Most people think there’s nothing wrong with going to a Taylor Swift concert or bringing your family.
Of course, it matters who pays for the outing. Sir Keir Starmer is currently paying for the free tickets he got from the FA, landlords of Wembley, where Swift performed.
However, despite all the important events happening in the world, the new government is still squirming around Freebiegate.
The Labor Party has made matters worse by embarrassing its leaders for going to the concert at all.
People with children, including Sir Keir, were quick to reach for the excuse that they “did it for the kids”.
Every detail had to be dragged out by media scrutiny. It’s not just tickets.
Image: Keir Starmer and wife Victoria at Taylor Swift’s Wembley performance. Photo: Keir Starmer/X
We then learned that senior ministers had consulted police about providing blue light security for Swift.
It later emerged that the Starmer family enjoyed meeting the show’s stars. Despite her best efforts to meet fans, it was an opportunity not afforded to the thousands of other Swifties in attendance.
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Again, fair enough. Even if it violates convention, one of the world’s biggest entertainers returns for a second performance in London after canceling an appearance in Austria citing credible threats to his life from terrorists. , many people would have no objection to allowing her to accompany him. I haven’t forgotten what happened at Manchester Arena.
The smell starts when the denials are followed by qualified confessions about who spoke to whom and who went to Wembley, including the Home Secretary.
no crime
Similarly, we wish the Prime Minister’s children the best of luck. They deserve some perks along with all the pressure.
Except when it comes to tickets to Arsenal, where the chancellor ordered their names not published, shaking hands and grinning with Swift at Wembley, he banned them completely.
No criminal offense was committed. Former top lawyer Sir Keir is realizing that simply following the provisions of the law is not enough. The prime minister, especially one who is willing to hold others accountable, is expected to be more cautious.
Cultural icons have their own opinions.
There is another rule of thumb for prime ministers to follow. The idea is that politics and pop music don’t mix well. The temptation is to steal a little stardust and show that they share the public’s tastes.
The problem with this is that cultural icons have their own opinions and are unlikely to march in lockstep with any politician for long.
Take Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who is known as a lover of popular songs.
Image: Trump dances at a campaign event at a town hall in Pennsylvania on Monday. Photo: Reuters
Last Monday, he abandoned a stuffy “town hall” rally in the battleground state of Pennsylvania after some members of the crowd fainted.
“No more questions, let’s just listen to the music,” the candidate declared, remaining on stage in silence for another 38 minutes, swaying to the beat of the playlist.
Unsympathetic commentators have reached for words like “disconcerting”, “bizarre” and “weird” to describe the incident, with lyrics including “it’s time to say goodbye” I laughed at that.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris joined in with a so-called “shadow tweet” saying, “I hope he’s okay.”
Mr. Trump’s allies have privately suggested that the unstable candidate’s best chance of winning the upcoming election on Nov. 5 is to say as little as possible between now and then.
musical rejection
As many in the audience headed for the exits, Mr. Trump’s “music festival” included several versions of Ave Maria, Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” The Village People’s “YMCA,” James Included were Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” and Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men.” North of Richmond, Elvis Presley’s American Trilogy, Guns N’ Roses’ November Rain, Memories of Cats, and Rufus Wainwright III’s Hallelujah version.
The recording artists were not amused. In a lengthy post, Wainwright accused Trump of appropriating Leonard Cohen’s “Anthem to Tolerance” as “the height of blasphemy” and said the Cohen Foundation “issued a cease and desist order…and needless to say… I agree,” he added. Kamala.”
Image: Celine Dion. Photo: Reuters
This is just the latest of many musical rejections that Trump has ignored.
O’Connor’s estate demands that “Nothing Compares 2 U” be discontinued, Dave Grohl demands that the Foo Fighters’ “My Hero” be discontinued, and Celine Dion’s record company demands that candidates ” My Heart Will Go On.”
Some big stars have successfully blocked Trump from using their music. After Isaac Hayes’ family threatened a copyright lawsuit, he dropped Sam and Dave’s Hold On, I’m Coming.
In 2020, top artists formed the Artist Rights Alliance to urge Republicans and Democrats to block their music.
Image: Mick Jagger. Photo: Reuters
The Rolling Stones joined in and threatened to sue Trump for using “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” However, this was several years after the successful 2016 presidential campaign.
Mick Jagger also complained that former German Chancellor Angie Merkel adopted Angie without his permission.
“If you want to use something like that in a political context, you should ask them. I think that’s fair enough,” Jagger languidly said, before adding to Start Me Up! Bundeskanzler might be a better fit.
Trump loves Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals more than anything. White House aides reportedly hired a “music man” to play Memory and The Music of the Night to calm the tantrum.
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During the 2020 campaign, Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group is believed to have sent Trump a cease-and-desist order using his “cat memory.”
At the time, Betty Buckley, who recorded the song as Grizabella in the original 1982 Broadway production, tweeted: “Great news!!” When she heard that the president liked her song.
This year, she changed her tweeting tone, tweeting, “Yeah, that sucks” in response to the news that her voice would be heard at this week’s town hall.
In the UK and US, right-wing politicians are most likely to come under attack from musicians whose music they borrow.
M People are “furious” after former Conservative prime minister Liz Truss endorsed Moving On Up.
Friendly Fires have slammed former Prime Minister Boris Johnson over the Blue Cassette.
Image: Florence Welch. Photo: Reuters
Florence Welch of ‘Florence and the Machine’ complained about the alleged unauthorized use of ‘You’ve Got The Love’ during the 2017 Conservative Party conference.
Former Prime Minister David Cameron loved music and was also a serial criminal. Keene said he was “surprised” that he used “Everybody Is Changing.”
Primal Scream is “absolutely disgusted” with the Rocks. The unassuming Johnny Marr bluntly said, “Stop saying you like The Smiths!”
sunset boulevard
In the United States, Republicans Reagan, McCain, the Bushes, and Mr. Trump over the adoption of “Born in the USA” and “Rock in the USA” by Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp. He has been a continuous antagonist of.
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Conservative leader Andrew Lloyd Webber appears to have softened, perhaps because he is pleading with the new government to support the arts, including live theatre.
In a letter to The Times, he expressed support for Sir Keir and rejected the “ridiculous” furor over free tickets.
“If I had not invited Margaret Thatcher to the London opening of Sunset Boulevard, she would never have said as she left the theater, ‘I am great. Politics is small. ”
Sir Keir professes to be an avid Swift fan. I don’t think Mrs. Thatcher had ever heard of Norma Desmond or Gloria Swanson until Lloyd Webber convinced her that night.
Although she did not try to court the stars, the Spice Girls still claimed that she was an inspiration for girl power.
Trump, meanwhile, praised his impromptu disco this week.
“It’s totally different, but it turned out to be a great night!” he assured his followers on Truth Social.
