Alison Chabloz

Rereading the review of my first one-woman music show (see below), it is still difficult to grasp why — just five years and two more one-woman shows down the line — a decision was taken to ban my show outright. The festival venue organiser concerned gave me the option of performing a different show – as if I could just pull a new 40-minute performance out of hat, with one day’s notice.

Dig Down Deep is a good ending to a Fringe show, which basically boils down to indoor busking. In contrast, my banned 2016 show was a ticketed event. The venue failed to disclose the names of any organisation(s) that lobbied to cancel my show, – although several letters of complaint about me sent to the Fringe Office were later provided by way of two separate Subject Access Requests.

Whether or not today I would again be welcome as a performer — apparently the case, in view of emails inviting me to register a show — depends, I suppose, on the proposed content. No different from previous years: musical political satire. How does Chabloz sings Menuhin sound? What would my detractors have to say about that, I wonder?

There is of course one slight hurdle before reaching any decision: the chance of another stay At Her Majesty’s Pleasure — for causing offence with more hurty words in another parody song.

Do ‘they’ still believe that my spirit will be easily broken? (- and by ‘they’ I also mean social club nationalists who promote the plights of dissidents selectively, discrediting themselves and the cause they claim to champion in the process.)

Grifters will grift. Meanwhile, musicians will make music. It’s been such an immense pleasure to rediscover a full set of piano keys and an airy space to perform. I realise that the audio could be better; it’s a choice between hearing the click of the piano keys or using XLR cables with a directional microphone. Here, the sound is recorded using the inbuilt stereo mics of my Zoom H4nPro, with its Standard Comp inbuilt effect; then, some minimal editing before uploading. Enjoy!

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