitable venue and one which serves a vital role in our community. At present, there is only one large venue which can regularly accomodate the production levels necessary for grade A touring bands to come and play our town. It's not just that artists from Ed Sheeran to Vampire Weekend to Bring Me The Horizon have played there, it's that bands like Tall Ships, Songhoy Blues and Pete And The Pirates have too. At the time of typing, this week's number one artist played there last week. The previous week's number one artist played there the week before. Of course it's not all about chart toppers but i think it's important to show that The Hippodrome isn't just about bands you havent heard of for teenagers you want to avoid. It's a venue which puts on gigs for people of all ages, and that can range from 1500 kids queueing to see Shawn Mendes, to average-age-on-the-scanner-of-45 when The Charlatans played last month.

Tinie Tempah at the New Slang. I love this venue!! #TinieTempah pic.twitter.com/vsPagmXImZ

— Daniel Quesada (@daniel_quesada_) April 15, 2017

Yet the thing which has been on the horizon for quite some time is a step closer now. As the "Eden Quarter" part of Kingston town centre undergoes major redevelopment, the third of four pieces of the jigsaw has now been proposed and is asking local people for feedback. Part four is when they knock Banquet down but that's not being talked about yet. Parts one and two of the puzzle are The Old Post Office site and the Eden Walk redevelopment. Part three is Surrey House and its connecting buildings http://www.surreyhousekingston.co.uk/ There's a public consultation at Surrey House itself on Thursday 6th July before the Public Service Broadcasting gig. Feel free to go to that and feedback how important this gig venue is to you. It's basically the whole site of Surrey House, BO Concept, the NCP car park and the post office / newsagents, Cancer Research etc. and The Hippodrome. It's a big site, and you can see why the landowners want to redevelop it. I saw the plans, as you can too, and it's what you might expect. Two floors of retail with up to 12 storeys above for flats. The usual problems rear their heads. Do we need this much more retail and why is the council encouraging developers to prioritise this? Is it the right type of housing and architecture? How many affordable homes will there be? Can the infrastructure take it? Is it in keeping with the local area? etc etc. But obviously in this case particularly it comes more to where will we watch bands!? In the short term, the answer remains "The Hippodrome". Of course The Hippodrome is far from perfect. I don't think we've ever pretended it was. But it works. The same way that even tho Eden Walk has planning permission to rebuild, nearly all the shops there from Maplin to Sainsbury's remain in place, and Primark has even moved into the old BHS site temporarily. It makes sense for the landlord to keep tenants there until the first spade is in the ground. My limited experience tells me that there's no way that will be before the end of 2018. But obviously we know what we need to start planning ahead. Of course we have so much love for The Fighting Cocks, and the people who run it. But there's some gigs that just aren't practical to put in a 150-cap venue. There are other venues we use on an infrequent basis, like The Rose, All Saints and Kingston College that we're talking about using more. These venues are each brilliant in their own different ways. But I do and always will believe in the good of nightclubs and indie/alt club nights particularly. It would be a real shame if that was to stop, so we're exploring all options with the other bigger venues in the the town. There's also potential for something entirely new. An idea that no-one's even had yet. At least twice in recent years there's been serious talk about a proper built-for-purpose venue in Kingston. They've fallen down really because they weren't needed. And because it's a lot of money to invest in something with no guaranteed return. The real worry is that you won't know what you got till it's gone. The reason I got involved in local politics was the feeling that the council and local authorities neither know nor care about live music and night time entertainment in Kingston. I absolutely accept there's some negatives associated with people out late at night. Let's leave aside the very real financial / employment benefits of gigs and night time enterainment for a minute... there's so many more positives from having a functioning bigger gig venue and vibrant and diverse nightlife. Kingston University has not gone anywhere, and let's be honest the students' union facilities have always not needed to perform the role of nightclubs because Kingston town already did that pretty well.

My main theory which i've seen proved right again and again is that "our" arts and culture is not deemed as important as others'. Just last night I was involved in a committee which voted to spend £4m of council money to be matched by £4.5m of lottery fund money to move the Kings and Saxons exhibition from Kingston Museum to All Saints Church. Let me be clear, I'm not knocking the heritage of Kingston. It means a lot to many people, and there's reasons to be proud and to want to preserve it. I'm also a big fan of All Saints Church, not just as a beautiful building but as a place of worship and for what they do for the community. Yet while recognising these institutions, I find it intensely frustrating how little the council administration seems to care about live music venues. I guess one of the reasons is they've never had to. Because nearly all the gigs and concerts that happen in the borough happen despite the council, not because of it. No-one gave us The Hippodrome, or McClusky's. No-one gave Bacchus or The Peel when Gravity started bringing international bands to those venues. We've never received money from any public body to put on a gig, apart from Kingston Carnival. And even then we end up contributing extra from our own pockets to bring a better event to Kingston. Yes, the council does spend money - significant amounts - on the arts but i've seen over a decade of well intentioned people using budgets in inefficient ways. So there's three challenges. One to show council of the importance and size of the events going on right under their noses, and another to try and encourage a desire to preserve it. And then there's what me and Banquet need to do on a business/contract/logistics level to keep this going in Kingston. Obviously I'm personally involved in all three. The Liberal Democrat manifesto for council elections in 2018 will absolutely include a cost-efficient commitment to having a larger live venue in Kingston. This is one good way to get points one and two addressed.

Pretty stoked on ACT. Gonna be as good as anything we have. RT @banquetrecords: ACT-ing on The Peel's closure http://t.co/WuD1PsX4hl

— jon tolley (@JonTolleyTweets) April 30, 2014

As for point three, it's painful that The Peel closed and, for different reasons, that was followed by most of Kingston's youth clubs. It's saddening that closure of The Hippodrome is a step closer. We have to want spaces where younger people, including (but not only) under 18s, can watch live music in an organic environment. When The Peel did close we bought a PA on wheels, it gave us the potential to do shows at All Saints, at The Rose and at Kingston College. I'm positive that we can create and innovate out of this situation with The Hippodrome.. So right now, it's business as usual. There'll be a point when we need your help. It's not quite yet. There's no call to arms, and no protests required at this point. If you live in Kingston, or even if you don't, I would encourage you to contact your local councillor and explain to them the importance of live music venues in town. You can find your local councillor at https://moderngov.kingston.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?FN=WARD&VW=LIST&PIC=0. I'm of course happy to talk more on this. get me on @JonTolleyTweets or at a show. Hippodrome, and live gigs in Kingston. I'm rooting for you

The night we won an award, a £150 voucher for a bar and a bottle of vodka with a light switch.

We made it 3 in 5 in the Music Week Independent Retailer Of The Year award. It's a real weird thing. On the one hand i reject the idea that there's even an award. We shouldnt be competing with other indie retailers and that seems a bit fucked. But then, if there's gonna be anyone to win it, I'd want it to be us. There are SOME gigs I'm sure that happen because we come with the seal of approval of this acolade from the music industry go-to. We can never afford to buy tickets to the event, but we managed to blag spots in with other companies' tables and all got to go along. All in all it was a great time. With Mike on new baby duty and Jane not wanting to go, and Claire on tour, the crew was me, Max, Jonnie and Sheby. This tumble is basically a twitter moment i guess!

we picked up Independent Retailer at #musicweekawards. indie shops across the UK are on the up, revisit your local record shop to see why pic.twitter.com/NZSwwjDwnc

— Banquet Records (@BanquetRecords)

April 5, 2017

an experience. rickshaw (?) taxi to Soho? okay pic.twitter.com/vowBT1Uzc8

— jon tolley (@JonTolleyTweets)

April 7, 2017

last night we picked up a @MusicWeek award. with @RSDUK just 2 weeks away, rediscover the joy of buying a record from your local record shop pic.twitter.com/S46eBtMJJW

— Banquet Records (@BanquetRecords)

April 6, 2017

This is a post I didn’t consider having to write. But absolutely understand why i need to.

REASONS FOR THIS POST, WHY IT’S LATE, AND WHY IT’S WRITTEN LIKE IT IS

Okay. so this is a post I didn’t consider having to write. But absolutely understand why i need to. I'm gutted that people think that I or Banquet are appeasers or allowing platforms for abhorrent things. Not cos I'm gutted about myself or the business, but cos I'd hate people to think that others don't think of these things as serious.

Before we get too involved with the finer parts of the situation, I just want to clear a few things up. Some people have been asking why this post hasn't appeared quicker. I can't apologise for the time it's taken, but i do understand that it may be frustrating. I honestly don't know anyone who works the hours i do. Thursday and Friday were both 9:30am - 3:30am shifts. Saturday, while not so intense was 1:00pm - 7:00pm. We put on 5 and a half gigs (if you include Bacchus) in that time. To approx 1600 people. And of course we/I run a high street shop too. The work, while utterly fun, takes a lot of time and i couldn't really get to this sooner. Today i worked, had an hour skate (it really is good for my mind, and i wanted a clear mind for this) and then a bit of council work. I wanted to take time to articulate this, rather than a hurried inappropriate post. Sorry for not expressing previously why this wasn’t out sooner.

I've seen a post on the Banquet facebook that we're censoring posts. We're not. I think there's a function which doesn't automatically allow posts from people not attending the event... Normally that makes sense to stop spamming about sunglasses or weird bots. I can understand why people might think we're not letting views be expressed. But we're not doing that and we don’t intend to.

For reasons that I'm sure will become clear. I'm not going to name any bands or people in this post. You may well be able to guess who this refers to. That's for you to decide. I'm also utterly aware of the irony of posting this on tumblr, bearing in mind the below.

Friends who aren't really involved in anything related to "punk", have told me to not write anything, or to stick to a bare minimum. They seem to think, despite my living the life i do, that all these decisions in Banquet are black/red. They're not. And I guess customers, and people who aren't customers but get what we do from a distance, understand this. I reckon there's an expectation of Banquet to be something more than others. Like there's a higher bar for us. And i take this as a compliment. I absolutely understand that if/because some other band has done something before and "got away with it", that there's no argument that individual cases don't matter because "everyone's at it", whatever "it" is. And let me be clear that i understand that however much good we have or haven’t done elsewhere is irrelevant when talking about one specific issue.

BOOKING THE BAND

We, and basically I, book about 350 bands a year. Members of some will be reading this post. I bloody love the position we're in to do this. I always keep saying about how the buzz you see from people enjoying their favourite band is as big as the buzz you get from seeing your own favourite bands. We try to keep prices low, and put the bands in the most appropriate venues we have available. Yes, we're a business, but nearly all the gigs we book are driven by a desire to serve and entertain. I hope that's clear. We recently had the opportunity to book a band who's played for Banquet many times before. We were aware of there being accusations about a member of the band, and that there had been accusations over a period of time. I do acknowledge that I am saying all of this from a position of privilege, and understand that blogs are an effective communicator to amplify a voice against entities who have bigger voices. Yet personally, I made a decision years ago not to read the contents of accusatory posts on not just this band but on others too, and moreover on all people. A decision that I am not the judge of any case, by what's been said on the internet. So despite putting hours into this tumblr, I’ve chosen not to read others’ blogs about this or other cases.

We discussed booking the band with members of "senior" and "middle" management. If that's such a thing. It's Banquet after all, there's not some crazy hierarchy, but we did talk through it. Each has a veto on such decisions here. I wanted everyone to be comfortable with any gig we booked. We discussed whether or not there was a reason not to book this show. There's various principles upon which we book gigs, but the significant discussion here was whether there was a proven reason why we should not do the gig. One staff member (it turns out rightly) said we’d get a lot of shit for it. But none of us could define a reason why the gig shouldn't happen. The artist has recently worked with bands and labels we know and respect, and was now involved with a label we have a good relationship with. We discussed that we didn't see a situation that had changed since last time we booked the band. I might be wrong, or i might be blinkered, but when the most recent gig happened i don't recall any significant negative feedback, the in-store was great fun and went well.

THE ANNOUNCEMENT

We had tickets on sale for a while, certainly over a week, before it was "announced" fully as we were waiting for a green light from management. It was announced on Friday always my busiest day of the week and i have so much to juggle on a Friday even without a busy show in the evening. I saw a few tweets / FB posts come in reacting negatively to this announcement. I guess i expected some, but didn’t think it would be too many. As the day went on I saw a bigger reaction than I ever expected. Now let me be clear here, I believe that everyone speaking/typing their mind is doing so because they honestly believe what they're saying. There's people posting who i know personally, and there's many more who I’d regard as friends who I'm sure are watching from a distance. Even more in my mind is people who may be victims of horrid crimes who might think we're willingly appeasing something. I'm distraught at that thought.

Again i believe the postings to be entirely sincere. But, apart from the ones which are a few expletives, the sentiment revolves around us being perceived to platform a "known abuser". I'm not going to convince some people otherwise, but to me this is not "known". If I had read the various posts about it that people have pointed out to me since the announcement, then I might have had a different view. But the principle of not trialling by internet is one that I think is important, and that was my position. I do understand the massive difference between "not guilty" and "innocent" in a judicial scenario, but i think the idea that we are putting on an artist of someone we know to be an abuser is incorrect.

And it opens up so many ethical questions. I mean Banquet has certainly put on bands with known criminals and felons as members. We’ve put on artists about whom people have said “well, they must have known”. Banquet has been told it can’t put on other acts because of police advice. Shows on certain tours have been pulled in scandalous circumstances. We also boycott many artists, suppliers and releases we deem to be immoral because of the message they give or because of first-hand experience. And yes, there's countless examples I'm sure of stuff that's slipped through the net, where we've stocked stuff we wouldn't if we did know all the details of it.

Despite the online talk, few people have spoken to me personally about the issue. I understand it could well be because people feel awkward bringing it up. Only one person approached me directly on the day, and another the next day by text. I've also approached and spoken to a couple of ex-staff whose opinions I value. People have since pointed out to me that the situation is different than it was last year, and I reckon 4/5 years ago I might have picked up that something was different… But all this has come SINCE the announcement. I don’t recall any interaction with anyone talking to me about this before this gig was booked. I do closely monitor the Banquet socials with literally thousands of interactions every week. Maybe I missed something, but this is my honest belief.

WHAT NOW

Well, in truth, I don't know. For the reasons above we were not uncomfortable with the booking. So if it was a principled decision to go ahead with the booking, then it would seem not principled to pull it due to public interactions of people telling us they're not going to shop here anymore. That seems like it would be a commercial decision rather than a moral one. I hate the thought of people wanting to boycott us. Not because of the money, but because I really feel this little shop that I've put 15 years of my life into, is something more than the companies I boycott. I don't want people to lose the memories they have, because i feel it's an emotional connection rather than a financial one.

On Saturday i sought legal advice about the situation. IF, and I'm not advocating this, but IF we were to cancel, what would the messaging be? If we were to say it was due to accusations then we could actually be sued for defamation / libel. Something that a tumblr or facebook post can probably get away with, but something a medium-sized limited company could not. If we were to make up some nonsense about a scheduling conflict, then that would be a lie and not addressing the situation.

I know we'll be monitoring things like never before, and we'll continue to work with all channels to try to continue being the ethical company, and group of friends, we aim to be. We always want people to be, and feel, safe

I'm ABSOLUTELY happy to talk to people about this. And to listen. Face to face or otherwise. hit me up on jt@... if you want to do that. I won’t always be able to reply immediately.

I’m absolutely sorry for the offence that this has undoubtedly caused. I know it won't change many people's minds, but i hope people can see there was considered reason behind the decision made here.

my friend went to Kingston and all he got was this t-shirt, and a cd, and a coffee, and a Nandos, and a beer, and and and...

I was gonna write this tumble in frustration but actually it feels like something positive now i’ve thought about it.

We’re always battling at Banquet. Despite the perception that we’re a successful business (in many ways we are), we’re still always up against it. Bills are always rising, we try to be ethical with suppliers and customers, and there’s very little cash left at the end of it. So as well as the need for trying to make our events good, there’s also a need to make them busy, to get the money back in the till / bank and make this whole thing sustainable.

We had a few events last week.

signed Sum 41 CDs and a taste of the show highlights at https://t.co/IkBQZoQh1L ??: https://t.co/59KH8eCsPj pic.twitter.com/aqQfdEgIOD

— Banquet Records (@BanquetRecords)

March 2, 2017

The big ones were Sum 41, Sleaford Mods and Stormzy. Each event brought 1000+ people into Kingston. Now when these things happen, the whole town (that’s an exaggeration, but certain parts of it) get a buzz. People rarely go straight to the gig and then home. Before Sleafords people were in O’Neills, Bacchus had it’s busiest Wednesday in years right after Sum 41, the amount of McDonalds rubbish must mean they cleaned up from Stormzy. Ryman sold more sharpies, Krispy Kreme sold more donuts, Sainsbury's more cans of pop...

I get frustrated at the lack of “support” if that’s the right word, from people who should be doing it. It’s no-one’s “responsibility” to help us specificaly, but there’s gotta be an entity which is there to do this for the whole town. Kingston First is bloody good at being a big brother and helping when you need it, and the recycling scheme saves us £££ a year. but come on, an entity which brands itself as Visit Kingston didnt mention any of these events in advance. Two of them were sold out, it’s not about Banquet, it’s about the town. About getting more people into town, to use the other shops and services, and to advertise the whole array of cool shit that goes down here. Kingston Council isn’t the means to do it. Surrey Comet is depleted almost to death.

What am I doing wrong? should i be making a fancy PDF and having coffees in chain coffee stores to make my case? Maybe it’s time we got an independents’ version of Kingston First. Something that isn’t so focussed on the market place and the river. Why so many obstacles in the co-ordination with Kingston Uni when so much of this is student based?

Ultimately, i think it’s down to the thoughts from the night time economy walk around. If you look purely at black and red, i think people would care more about the finance that night-time entertainment brings to the town. But i think it’s all prejudiced. I sat through 32 minutes of the council night time economy “Kingston Conversation” before anything that wasn’t crime-related was mentioned. Crime stats that didn’t even come from the night time it turns out. The thing was a farse. A well-intentioned one perhaps, but a farse nonetheless. Few of the other Kingston town stakeholders give a shit about so many of the amazing things that happen in Kingston.

But is this frustrating really? Well, no!

We the music community (we Banquet are just a small fraction) did this all ourselves. Not via arts funding, or charity... We have a reach that marketing execs could only dream of, if they even understood it. It’s done out of a desire to support the things we love. We the music community - all of us - did this DESPITE everyone else, not thanks to them. We can evolve and react quicker. So let’s keep doing that. Celebrate New Slang, The Fighting Cocks, Bacchus, your mates band, the pub you drink in, the shop you lose yourself in, the podcast, the record label, and keep helping them, help us, help you.

the worst pub crawl ever...

it’s been some time since i last tumbled. our new site is live and is working really well, too well perhaps and we’re super stretched. but it’s a good problem. I still wanna write a Black Lives Matter post, but first, while it’s fresh in my mind...

Yearly, the Kingston Town Neighbourhood (that’s the near-to-town-centre) councillors and some of the Licensing Committee (who decide policy on Kingston clubs and venues (but also off licenses and restaurants)) councillors do a tour of the town to try and get a handle on what happens at night in town. Now it’s no secret that my route into Council was via the belief (that i still have) that RBK doesn’t care or value night-time entertainment as much as it should. I’m pretty familiar with the venues we went to. I work in two of them weekly, and used to run events in another. Yet, as a Licensing member and a Kingston Town councillor, i was happy to go. Not least to make sure i was a part of the conversations. My dumbed-down approach to this is i think the Lib Dems on council (of which I’m one) are minded to think “ah, let the young people have fun, but let’s make sure we minimise trouble.” I think a significant number - but not all - of the Tories in administration have more of a “young people going clubbing are probably up to no good, but we have to put up with them”. This year’s event, a kinda terrible pub-crawl, got upgraded a little with the London mayor’s Night Czar coming round to see what goes on, and the new KingstonFirst boss coming to view what the big percentage of Kingston BID payers do for a business.

I'm visiting #Kingston tonight with @RBKingston #KingstonFirst & @metpoliceuk for my latest #NightSurgery- come say hello! #LondonIsOpen

— Amy Lamé, Night Czar (@nightczar) 3 February 2017

Partly cos of the above the Kingston Council Chief Exec and Leader both came along, so there was quite a weird gang of us walking around town. I was happy Kevin was coming. His views on night time entertainment in the past have been ill-informed at best.

silly appointment by labour mayor. Can manage night time economy without interference from divisive American https://t.co/WTkKW3OwHs

— Kevin Davis (@kevinjdavis) 18 November 2016

Strangely, we started off at 11pm looking at a closed Rose Theatre and talking about the merits of it. Now, I’m obviously a huge fan of the place, but i thought this was a weird thing to do. We shoulda been in The Mill or The Druids. We walked along the river in a sorta sight-seeing tour, again posing for pictures in front of the bridge... i was getting frustrated that this was turning into a tour of the town, rather than a tour of the night time venues.

When we did get to Viper Rooms (formerly McClusky’s) it actually turned into what it was sposed to be. The 20-strong group of us (which included a BBC filming crew) went around and were shown how the scanning and search work. Kingston has an exceptionally high level of safety at night and in general.. We were also reminded how much work the guys at Viper do on river safety. They literally pulled people out of the water. Last night a DJ saved my life is nothing compared to these proper life savers.

The tour then went to Pryzm. On the way i had quite the chat with the Council Leader about Kingstonian’s plight. Off topic, sure, but i swear people involved in the decisions of the town don’t have all the info. They do now! Time was spent with the Street Pastors. A bunch of volunteers who look after people who need it, associated to - often a bit too much drinking - problems at night.

Pryzm is the venue with the cash spent on it. I’m always impressed by the PA. It’s not a place i visit as a punter, but it IS a place that each bigger town needs.

current status: in Pryzm with Kevin Davis, Amy Lamé and a gang of Kingston councillors. shit's weird pic.twitter.com/CnS2XcucJK

— jon tolley (@JonTolleyTweets) 4 February 2017

i was keen to hear of what Amy had to say about The Agent Of Change. It's hard to know what power the czar will actually have, but even for there to be a voice is important. I'm no Labour voter, but what Sadiq is trying to do must be welcomed. There was too much to talk about between Amy and myself on the night so we’ll continue a lot of this “off-line” Anyway, at Pryzm, we were shown around the venue. Loads of the venues and councillors were so pre-occupied with talking about safety measures, which are obviously important, that not much time was spent on talking about the actual value of the places. the offer, the service, the atmopshere, the fun. I’m always worried even by the term Night Time Economy cos it makes everything seem like a black/red balance sheet, and not about the cultural benefit of these places. It’s been my criticism of the council and of Kingston First for years.

After leaving there, the gang went to The Hippodrome - the home of New Slang. I won't talk too much about there, cos i do so every week. I love the place and the shell it gives us for some of the best moments i've experienced. It was good to see Hippodrome security actually making the councillors and officers use their ID to get in. Every week i see people say "I don't need ID, I'm 40". Decision makers don't understand the conflict this creates. I’m always saying how people don’t like having their ID scanned, using breathalisers, going through airport security... I see the benefits, of course, and am not advocating taking it away (actually, I’d take away breathalisers right away - i dont accept that being too drunk to drive, is being too drunk to dance), but i think WAY more should be done on showing the benefits of this to the customer. Talk about encouraging safety, rather than presumption of danger. At this point i said a temporary goodbye as i had my day night job to get on with.

the crew went back to guildhall while the real highlights of Kingston nightlife went down at Bacchus pic.twitter.com/M2nAjLKSpN

— jon tolley (@JonTolleyTweets) 4 February 2017

I bloody love Bacchus. The Friday nights are easy and fun. You can knock Bacchus for being a small dive, but i love it BECAUSE it’s a small dive.

may there always be a club for the punks, grebos, goths, the shoe lace belts, the misfits, those with a different path. always Bacchus

— jon tolley (@JonTolleyTweets) 31 March 2016

At 3AM, i met up with the council crew again, to see kicking out time. Now, obviously I’m a big fan of night time entertainment, but i do see the hassles. Kicking out time is surely one of the most tense. We watched from over the road at Viper, Pryzm, and then at Hippodrome like parents waiting at the school gate. The security did everything you’d want them to. Stopping one scuffle before it started, making sure people weren’t wandering pissed into roads, sending people on their way. The police presence was there, in case anything got out of hand.

I feel everyone was suitably impressed. For me, the bigger problems with anti-social behaviour from clubs are in the residential streets on the way home, rather than the town centre itself.I absolutely reject the idea that it’s unsafe to walk around Kingston at night. This view has been expressed by many on the Licensing Committee but I’m sure that anyone from that committee who was out with us last night can no longer have that view. I’m not sure if the actual appreciation of the venues and the service they provide is there tho. I guess that’s my battle.

So shouts out to the councillors who came out of their comfort zone and went around the town. Less of a shout, but a “nice one”, to those who it’s in their comfort zone, but still spent the night walking around. Hopefully we can make more informed decisions now.

One final footnote. We’ve heard that homelessness in Kingston has gone up 26% on last year. But man, when you are actually walking around the streets you really DO see the number of rough sleepers quite vividly. And that’s just the ones in view. It’s really sad and it’s getting worse. I hope that our eyes were open to the homelessness problem almost as much as our ears were open to the joys of night time entertainment, and we treat people with real problems as real people, not just potential beggars

Quick Poll: Do you think homelessness/begging is a problem in Kingston Town Centre?

— Kingston Police TCT (@MPSKingstonTnC) 20 January 2017

anti-social media

it was the Kingston Business Awards last week. Some may remember Banquet won Best Independent Retailer last year. I knew we weren’t gonna win anything this year, not cos we’re not as good, but more cos i didnt even know when the awards were. a sure sign you’re not needed. i can do without some of the pomp and ceremony tbh, and how i woulda got there with two Kaiser Chiefs gigs going on, I dont know. But Banquet was up for best marketing and social media. Obvs i was wrong, but i thought we had it in the bag. Caught up in a bubble of believing what we do is brilliant. maybe it’s just brilliant to us. Stupid to be so arrogant, i know, but i can’t see anyone puts as much into their socials as us. I really wanted to win the award for the platform it would give. I’m. so. over. Kingston busineses, KingstonFirst, and Kingston Council too, using social media like an optional extra. I wanted Banquet to be seen as a leader in this field, so we can tell people that it’s not something just for posting pictures of cats. It’s a way to improve not just your business, but the whole of Kingston. You think Krish, Primark, Sainsbury’s, Hippodrome etc don’t benefit from a big show at The Hippodrome? Doing your socials right can support business, charities and communities via the means that more and more people are consuming information as we reach the end of 2016. We need to, as a town, promote Kingston to people outside of our immediate reach. We need to, as a council, communicate with residents at each process of decisions being made.

Congrats to the winner. It’s not an anti-them post at all. I don’t know who they are, but i’d guess a company that does digital marketing should be good at marketing. fair play to them. the irony is that their 157 twitter followers won’t spread the word, i hope the 157 marketing executives they talk to do.

#http://banquetrecords.tumblr.com/post/131337502533/the-latest-star-in-our-shop

#SaveFabric #SaveOurCulture. there’s so many reasons why the idea to shut Fabric is, to me, wrong

we’re supportive of the campaign to try and keep it open

#SaveFabric @jeremyjereyou gave our shutter a lick of paint

A photo posted by Banquet Records (@banquetrecords) on Sep 13, 2016 at 2:23pm PDT

the why and how behind our @fabriclondon art #SaveFabric (turn up volume) pic.twitter.com/lGtUTl9AZ8

— Banquet Records (@banquetrecords) September 14, 2016

AIM for the moon. If you miss, you'll land among the stars.

Last night i went to the Aim Awards Ceremony in London. AIM is a body which looks after all sorts of people in the supply chain of independent music. I was nominate for “Indie Champion” a strange accolade amongst some safe others.

#AIMawards nominees for Indie Champion are @ChrisnBye, @jenlong, @JessPatridge, @JonTolleyTweets and @maryannehobbs pic.twitter.com/GrN17mnnO8

— The AIM Awards 2016 (@AIMAwards)

September 6, 2016

Strangely, i’ve been to a few of these awards ceremonies now. I find them awkward and delightful at the same time. But the irony that a proposal that I’d put together at Council to allow homeless people access to drinking water was being discussed at the same time as I was sitting down for a posh meal of food i didn’t recognise, was killing me.

Still, you don’t get nominated for these things much, so i went. It’s a great experience and a room full of good people. And it’s more fun than it is cool to be in a room where as mixed a bag as Stormzy, Damon Albarn, Christine (of C&TQ) and Noddy Holder are all hanging, as well as loads of the people i email on a regular, and real life faves like Mike Hemsley, John Kennedy and Martin Mills.

Guys, tell me what to do - @Stormzy1 is on the next table - dyyyyying pic.twitter.com/VjPKs27Xka

— shebicad (@sheby)

September 6, 2016

Now it’s a strange thing when you win an award for something that isn’t a competition. I’ve entered competitions. I recently entered the Kingston Street League skate comp and came last. Banquet’s entering the #BSMaside and will go out in an early stage.. but there’s no competition for indie champion… the concept is strange.

so stranger still to win!

Banquet is a gang. The people that enable us to do what we do are many, but mine is the very visible face. But obvs, this is a recognition of what everyone has to do here. And it’s the best crew I work with, that mean I can duck out and do council stuff, and we can put on 200 gigs a year, and we can look after the small gigs and the big gigs.

It’s great to see that we’re recognised outside of a little record shop in suburbia. And it’s nice to meet people in real life, and to hear stories of what Banquet has meant to them over the years. It really is touching. But what we do is easy, as i said in my “acceptance speech”. We’re the customer facing part of what the people in that room do. The majors don’t have that wealth of creativity and drive which makes the independent sector keep going, and keep innovating. As long as all the people who make up the successful independent labels, promoters and distribution channels across the country keep doing what they do, then we and the other 200+ indie record shops across the UK can do you proud.

If the irony of the posh meal while talking about free water wasn’t bad enough, the morning after being named “Indie Champion” we announced a Craig David gig at The Hippodrome. strange world. maybe I’ll go for Major Champion in 2017…

#RSD16

you know how this stuff works. I like to write some stuff as much for myself as anyone else so it’s all in one place. A few thoughts on #rsd16

Well, in the lead up to RSD i seem to do a lot of interviews. i worry i have a kinda oral copy and paste on issues about RSD. but i spoke with RadioX, BBC Radio, Grolsch, Music Week and oh so many more. Also, it transpired there was this quite strange video on me that was published at this time too.

This Banquet Records mini-documentary is definitely worth 5 minutes of your time. https://t.co/XyQEZBNJYh pic.twitter.com/rpouqj79oT

— Punktastic (@punktastic) April 7, 2016

We turned the table a little where i turned interview with Frank Turner too. We’re on a similar wavelength when it comes to RSD. I enjoyed the chat

me, @frankturner, @RSDUK, records, record shops, punk, the internet, anti-snobbery, and my red mug https://t.co/B1fAX1Gbhy

— jon tolley (@JonTolleyTweets) March 31, 2016

In the run up to RSD, there were some naysayers. I don’t buy it. Yes, RSD isn’t perfect, but it’s bloody good. the feature for The Quietus was, i thought, ridiculous.

if your customers don't want Quo or Bieber, don't order them. we're happy to sell Bieber LPs and welcome new custom pic.twitter.com/w6XOBRCc7s

— jon tolley (@JonTolleyTweets) March 30, 2016

I guess it’s got boring talking about how great it is and what a shot in the arm it is, so people try to find a different angle. Yes there’s some, but I don’t see TOO many RECORD STORES complaining about it. It is about record shops and most of us appreciate it. Yes there’s a lot of records that might not be right up your street… but if that’s the case then don’t stock them. Just like every other week of the year there’s countless records that you don’t need to take, but you can if you like. Who are we to say Justin Bieber is any less relevant than any other release. I wont bore you with the stats, but there’s PLENTY of indie releases, alongside the big pullers from the majors. These indies can use their chance to be a part of the day, and we’ve certainly stocked a lot of indie releases we somwtimes wouldn’t. Basically, if you don’t like the concept of RSD, then fine, don’t be a part of it. Yes there’s faults, and we all work together to try and make them less frustrating, but RSD is what our “business year” is based around, and is significantly more important to us than December!

There was also a BBC report saying that 7% of people who buy records don’t play them. My answer is that not all stamp collectors use stamps to post letters. It’s not our place to say how or why a record collection should exist. There’s nothing positive to be gained by calling out people for using a record as some don’t see fit. Maybe concentrate on the more than 7% of food which is thrown away each day. If you don’t play your records, you’re still a valued customer to me, and more than that, you’re still a real music fan. And I’ve not played my Brand New - Deja record and i’ve not even opened my Bombay Bicycle Club - So Long boxset. Let’s be mates.

So the day itself. Well, it’s not really a day, it’s a month long event really. When the RSD sales begin online on Saturday 23rd, that’s as big a time as the weekend before, for us. The remaining records ARE NOT leftovers. They’re records we specifically ordered in for our online customers. There should be a good load of brilliant releases available. Our site will probably crash and we’ll have a massive backlog again, but that’s all part of the month long event of RSD... but anyway, that’s in the future, for now let’s look back to the weekend.

The proper video will come in time, but suffice to say it’s a lot of work and planning, and everyone puts in more than a shift. People are all like “you must be exhausted, how do you do it?”, but it’s not really like that. Yes, it’s a lot of work, but it’s a lot of fun work, and we’re surrounded by records and music fans. I’d say it’s not in the same league as a nurse or a teacher. we have the funnest job, and we know it... anyway, that’s a tangent... the first people got to the shop at 11AM on the Friday this year. that’s 21 hours before we opened for the day. It’s an unreal vibe. As I’ve been working here for 15+ years, and RSD has been going not quite a decade, I’ve never seen it from the other side... but i reckon it’s some kinda right of passage. Everyone should do it once.

some of our highlights of Saturday for #rsd16.... SO MANY great records. get to @BanquetRSDfeed for full info pic.twitter.com/5Vx9jzmCqj

— Banquet Records (@banquetrecords) April 14, 2016

It didnt seem there were too many OH MY GOD releases this year, but there certainly were very many very very good ones. Very Banquet artists like BMTH, Frank Carter, Frank Turner and La Dispute (which was recorded in Kingston) were alongside the more normal-indie-record-shop releases by Bowie, Foals, Bastille and the like. There was no shortage of stock, and of excitement. The pics capture it pretty well.

pics from #rsd16 at Banquet Records we had, and have, a great time best pics: @samhainesphoto. more @BanquetRSDfeed pic.twitter.com/TVJMDzeSXY

— Banquet Records (@banquetrecords) April 18, 2016

Sales were JUST under 2015 sales, but only just, and that’s probably cos of the lack of Biffy and Brand New releases tbh. Other highlights? On the evening before, when we’re setting stuff up the burglar alarm went off and we had no idea how to stop it, and on the day a bus driver slowed down to recite Ace Of Spades lyrics to the queue.

As i take a breather and apologise for missing some of my councillor duties over this time (people outside of our music world bubble find it hard to believe me when i say how busy it is), i just wanna say a tumblr thanks to the crew who’ve made RSD good and pro this year. Justin. Jane, Max, Jonnie and Claire particularly, but OH MY GOD Mike is amazing at getting everything done so well and so pro and keeping going when we all just wanna say “that’s enough”. Banquet would be nothing without him. what a don.

we made it to eleven years. we kinda didnt wanna go big on it cos #bnqt10 was such a thing, but there’s something so unorchestrated about this photo i love

one small year for man, one giant leap year for man-kind

i dunno, this is for me really, as an end of year, beginning of the next thing. I plan to read it in 2017 and see how much my ideas have changed since.

SHOP:

I work and live for / by Banquet Records. the Banquet review of the year is online and kinda shows everything we’ve done with the shop / shows this year. I wrote that review, so lots of the shop’s highlights are my highlights, but gigs from Bring Me The Horizon and Enter Shikari at The Rose, JME and Rat Boy in the shop, Lucy Rose at All Saints, Jamie XX and Foals at The Hippodrome, Turnstile and Frank Carter at The Fighting Cocks are amongst the shows highlights. As for the bricks and mortar shop... well 2015′s been good and we’re healthier than we’ve been before. Much of that is a behind the scenes shake of up returns, accounts and ebay, but a lot is due to a good and committed staff we have here. Pretty stoked with it. On an “industry” level, i think Banquet has something of a reputation at “getting results” and “delivering”. I’d like to think that after ten-fifteen years of building this rep, we might get to a point where we’re considered earlier in the priority lists for certain events, and the hope is that our customers increasingly think of us as having a reputation for delivering. so resolution for 2016: get better. better service in the shop, better service online. better quantity of incredible shows.

KINGSTONIAN:

I’m a K’s fan, and Banquet is in its 8th successive year of sponsoring the club. With the recent agreed sale of Kingsmeadow from AFC Wimbledon to Chelsea whatever happens on the pitch (and there’s a real good chance of a promotion play-off place (i believe K’s natural level is one league above where we are right now)), the biggest challenges for K’s will be off it. The change in ownership structure of the entity of Kingstonian Football Club is significant. In theory all the ideas of being a fan-run club should make it exactly what we want a community club to be. But putting that theory into practice is going to be hard.

And with a new “board” to be elected with the responsibility of guiding K’s over this unknown period of ground sharing / moving, it’s new decision makers in charge of unprecedented set of decisions to be made. I’m a firm believer of the need to exhaust all potential options to play in Kingston neighbourhood (not just Kingston borough). I worry that a move away from the neighbourhood is, whilst not necessarily wrong, pretty much irreversible. I think there’s a difference, whilst clear overlap, between the financial profitability and revenue stream of the club / company, and what, to me, Kingston’s football club should be. The decision about it all, of course, needs to be bring all factors into the equation. But i don’t believe K’s is the most important thing there is. And if, as a council, we had a clear choice to be made between subsidising Kingstonian Football Club or providing council housing, medical services, I already know which i would argue for. Hopefully it won’t come to that, and the value of Kingstonian can be recognised without it being “instead” of something else. so. the resolution is to keep supporting the Kingstonian team, and future of whichever entitity Kingstonian evolves into, and help in whatever way i can in the transition between ownerships and 'home’ grounds.

Lib Dems comfortably hold their Grove seat on Kingston upon Thames. pic.twitter.com/J8WcIpDDO0

— Britain Elects (@britainelects)

July 17, 2015

POLITICS:

I don’t hate Tories. I don’t hate all Consevative policy. And we’re never gonna win some people round to sharing our beliefs by mindlessly shouting down people. However, i do loathe some of the ideas that are now practice / law, and i wish we had anything but a Conservative MP, Council and Government. 2015 is the year i joined the party i always voted for, and am now a councillor in the borough i grew up and live in. From shouting at a distance via social media in a bubble of like-minded friends, I’m now part of “the council”. Locally, there’s some very real concerns about over-development and inappropriate development (not always the same thing) which are obvious talking points... and i think in 2016 we need to be ready to battle some changes in licensing in Kingston. but wow, there’s so much more going on that i was never really exposed to before. Welfare, housing, homelessness, young people’s rights all spring to mind. As a councillor a lot of the vocal residents are concerned about the developments and developers. And rightly so. But it’s also our concern to represent all people in the ward / borough. The people who didn’t vote for me / us, as much as those who did. With increasing cuts to council services, it’s gonna get gnarly. It’s more important than ever to make sure those who don’t have a voice, who need our help the most, are spoken for.

in 2015 I’ve had lies printed and delivered about me, by people paid to do so. Some which if they weren’t as far fetched would be damaging to my livelihood. I’ve allowed myself to say things which can be twisted and taken out of context, and my public speaking isn’t what it should have been. This will improve for 2016, because not getting better at it all allows attention to be taken away from injustices and instead cartoon-like nonsense stories about, well, nothing.

The EU referendum is obvious to me, I hope we stay in - econonmic reasons being way down the list compared to a refugee crisis, aiming to stop wars, and being, i guess, internationalists. Nationally, i do worry about Labour vs Conservatives. I like Corbyn, and I like a lot of his supporters values. I just hope that having ideals and being a good person is enough. I worry that it isn’t. I don’t buy any of the polls yet. We’ll have a better ideas soon. The one thing i hope is that Liberal issues are thought of. Liberal Conservatives and Liberal minded social minded people can all stick up for the rights and freedoms of individuals. The Lib Dems have this at the forefront of policy and i hope we as people can help decisions towards a liberal and just society in ways other than a mere 8 MPs.

resolution, to speak up, but speak clearly, about injustices in Kingston and beyond, and achieve something permanent for the town and borough

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definitely a trick (part two)

Posted by Jon Tolley on Wednesday, June 3, 2015

SKATEBOARDING:

The busier life gets, the more i need to skate. I think i’m progressing in some ways, but obviously in others i have to tone it down even lower than i already was. A 38-year old’s legs can only do so much. I did a darkslide in front of Rodney Mullen in the summer. that was fun. I want to skate more, or at least as much.but the resolution is to make each skate a progression, and not just maintenance of the same old tricks. we thrive on cold winters.

PERSONAL:

let’s leave the relationships out of this. but other things are to try and be more ethical. stay off meat. take the dairy-free choice where possible. shop indie. continue to boycott Amazon, Boots, Primark. I want to not be a stress-head and not be unnecessarily short / rude. At the same time, i plan to suffer fools less gladly.. or suffer fewer fools gladly. I don’t know which. Gary? I gotta wash up more. I gotta eat more fruit. I gotta put my phone down. I’m one of the many who works hard and has no chance at all of owning a property. I’d like that to change. I have no idea how.

every night, we’ll watch the stars, they’ll be out for us

so this was the weekend when everything was dominated by the Paris attacks. I wanted to get some words down, for myself really... this is where the tumblr is the modern-day diary.

Of course, all lives are equal. of course the real tragedies in Lebanon and Baghdad and throughout the world are terrible and disgusting. but, for a bunch of reasons the Paris attacks hit home harder. Maybe it’s because we’ve all been to Paris (I know not all, but you know what i mean... I’ve been to Paris more times that, say, Scotland, for example), maybe it’s because Paris is so like London, and France is our closest neighbouring country. But i guess the thing that hits so much on this is that it was a music gig. and THAT is what makes it so harrowing and close to home. I spent lots of the weekend just imagining the night. I’ve not been watching any videos, but i just keep thinking what if it was New Slang, what if it was our town. Cos whether or not we’ve all been to Paris, we’ve defo all been to gigs.

There’s seemingly a lot of people i know who knew some of the victims. I feel for them, and obviously the families of anyone caught up in that nightmare. There’s a right and a wrong time to bring up the other tragedies. But for now, let people grieve and feel that connection with our neighbours and their city. The same way that Remembrance Sunday itself isnt the day to argue about white poppies vs red poppies, this is not the time to call people out on their French flag profile. The way that Hillsborough hits me each anniversary is cos it was any of us going to a football match who could’ve not come home. This is why the Paris attacks strikes us gig-lovers. The same way that a flood in New Malden is something i wanna see pictures of, but I havent googled the Kendall ones... when we feel an affinity with an area, it’s an emotional connection that can’t be explained by science. I really don’t think it’s a racist thing, it’s not a black/white/brown thing, it’s not a religious thing. It’s an emotional thing.

Kingston is a great area. Relatively few social problems and race-tensions are, as fas as i can see, small. Yes, there’ll be some racist bullshit from this, I’ve no doubt. But it’s just an excuse for those who already have those opinions, not for common-sense thinking people to suddenly have different beliefs. We all know better. No, don’t blame the refugees who are fleeing from this exact same nightmare in their home countries. Don’t be scared, but be vigilant. There’ll be scaremongering to come in the next weeks and months, and I’ve no doubt Paris will come into the EU referendum and Snoopers Charter public debates, but for now, let’s just think of the families of those involved and make sure our UK communities aren’t further divided.

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