This posting is my own personal opinion.  Here me out:

Without wishing to sound heartless, why  was there no Tribal Gathering
license ages ago?

It seems to me that a lot of this problem is due to the fact that Mean
Fiddler and Universe overlooked  this  one obstacle DESPITE apparently
suffering a similar problem of getting  a license last year.  Yes, the
authorities have  let  us  down,  but  Universe  have  undoubtably put
themselves in a position where we COULD  be let down.  Now, I'm no law
expert and I certainly don't  know  everything  there is to know about
granting of licenses, but was it really required to leave it that late
before putting an application in.  Seeing as everything else was ready
- including exactly where each tent  would go, it seems ludicrous that
such a major point as the license should have been overlooked.

Yeah, its really  shitty  that  events  like  the  Marathon, The Who's
central London concert and the  like  don't  get  stopped for the same
reasons but  they  are  establishment  friendly  events  made  for the
executive  types  who  like  nothing   more  than  sticking  something
completely MOR/AOR on their in-car CD systems as they go home to their
wife and 2 kids.  Most people who were/are going to the TG '96 see the
world as it really is - a place  where  drugs are treated as a norm in
society, a place where at the  end  of  the day sex, race, colour, etc
doesn't matter.  This is the real  world where the Tory Government has
f**ked everything up and our only choice   is to put Labour into power
who's leader is John Major  with  a  nicer smile and better soundbites
and  who's  New   Labour   ethics   are   no   goddam  different  from
Conservative's ethics.  Politicians hate dance  music  because it is a
totally off-cut thing to  what  they  are  used  to.   Yeah, they were
really glad when bands like Oasis  and  Blur  started to get the hype.
Its a nice and safe form  of  music.  They think, Oasis only encourage
the masses to do Cigarettes & Alcohol  - that's nice legal stuff which
we can tax (but I've heard of a drunken brawl - nobody on drugs at any
dance music event  I've  been  to  has  threatened  me).   This is OUR
generation.  For want of a better  word  -  we  are Generation X - the
generation they just can't classify  because  they  have no idea about
the way we lead our lives (those of us who take drugs, or like myself,
don't need them to get you happy at dance events).

My final point is this - I  don't  know  of anyone who has given up on
dance music as a  lost  cause  because  of  the TG's cancellation.  If
anything, this has made dance  music  stronger  and will make everyone
party that little  bit  harder  when  the  TG  finally  happens.  Just
remember everyone, they can't  destroy  dance  music  because music is
one of the strongest things we  have  in  this world.  It allows us to
give peace, love, unity and respect  to  the other people on the scene
because at 98% of dance music events,  everyone is YOUR friend for the
evening and together we  will  survive  and  create  the  music of the
future.

                        P.L.U.R.

                                MARK SAMMONS
                                (bsc5...@dcs.napier.ac.uk)