John McGarvey's blog

Thursday night. Cafe de Paris in London. It feels like some kind of members' club where I should be sitting on overstuffed furniture, puffing on a fat cigar and pretending to be important. Not the sort of surroundings I've seen a gig in before. But hey, there's a first time for everything.

It's 9.30pm and the first support act's meant to be on. But presumably he's backstage somewere quaffing free beer. We're paying for our (overpriced) bottles ourselves, but at least things are livened up by the appearance of a woman next to us who seems to be wrapped in a snake. A real snake. The flyer promised "improbable pomp" and "strange entertainers". Guess they managed that - and none of the bands have hit the stage yet.

It's a little before 10, and the first of the support acts gets up to do his stuff. I don't know his name, but he has an awful dress sense and appears to be singing about his trainers. I think it might be time to move onto the vodka. Still, at least the chandelier above the main dance floor looks nice.

Next up: the Rumble Strips. This lot are much better. And they have a trumpet, which sends them up in my estimation immensely - it's not all about guitars you know. I can't help thinking the drummer looks a little like Jimmy Saville, but in my defence, it's dark, I'm wearing my contacts and - like the rest of the crowd - I've had a couple of beers.

They've warmed things up a bit, but everyone's here to see one band: The Maccabees.

Taking to the stage to a standing ovation (there aren't any seats), they blast straight into a storming set. As my gig-going companion Phil says: "I didn't think they were the sort of band who'd get us moshing". Wrong, wrong, wrong.

As my smelly, sweat-soaked t-shirt, trodden-on feet and ringing ears testify, they absolutely are the sort of band who get the crowd going. We're right down the front and moving with the music - or at least it feels like it. In reality I might well resemble a confused Peter Crouch, just with shorter limbs.

The band close the performance with Latchmere and Lego (listen to them on MySpace), but the crap security guys get on stage and block our view. Luckily their authority's totally undermined by the band, who wonder if they "might get a hug" from the men in black. In fact, the Maccabees seem a little bowled over by the reception - it's not as if their performance doesn't deserve it, but it's nice to see a band having fun on stage.

Back to the bar for a quick drink, then the fun of locating a night bus home. The DJs aren't really doing it for me, and I want to go and visit Latchmere Leisure Centre (just down the road from where my bed for the night is located) in the morning.

Strange surroundings, but the Maccabees made this a cracking night. Any band that makes a dull south London swimming pool into a catchy song is ok by me. It's got a wave machine you know.

Over a year ago, I started a blog elsewhere. I only managed a couple of posts before getting bored. I've decided to republish one of them here, after seeing the offending advert on telly this morning. So here goes...

There's a particular Honda advert that seems to be getting a lot of exposure at the moment. Running under a tagline of "change something", it tells the story of the company's "whisper quiet diesel".

I don't have a problem with car manufacturers coming up with new ideas. Really, I don't. The truth is that while the car has helped send the planet careering down the road marked climate change, it's also brought massive benefits to society too. Whatever you think, it's here to stay, so anything car makers can do to help reduce the impact these lumps of metal have on our planet should be welcomed.

I do, however, object to the misleading nature of Honda's marketing. Take a look at the campaign's website. Flowers are sprouting from the top of the page. Birds flutter happily, while rays of sunlight and rainbow colours brighten everything up. The television advert (click "see the film" on the website) tries to be even more sickeningly right on, juxtaposing a smelly, smokey old diesel engine next to Honda's alternative which emits nothing worse than a quiet hum and what looks very much like harmless steam.

The implication? Buy a car with this engine and nature will thank you.

Now hold on for just one moment. It's true that in general the cars of today are cleaner and safer than every before. But they still emit copious amounts of greenhouse gases. Their manufacture, running and disposal still uses a tremendous number of resources plus massive amount of energy.

It seems to me that Honda is on shaky ground here. "It's clean" shouts the website. Sure it is, if you wash it. Cleaner than the cars of ten years ago, of course. But clean in the clear air, at-one-with-nature way that this advertising campaign implies?

No way.

Look Honda, give us some credit and stop trying to mislead us with elaborate marketing and clever imagery. You're a company that's leading the way and actually developing some credible alternatives to the traditional automobile.

So keep pouring the cash into projects like the Civic Hybrid, and in the meantime own up to the fact that the other cars you make are still a long way from being a green form of transport. They'll sell anyway - and you might just receive a bit of respect for being honest about things.